Terry Pratchetts Lords And Ladies is part of his hugely successful Discworld series. In some ways its one of the darker stories, which might seem odd in that it features elves, who are normally seen in fantasies as lighthearted, friendly creatures, mischievous at worse, but here they are thoroughly amoral, taking delight in killing, but preferably as slowly as possible. In fact they are so evil that its not even safe to say the word elves. Instead, they are called lords and ladies.The action takes place in the Kingdom of Lancre, just before Magrat Garlick is due to marry the King. She is a witch, but is quite young and very naïve, to the irritation of her fellow witches Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. The witches are concerned because crop circles have been appearing and there have been rumours of witches dancing naked at night. Is someone trying to open a gateway for the lords and ladies, who have been kept out of the Discworld for many years?En route to Lancre for the wedding are several wizards from the Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork, including the librarian, who, for the benefit of anyone who hasnt read any Discworld books, is an ape, together with the great lover Count Casanunda, who is a dwarf.Staging fantasies without huge special effects budgets can be difficult but its been done quite cleverly here. The elves all wear masks or have painted faces and move slowly and menacingly, cat-like, around the stage. The wizards wear long cloaks and the witches, of course, black pointed hats. Poor Count Casanunda, the dwarf, has the most difficult job as he has to walk around entirely on his knees. All very silly but funny too.
