Polly and the Colony.
One act. Sixty minutes. Ten scenes that carry an audience from a quiet London shop to the night the harbor turned to tea, and on to the morning Boston was free — narrated by the doll who watched it happen.
Form
One act · 10 scenes
Run time
~60 minutes
Cast
2 actors, a dozen roles
Audience
Ages 7 and up
The story
A museum docent leads an ordinary tour past an ordinary glass case. Inside it sits Polly, twelve inches of London-made doll who is, to the children watching, very much alive. She has been waiting two hundred and fifty years to tell her side of things.
What follows is the Revolution at a doll's eye level: the tea in the harbor, the shuttered shop, a battle watched from a rooftop, a cannon hauled up a frozen hill, and a Declaration read aloud to a roaring crowd. Polly arrives vain and grand in a fine London gown and leaves a homespun patriot in a tricorn hat, having learned what liberty costs and why an idea is worth the trouble.
Follow her through the Revolution.
★ marks a hero scene
- 01Present day · Old State House Museum
Alive to the children
A docent leads a tour. Polly sits in a glass case, a still doll to the adults, secretly alive to the kids. One child catches her mid-eye-roll, and she begins her story.
“Two hundred and fifty years I have sat in this case. Pull up a chair — I have stories.”
Sly, theatricalFine London gown - 02December 1773 · Tarkenton's Shop
A queen leaves the crate
Polly is unpacked in a thriving Boston shop of fine English goods, fresh off the tea ship Dartmouth. She steps out like a queen leaving a carriage, straw flying, two wide-eyed children gawking.
“Straight off the boat from London, darling. Do try not to stare.”
Vain, grandFine London gown - ★ Hero scene03December 16, 1773 · Boston Harbor, night
The Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party. Disguised colonists run crates of tea to the ship and hurl 342 chests into the lantern-lit harbor while Polly watches wide-eyed from the rail.
“They threw a fortune in tea into the sea. I have never been so thrilled in my life.”
Thrilled spectatorFine London gown - 04March 1775 · Tarkenton's Shop
Hard times
The port is closed, trade is dead, the shelves are bare. Now in scratchy homespun and furious, Polly is moved toward the patriot cause and sold to kind, pregnant Mrs. Williams, who names her Polly Sumner.
“Homespun. It itches. But I was beginning to understand why they wore it.”
Furious, then movedScratchy homespun - 05June 17, 1775 · The streets of Boston
The spy mission
The morning of Bunker Hill. Amy, Polly's energetic young owner, drags her tree to tree on a 'spy mission' toward the Auchmuty Mansion while weary Polly trails behind, unimpressed.
“A spy mission, she called it. Mostly it was puddles.”
Played-out, deadpanHomespun - 06June 17, 1775 · Inside the Auchmuty Mansion
Commissioned
A Continental army headquarters. Amy and Polly slink in, hide under a map-covered table, pop out, and get commissioned as colonels in the 'Children's and Dolls' division.'
“Commissioned a colonel, under a table, by a falling quill. I will take it.”
Reluctant, sneakingHomespun - ★ Hero scene07June 17, 1775 · Rooftop of the mansion
Bunker Hill
From a rooftop widow's walk, Amy and Polly watch the Battle of Bunker Hill as the British burn Charlestown across the water, faces lit by the orange glow.
“The whole town was on fire across the water. I could not look away.”
Awe and fearHomespun - ★ Hero scene08March 5, 1776 · Dorchester Heights, pre-dawn
Dorchester Heights
Washington fortifies the Heights overnight with Knox's cannons, hauled 300 miles from Ticonderoga. Polly, now a proud little patriot, grips the rope and helps pull a cannon up the hill as dawn breaks.
“I pulled that rope with everything I had. By sunrise, the hill was ours.”
Determined, proudHomespun + tricorn - ★ Hero scene09July 18, 1776 · Old State House balcony
Declaration Day
The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Boston. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident…' The crowd erupts, cheering, cannon fire, hats in the air, and Polly cheers loudest.
“Self-evident, they read. The hats went up. So did I.”
Joyful, triumphantHomespun + tricorn - 10Present day · Old State House Museum
The most precious thing
Back in the present, surrounded by children, Polly delivers her closing word, that ideas are the most precious thing we can have, as faint colonial figures overlap the modern crowd.
“An idea is the most precious thing you can carry. Mind you do not drop it.”
Warm, reflectiveBack in the case
Each scene comes alive as you scroll to it — a short, silent mood clip of Polly at that moment. Every clip also pins to its real location on Polly's map.
Staging notes
Lighting
Lantern-lit harbor, the orange glow of burning Charlestown, a cold pink dawn over Boston.
Sound
Cannon fire, drums, and a fife-and-drum line that carries the patriot scenes.
Staging
Flexible and projection-friendly: one crate, a shop counter, a map table, a rooftop rail.
Music
Period-flavored underscore building to the Declaration finale.
Ready to stage it?
Performance rights are tiered for schools, community theaters, and museums. Request a perusal script and we reply within 48 hours.