SHOW GUIDE: Babe the Sheep Pig

When Babe and Farmer Hogget meet at the local country fair, it seems that destiny has brought them together. Farmer Hogget brings the prize pig home to his farm where Mrs. Hogget expects the young Babe will someday make some very tasty pork treats. Babe is too young and naïve to know her fate, but she strikes up an unlikely companionship with Fly, a older sheep-herding dog on the farm. At first, Fly doesn’t think much of animals who aren’t her equal, like Babe and the sheep she has herded. But Babe wins Fly over with her kind intelligence. She also
wins over the sheep with kind requests instead of abrasive orders, finding a whole tribe of champions in the process. Fly eventually recognizes that Babe’s unusually open way of seeing the world (coupled with a few brave and bold acts on her part) might make her much more than she seemed. When Farmer Hogget gets a notion to train Babe to be the world first “Sheep-Pig,” Fly willingly offers to help. Soon even Mrs. Hogget is reconsidering the young pig’s potential. But even with her farm friends behind her, will Babe be able to overcome conventional expectations and rise to success as the World’s First Sheep-Pig?

• BABE — a precocious pig who, through his kind, gentle, and friendly demeanor, may be able to achieve more
  than the average piglet and change his fate on the farm
• FARMER HOGGET — a rather quiet and unassuming farmer who wins a piglet at a country fair. Though not a man of many words, he still possesses an ability to see interesting possibilities
• MRS. HOGGET — a woman who keeps an efficient farmhouse and stays constantly active on the farm she shares with her husband. She is a woman of many words who is always thoughtfully working things out through her talking aloud.
• FLY and her PUPPIES — a working and one-time sheep herding dog on the Hogget Farm. She takes a liking to Babe and helps him to adjust to his new life on the farm though at first doesn’t really consider him—or the sheep she herds—her equal. Neither do her puppies who aren’t very kind to babe in the beginning.
• MA and the SHEEP — the sheep who populate Hoggat Farm provide their wool but certainly do not care for the way the Boss’ dogs treat them during herding. Ma, their elderly and outspoken leader calls them wolves. But she learns to trust the “young-un” pig who strikes up a friendship with her and her sheep sisters.
• Various Farm Friends — other animals who explain to Babe how the world works, sometimes supporting his endeavors and sometimes making him doubt himself.
• Various Officials at the Sheep Herding Trials

• Very early in this farm fable, the other characters make clear that pigs are usually raised to be eaten. Some tender-hearted young viewers may be very worried about Babe’s fate (or even the fate of real-life pigs they have seen).
  
  
• At the beginning of the story, Fly and her pups see themselves as quite superior to other animals on the farm. They are not very kind to Babe (and later Ma and the other sheep) and the puppies constantly make fun of Babe and say mean things to an about him. Several times characters are referred to as “stupid.” It might offer an opportunity to talk to your family about the negative effects of unkind words and actions.
  
  
• During the story a group of sheep rustlers arrive and try to steal Ma and the other sheep. Later Ma is seriously (and fatally) injured
  when some roving “sheep-worrying” wild dogs attack the herd one night. These scenes might be frightening for some young viewers.
  
  
• This production features some unusual staging in which a few selected audience members are seated on the stage near the performers. You may want to investigate this situation in case your family has questions about why other young audience members are on the stage.
  
  
  • INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES WHO WISH TO SIT ON THE STAGE DURING
    BABE THE SHEEP PIG:
    
    • A limited number of on-stage seats are available. These will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. (We recommend arriving as soon as the doors are open.)
    • Anyone sitting on the stage must be approved and escorted to the seats by Rose Theater staff after receiving instructions.
    • Booster seats are not permitted on the stage.
    • In order to maintain their safety, toddlers and infants are not permitted in the on-stage seating.
    • Children must be accompanied by an adult to sit on stage. The entire party must be
      present at the time of seating to be escorted to the seats. There will be no late seating.
    • Once you take your seat on the stage, you must remain on stage for the entire performance.
    • Audience members must stay in their seats and cannot enter into the actor’s stage space.
    • Those
      interested in sitting on the stage should go to the front of the auditorium near the stage as soon as the doors are open. Rose stage monitors will be available in this location to assist you.