Illustrations Inspire Toy Theatre

Kate Greenaway book illustrations inspired this delightful toy theatre...

I ran across a mixed-media artist's blog today that featured a lovely toy theatre she threw together, her inspiration coming from the illustrations of Kate Greenaway.  There's something about that artist that I find very appealing.  It is more a composite of the story the characters were taken from rather than a re-telling of that tale, but I like what she came up with.

Precious Object: Toy Theatre

The toy theatre sat in the front room of her house for years when she was married and was played with a lot by every child that came round for tea. Once a letter was posted through the letterbox addressed to “Wooden O’Theatre”.  - From Treasure:  The World's Most Precious Objects

Twenty-three years ago, a woman began making a toy theatre for her son.

           It was during a happy phase 
           when he loved to sit next to her...

It never quite got finished, but it also was never forgotten...

Cantastoria Festival!

Although definitely not toy theatre, an upcoming cantastoria festival is too good to pass up passing on!

From the organization's site behind it, here's the skinny:

Pre-cinematic technology takes over  for a week of contemporary cantastoria, cooked up by puppeteers, artists and craftspeople from across the country. A millennium-old art form is rejuvenated and re-imagined, as performers animate paintings and banners alongside texts, puppets, jokes, songs and stories. 

Each unique program features several original shorts on a given theme, and the festival kicks off with a FREE opening celebration, presented by Great Small Works at Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.