 In
David Wood’s version of the story, a ‘play-within-a-play’
technique is used. The townsfolk of London gather to greet
Sir Richard Whittington on his installation as Lord Mayor.
A
voice of dissent in the crowd belongs to a young boy who resents
the acclaim given to ‘a wealthy nob like him’,
who is unlikely to help ordinary folk. The crowd explain to
the boy that this Lord Mayor is different and has helped many
ordinary people; they then tell the story of Dick Whittington,
and the boy plays the young Dick.
He
wins the friendship of young Alice, and becomes involved with
the Fitzwarren family and store, a brace of swash-buckling
pirates, the lovable Wondercat, and a traditional ‘dame’
character – Bertha the Cook. Dick’s story takes
him from the depths of despair and disgrace to his triumph,
with Wondercat, defeating the rats infesting the home of the
Queen of the Barbary Coast, who turns out to have been educated
in England!
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