Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Flannel Graphs & Sunday School


This video shows what a Flannelgraph is, including a bit of a performance...

I was recently reminded of a very specific art form to the religion of my youth - the flannelgraph. During many a Sunday School, I was riveted to the stories portrayed using this technique, often begging to be allowed to change the scenery and the characters between scenes.

I then watched the above video while reminiscing, and it began to dawn on me how familiar it was in another respect - it definitely has the feel of toy theatre!

Oh sure, it's not on a three-dimensional stage, but the characters are two-dimensional, small, and they are moved around manually. The performer moving the characters gives voice as narrator and character(s). Performances are done for small audiences, closeup. Get the comparison now?!

The seeds of my immediate attraction to toy theatre now makes perfect sense!

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