First of all I received a copy of Tom Tierney’s Cut & Assemble Nutcracker Ballet. The book was put out by Dover Publications back in 1981 and is readily available on Amazon. I have Mr. Tierney’s Peter Pan Toy Theatre put together and sitting on my bookshelf. I look forward to sitting down and working on his interpretation of The Nutcracker.
This autumn some friends of mine went to London for a week, and my wife managed to convince them to visit Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop in Covent Garden. Thanks to the Gould family I received other new additions to my collection that I can build over the next few months.
The first model is a Victorian production of Shakespeare’s King Lear designed by John Brooking. I have not been able to find out much about this edition and would welcome any information. It appears to have been published in 1999, and is a recreation of a 1903 production. My favorite thing about this model is that the stock is printed on both sides. Instead of just having the outside wall of the proscenium, you also get to see the backstage complete with fly rail. Even if you pick up the assembled model and look under the stage floor, you will find the foundation to be printed as well. The under stage includes cobwebs and props from past production at the theater including Bottom’s donkey head and Yorick’s skull.
The first model is a Victorian production of Shakespeare’s King Lear designed by John Brooking. I have not been able to find out much about this edition and would welcome any information. It appears to have been published in 1999, and is a recreation of a 1903 production. My favorite thing about this model is that the stock is printed on both sides. Instead of just having the outside wall of the proscenium, you also get to see the backstage complete with fly rail. Even if you pick up the assembled model and look under the stage floor, you will find the foundation to be printed as well. The under stage includes cobwebs and props from past production at the theater including Bottom’s donkey head and Yorick’s skull.
The second theater I was given from London is a reprint of Pollock’s Britannia Theatre with a production of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Unlike the other two models I got this year, Ali Baba includes not just a synopsis of scenes but an abbreviated script. This book is a facsimile of a theatre first published in 1836, and was reproduced for Pollock’s Toyshop by Pryor Publications. Pryor Publications also sells a couple of other toy theaters and I will be looking into acquiring some more of their reprints.
The final addition to my collection is not a paper theater at all but rather a copy of Peter Baldwin’s Toy Theatres of the World. Published in 1992, it seems to be one of the few books about the history of Toy Theater publishers. This is a gorgeous book filled with hundreds of color plates and black and white photos. Unfortunately according to the Pollack’s website the book has gone out of print.
It was a great holiday, and these wonderful gifts fire my imagination. Thank you all for making it so special.
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