ACT ONE

Overture. A choir sings a pompous version of The Shaggs’ “Philosophy of the World” as puppets of the band sing a more flat, mundane, Shaggs-like rendition. As the two versions vie for dominance, members of the chorus step forward as fans and detractors, advocating the worth or worthlessness of The Shaggs. The debate builds until the choir rips apart the puppet theater to reveal the puppeteers: Dot, Helen and Betty Wiggin (the actual Shaggs), three worn and defeated-looking women. The play begins.

In Fremont, New Hampshire, the Wiggin sisters have gathered to watch the fire department burn down their childhood home which is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of their long-dead father, Austin. Dot, the oldest sister, is horrified that their former home is going to be destroyed. Betty, the middle sister, can’t wait to see it burn down, and Helen, the youngest, seems fragile and disturbed. When one of the firemen passes around the latest copy of Rolling Stone magazine featuring The Shaggs as 1981’s Comeback Artists of the Year, Helen breaks down, loudly singing “Philosophy of the World.” Betty encourages the firemen to set fire to the house, even offering to light it herself when the ghost of Austin Wiggin appears in an upstairs window. Everyone freezes.

Verses In the Body. Austin sings of the prophetic vision his mother had for him when he was a boy: that he would marry a woman with strawberry blonde hair, have two sons whom she would never meet and that his daughters would somehow save him. When the song ends, we are back in 1967 and the women are girls again.

Helen is anxious about Career Day at school tomorrow – the future terrifies her. Austin reminds her that the future is already laid out in her palm, prophesied by her grandmother. Helen scoffs, but Austin insists it’s true. Dot and Betty listen in, eager to hear their future, too, but their mother, Annie, sends everyone off to bed before he can say more. Alone, Austin watches TV, and we realize he doesn’t know exactly what the prophecy foretold for the girls, either – he stares at the TV, waiting to figure it out. But no answer comes.

Career Day. As students announce their chosen careers, Betty steps up to the microphone and calls for an end to Career Day. The auditorium goes wild as the students revolt against their boring career choices and insist they can do anything! The riot suddenly ends when Austin enters the auditorium. We realize the production number was Betty’s fantasy. Back in reality, Betty coldly announces she’s going to be a secretary. Next Helen approaches the microphone and freezes, unable to speak. Career Day ends and Austin drags the girls off to the grocery store – but not before their classmate Kyle tells Helen he appreciated her muteness as an act of civil disobedience. Helen is intrigued. Betty drags her off.

At the grocery store the girls see Kyle again, stocking the shelves. Betty, feeling desperate and trapped, throws herself at Kyle – she knows he’s really interested in Helen, but her father will never let Helen out of his sight and nobody cares if Betty disappears. Kyle isn’t sure what to make of Betty’s advance; he’s still interested in Helen. Helen, meanwhile, seems to have chosen muteness as a permanent condition. Before they go home, Helen imagines a fantasy life with Kyle, Impossible You.

That night, Austin visits his mother’s grave and insists that she show him some kind of sign so he’ll know how to fulfill her prophecy. But he hears nothing. When he returns home, he sees the girls watching The Beatles on TV and it hits him – the girls are going to play in a band! That, surely, is how they’ll save him.

For Helen’s birthday, Austin presents all three of the girls with presents: guitars for Betty and Dot and a drum kit for Helen. He announces that tomorrow will be their last day of school. From now on, they’ll practice at home while Annie home-schools them. The girls are speechless. Alone, Annie tries to talk Austin out of his scheme, but eventually gives over to her husband’s need to believe.

Annie’s Lessons.As Annie looks over the home-schooling program, Dot tells her teacher Mr. Wilson that she’s dropping out to start a band. Mr. Wilson is appalled. Dot defends her father weakly, but when she steps away she imagines a more articulate and heartfelt defense of her father: Don’t Say Nothing Bad About My Dad. Kyle, meanwhile, tells Betty he thought about it and he’s willing to get together with her sometime. Helen wishes Kyle would talk to her, but he leaves without saying goodbye. The girls leave school to become rock stars.

Show Me the Magic. Betty shows up at Kyle’s bedroom window immediately. Uncomfortable, Kyle natters on about his collection of blues records. Betty finally makes a pass at Kyle, but there’s no connection. Betty explodes with frustration; she hates her life, hates being taken out of school to start a stupid rock band. This is the first Kyle has heard that the Wiggin girls are going to be in a band. He swoons at the idea of Helen playing drums. Betty sees who Kyle really longs for and leaves. There is no magic for Betty Wiggin.

Austin instructs the girls to write an original song for their first gig at the Exeter Talent Show. At first the girls are overwhelmed by their miserable task, but eventually their attempts to write a song take gorgeous flight as they sing Words Into Wonder, ending in a catchy song, “Many Things I Wonder.”

At the talent show, the girls try to recapture that solitary magic, but it comes out all wrong – “Many Things I Wonder” sounds flat and tuneless, like a burnt field. The audience pelts them with trash. Austin thinks they were superb. So does Kyle.

Destiny/Act I Finale.As Austin brags at work about the girls’ progress, he describes what happened last Saturday night at their gig at the Fremont Town Hall – a producer named Charley Dreyer approached saying he wanted to get the girls down on vinyl. We see the scene: Austin is skeptical about the producer until Charley sings about how “destiny” brought him to see The Shaggs. Austin is hooked. He tells Annie he’s cleaning out their savings to make a record. Meanwhile, Betty encourages Helen to sneak out and go see Kyle. Dot overhears and threatens to tell Dad, but Betty shuts her up and sends Helen on her way. Helen climbs into Kyle’s bedroom and they kiss for the first time as Austin tears into the girls’ bedroom demanding, “Where’s Helen?”Betty and Dot freeze as Helen and Kyle make out with abandon.  It’s all happening.

