Resource Books Available on Toy Theatre

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Toy Theatre  is an excellent "Penny Plain" history of Toy Theatre with emphasis on the English.  Biographies of the major publishers and examples of their work are presented in this 47 page book edited by Kenneth Fawdry - - - whose son John now owns the Toy Theatre Limited Company at the same location as Pollock's Toy Museum, #1 Scala Street in London .   Pollocks in London and Priors in Copenhagen are the only two of the original publishers still operating. . . . and both are enjoying the renewed interest in their products.  This history is well documented and full of Penny Plain illustrations. 

(c)1980 Pollock's Toy Theatres Ltd. ISBN 0 9505588 2 6
 
Toy Theatres of the World  is THE elegant color presentation of Toy Theatres world-wide.  The author, Peter Baldwin the prominent British actor, has gathered together a remarkable number of theatres from England and Europe, and a strong representative collection of scene and character sheets from most of the leading publishers of the world- - -augmented by material from other devotees.  The result is a lively work, which will prove both an invaluable source of reference and a delight to read.  When Peter Baldwin is not acting, he doubles as manager of the Benjamin Pollock Toy Shop in Covent Garden. . . & still performs with the tiny theatres in Britain and Europe.  This beautiful hardbound book also contains photos of many of the theatres and plays available through the Toy Theatre Company and page references will be given. . . so, if purchasing a personal copy is not possible,  it is probably possible to borrow a copy from the Interlibrary System.  Published in 1992 by A. Zwemmer Ltd., 26 Litchfield Street, London WC2H 9NJ 
ISBN 0 302 00614 I .  LC 92 082836. . 
 
 

THE DO IT YOURSELF MANUALS OF MODEL THEATRE
MODEL THEATRE - An easy step by step guide on how to make your own theatres and productions. 2nd ed.1996 Video Rideo Press, 7 St. Augustine's Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT11 9PQ 
 (c)1993 by Robert Poulter,   ISBN 1 85379 249 7
"The wonderful thing about model theatre is that you can make a complete theatrical production in a fairly short period of time.  Although small in size its impact on an audience can be as great as that of a full scale theatre show.  As in the real theatre, even though you are not actually performing on stage yourself, you can still feel the mood of the audience and adjust your performance accordingly.  Although the model theatre can imitate the effects and actions of the full size theatre, it should not be regarded as a smaller version of its bigger brother, for model theatre is a type of theatre in its own right."
 
One of the most complete references on the subject of Table Theatres by Arthur Gardner has 157 Fact-filled and well illustrated pages.  Published by the British Puppet & Model Theatre Guild and now available from [Toy Theatre Company] 
 
Toy Theatre differs from other puppetry arts in that the principle focus is on the PLAY rather than on the movements and expression of the puppets.  Sheets of actors and scenery were originally sold "Penny Plain, Tuppence Coloured". . .and the Producer had to paste the sheets onto thin card, color them if they were plain, and cut them out.  These flat characters were fitted into tin sliders to be pushed onto the stage to play their brief part.   However, it is common today to prefer three - dimensional figures to flat ones. . .and a limited amount of movement brings more interest & flavor to the production.  Theatre size is most usually defined as "Table Top". . .
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Last Updated  5 June 1998 by Gigi and Glen Sandberg