The Victorian Toy Theatre: A Victorian Holiday Tradition Brought to life, with a live production of OLIVER TWIST

The Victorian Toy Theatre is an English tradition that began around the year 1811 when John K. Green or William West (a printer and his assistant) began to promote miniature stage plays for theater goers to take home as souvenirs of stage productions.

The toys became popular in their own right by 1830, and soon entire plays were produced and adapted for home production on a miniature stage lit with candles. The plays were the standard melodramas of the day, and offer a unique window in the costumes, sets, and staging of British theater of this period. The plays could be purchased plain (uncolored) or hand colored, and the prices ranged from a few pennies to about a shilling. Soon the toy theatre plays were adapted for younger children and printed in mass quantities, these smaller and less elaborate versions would be the most popular, and began to appear in the late 1840’s and would be a staple of British childhood for nearly one hundred years.

The popularity of these plays waxed and waned, and with other more sophisticated entertainments and cheaper imports from Germany, the British toy theatre began to become increasingly scarce. Robert Louise Stevenson remembered them fondly in an essay entitle "A Penny Plain and Twopence Coloured" (1884) and kicked off a revival of interest in the toy theatre, soon the revived Toy Theatre became a Christmas tradition.

Many noted authors, actors and statesmen were fond devotees of the art including Winston Churchill, Stevenson, Ralph Fiennes, Terry Gilliam, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), G. K. Chesterton, among others.

The plays themselves eventually become collectable antiques, and more recently, various specialty firms have reprinted these plays since the last original printer, Benjamin Pollock, closed in 1944. Today many artists, men and women, and children of all ages enjoy this hobby in the UK. It is now growing in interest and practice on this side of the Atlantic as well.

Today plays are produced in all styles and medium, all miniature and all inspired by the Victorian original. We hope you will see our version of a Victorian literary classic and toy theatre staple, Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, or the Parish Boy’s Progress, will be presented by Eric & Rebecca Cook and Friends, at the Kittanning Free Library 280 N. Jefferson St., (Sat., Dec. 3, 2011) at both 11 a.m. or 2 p.m. A short lecture on the history of the theatre will follow the 2 p.m. performance. Please call 724.543.1383 for more information.

*Thanks to Eric Cook for providing this information.

Shatter Me, by Tahera Mafi

Juliette's touch is lethal, a fact she has learned the hard way.  In a split second, an attempt to help a fallen child has turned her into an instrument of death.  Unable to deal with her, Juliette's parents send her away.  Now she is in a prison, where life is even grimmer that it is outside in a totally destroyed world.  But when Juliette learns the truth about her imprisonment and meets up with a familiar face from her childhood, life takes on a different perspective.

If this book and I were in a facebook relationship, our status would be "it's complicated".  I really liked the concept of the story, as well as the character of Juliette, despite her obvious similarities to Rogue from X-Men.  I really saw a lot of potential in this book, but to get to it you really have to wade through a ton of drama.  So. much. drama.  I felt like I was reading the diary of a 12 year old girl.

The writer's style is most certainly unique, and quite powerful when properly harnessed, but oh my word, the metaphors used are just too much.  About 100 pages into the book, I felt like things calmed down a little.  Whether this was due to me just getting used to all the dramatics, or whether this is because the writer's power was more appropriately channeled I honestly cannot say.  All I know is, the first part of the book was a bit exhausting, but once I got into it, I really liked the story, and the romance of the situation.

The whole concept of dystopian fiction has actually grown on me since reading a few books with dystopian or post apocalyptic themes.  And I think this book does dystopia quite well.  Once I got to the part of the book where more action took place, I seemed to like it a lot better.

At the end of the day, I still say I liked the book quite well.  Do I love it?  Not quite, but it was entertaining and provided me with a good night's entertainment.  Still, I am not ready to make our relationship committed, and I will still be looking for better dystopian fiction with which I have more in common.

Review- Forgotten: Seventeen and Homeless, by Melody Carlson

Adele thought her life might finally be on an upswing. Her mom got a new job in a new town, along with a condo. They move over the summer, and Adele starts off on the right foot at her new school. She is hanging out with popular kids, making friends, perhaps even finding romance. Then, in the blink of an eye, Adele finds herself abandoned by her mother, and homeless. Will she be able to survive?

I really commend the author for taking on the topic of teen homelessness. While the book itself was a little soft, the topic is one of real concern, and one we rarely see portrayed in young adult books. The storyline makes it easy to see how good kids end up in bad situations. Adele was not a runaway, or a drug user, nor was she suffering from mental illness, yet she ends up homeless. A good kid, who makes decent grades, and has a part time job, ends up homeless. Bravo to Melody Carson for breaking down stereotypes of the homeless. While Adele's mom has mental healthy issues that contribute to the situation, Adele herself is a fairly well adjusted, normal kid.

The thing that bothered me about the book was it seemed to keep the reader at arms' length. We never really get to know the characters, we are left with lots of unanswered questions, and we are only scratching the surface of the story and the issues at hand. I think this could have easily been developed into a more detailed, longer novel, with more depth and character development. As it is, I felt more like I was reading a blog of a homeless teen than a novel written about a homeless teen.

All in all, not a bad book. This book would be a great way to open up a dialogue about homelessness with young adults. Unfortunately, the book just left me wanting more. More about the characters, more about the story, and more about the impact of Adele's homelessness on her life in the long run.