It was threatened by the loss of Pollock’s Toy Theater, English Toy Theater and Toy Museum. But crowdfunding has made it safe again. The goal was to raise PS15,000 for urgent expenses. However, the appeal raised PS41.568 on March 5th 2021 thanks to 812 supporters who had supported it for 28 days.
120 years ago Robert Louis Stevenson said, “If your love art, folly, or the bright eyes children, then speed to Pollock’s.” 812 people supported this campaign and helped ensure that children have bright eyes for another 120 years.
Another free Toy Theater play is available to download. It’s “Faust”, which we originally published as a printed play in 1978. However, less than 100 copies were ever sold. Ulrich Chmel has performed this play in various Austrian cities. It is our hope that you will enjoy it. We have provided both plain and coloured versions, which you can colour yourself. Also included is the playbook. The directions for Toy Theater plays were published last year. Please refer to that article if you have any questions. This may be the first English Toy Theater play in English.
Although it’s not original, the design was inspired by illustrations from a book of fairy tales that Orlando Hodgson published. Although he was a Toy Theater publisher, he never published “Puss in Boots” as a play.
We hope you find this useful. Our information on how to perform Toy Theater plays can be downloaded from our “Robin Hood” post.
The internet version of “Robin Hood” has been republished. It was first published in 1976. It is A4-sized and can be used in our Grand Theatre. A new note is included to help you perform Toy The Ater plays.
It is a wonderful initiative by the British Museum to digitize many of its treasures and make them available online for everyone to enjoy. This includes a large number of Toy The Ater prints, including more than 60 images from William West, who would not normally be found elsewhere.
You can Search their Toy Theater Catalogue on the Website
To access over 650 items, type “Ralph Thomas”. Many of these “items”, consist of multiple sheets, such as scenes from a play or a collection of approximately 50 West combats. Ralph Thomas, a lawyer sold his collection to museum in 1886. It is the oldest known. William West was still publishing as a boy. His mother bought him one sheet of each remaining sheet. West managed to purchase a box that contained the original drawings of some of his earliest plays after West’s business collapsed. You can also download the gorgeous coloured scenes from “Battle of Waterloo”, the “Olympic Revels”, and “Aladdin”, as well as characters from obscure plays.
You can also put in “Toy The ater”, and other items in full glory, including a set Hodgson scenes from “King Richard the Third,” that offer an interesting comparison to the Green version.
After doing some research, we discovered that Mathews was not the person many believed he was. We also learned how Mathews became interested in Toy The Ater and his bizarre views about who was important. We now have two addresses where he operated his Acton business and one where he lived. All of these secrets are revealed in the note, which you can download here. It has been updated to include new information by Val Copley.
If you have a Toy Theater, you will be able to experience live theatre performances with a large cast of actors and many scenes changing. We have created a new Toy Theater based on traditional designs that you can download here. It can be constructed using A4-sized scenery and materials that many people already have at home. This makes it very practical for the current time.
A new booklet is available for the “Grand Theatre”, which will help you to build it. The 33 pages include many special effects techniques that can be used with any Toy The Ater. You can also set it up to print as an A5 size booklet if you’re very creative.
Under the title “Skelt’s Juvenile Drama”, we have been republishing original English Toy The ater plays from the nineteenth century. These titles are a result of productions by the Skelts, one of the most prolific publishers. These titles have been discontinued and they are now available for free as a download. The only restriction is that you cannot make any commercial use of them.