Saturday, June 10, 2017

New Deal Fairy Tale, Nursery Rhyme, and Story Art (4/10): "The Emperor's New Clothes"

Above: A WPA poster, by artist Richard Halls, promoting the WPA children's theatre production of "The Emperor's New Clothes." According to one Internet source, Halls was born in New Orleans in 1906 and taught at the City College of New York from 1952 until his death in 1976. Charlotte Chorpenning, whose name you see in the poster above, worked for many years at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago - her "adaptations of children's stories made her the most produced playwright in Goodman Theatre history" ("Our History," Goodman Theatre). Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: An actor in the WPA's production of "The Emperor's New Clothes," ca. 1936. "The Emperor's New Clothes" tells the story of two weavers who trick an emperor into thinking he's wearing new clothes - clothes that can only be seen by smart people. And though he's not actually wearing anything, everyone plays along, for fear of being called dumb. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.

No comments:

Post a Comment