ACT TWO

The girls practice the song “Philosophy of the World.” Austin stops them again and again, insisting that they sing it as he hears it in his head – but they can’t. Trying to pump up the girls for tomorrow’s recording session, Austin sings a gospel rave-up about being on the brink of destiny, Austin’s Howl. He leaves the girls to practice, but Helen slips out the moment he’s gone.

Helen meets Kyle at the cemetery where they plan to elope immediately after the next day’s recording session. Meanwhile, Austin makes final arrangements with Charley Dreyer, sinking more and more into debt. Alone in their room that night, Betty, Dot and Helen sing The Night Before as they get ready for bed, full of expectations, hoping reality won’t disappoint them as it usually does.

Studio Sequence/Montage. At the studio, two recording engineers listen to The Shaggs stumble through their twelve songs, first with astonishment, then disillusionment and finally a kind of existential angst. Austin, however, is transformed. We hear each song as Austin hears it – a catchy, blissful pop tune – then as the engineers hear it – a dreary, off-kilter mess. Austin pays the engineers their fee and takes the girls home, convinced they’ve just made history.

Ordinary Day. At dinner, Austin fills Annie in on their triumph as Helen quietly excuses herself from the table and sneaks out to elope with Kyle. Helen wants to leave town right away, but Kyle insists she tell her parents and offers to go with her. Helen declines and heads home alone. Intending to leave a note, she’s stopped by Austin, waiting up for her in the dark. He demands Helen tell her who she was out with. When she refuses, Austin says that if he ever finds out who he is, he will kill him. Helen, terrified for Kyle, stays home. Kyle spends the night alone waiting for Helen. Finally he gives up, assuming she chose not to return to him.

This Is Real. Charley Dreyer hears what The Shaggs recorded – and gets it. It’s crazy, but it’s like nothing else. He tries to convince radio stations to play the album with no success as Austin takes publicity photos of the girls. Helen seems broken. Dot doesn’t know why. Betty does. They all wonder why nothing is happening with the record. Frustrated, Austin confronts Charley, accusing him of not following through on his promises. Charley tries to get Austin to understand that The Shaggs may one day be famous, just not like The Beatles, but Austin won’t hear it. He threatens Charley Dreyer with an ultimatum and leaves. Faced with no alternative, Charley makes a phone call.

Poster Girls. As the girls practice endlessly, imprisoned by Austin’s loosening grip on reality, they begin to turn on each other. When Dot sneers at Helen, Helen finally explodes, telling Dot she has no idea what’s really going on and reveals that she’s married. When Austin appears to find out why the rehearsal has stopped, Helen collapses in terror. Dot, for a moment, sees the damage caused by her father. Austin leaves and Dot sings her new song: My Head Is An Empty Birdcage, about their dead-end lives closing in on them.

Annie confronts Austin: she went to see Charley Dreyer, suspicious that something was up. Her worst fears were confirmed: Dreyer cleared out his office and disappeared with the family’s life savings and all the records except for one box. Austin doesn’t believe her. Annie shows him the box of records.

At the Shaggs’ show at the Fremont Town Hall, Austin tries to sell the few records they have. No one’s buying. Kyle is there, but Helen won’t speak to him. Meanwhile, Dot has to tell her father that their shows at the Town Hall were just canceled. In a fit of helpless rage, Austin throws the family in the car and drives home furiously. Everyone is stuck in their own silent world of desperation, elation, misery or rage as they sing Driving Home (The Rage).

In the middle of a tense family dinner, Kyle arrives unannounced. Betty says she invited him over. Helen is paralyzed. Kyle wears an army uniform and reveals he’s going to be shipped out to Vietnam in a few days. Betty waits for Helen to say something, but she doesn’t. Kyle leaves. When Austin tells the girls to resume practicing whether they want to or not, Betty explodes. She begs Helen to tell their father about Kyle. Helen remains silent. Betty finally tells Austin the truth: Helen is married to Kyle.

With shotgun in hand, Austin races out to find Kyle as the rest of the family tries to stop him. Austin demands that Helen choose between her father and her husband. Helen speaks for the first time in months, choosing Kyle. Austin is defeated. As Austin sings of his wish to save his daughters, Austin’s Elegy, a policeman arrives to escort him home.

A few months later, Kyle appears, having been released early from Vietnam. He has lost an arm. He explains he heard about Austin’s death from a heart attack and expresses his condolences. He offers to meet Helen and the rest of the family at Austin’s grave.

The Shaggs Are Real. As the women gather at Austin’s grave, the chorus returns and narrates the rise of the cult fame of The Shaggs, climaxing in their being named 1981’s Comeback Band of the Year in Rolling Stone magazine. We have returned to the three adult sisters standing in front of their childhood home, confronting the ghosts of their thwarted lives. They sing a Reprise of Philosophy of the World, for the first time hitting the notes as Austin heard them. Perhaps Austin’s spirit finds rest. Betty sets the house on fire and the sisters watch it burn, not entirely released from the damage they’ve suffered, but perhaps hopeful that they’ll be able to somehow reclaim their ordinary lives.