Performance of Androcles and the Lion
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), like Eugene O’Neill, gave the Federal Theatre Project permission to produce his plays at a very minimal fee. One of those staged with considerable success was Androcles and the Lion, the story of the recently converted Christian slave who removed a thorn from a lion’s paw. He was then spared by the lion when both later find themselves in front of a blood-thirsty crowd at the Colosseum in Rome. Although not strictly presented through FTP as children’s theater, Androcles and the Lion was frequently performed for children. It was staged in five very different locations—Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver, New York City, and Atlanta—with dramatically different productions. For example, the productions in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Denver featured African American casts. The Androcles that was staged in Los Angeles featured the first collaboration of the Federal Theatre Project and the Federal Music Project, with a prelude that was entirely choral, performed by a fifty-member African American chorale. The Denver production featured an avant-garde set design, which included a series of eighteen abstract suspended cubes and many experimental staging techniques.
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), like Eugene O’Neill, gave the Federal Theatre Project permission to produce his plays at a very minimal fee. One of those staged with considerable success was <em>Androcles and the Lion</em>, the story of the recently converted Christian slave who removed a thorn from a lion’s paw. He was then spared by the lion when both later find themselves in front of a blood-thirsty crowd at the Colosseum in Rome. Although not strictly presented through FTP as children’s theater, <em>Androcles and the Lion</em> was frequently performed for children. It was staged in five very different locations—Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver, New York City, and Atlanta—with dramatically different productions. For example, the productions in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Denver featured African American casts. The <em>Androcles</em> that was staged in Los Angeles featured the first collaboration of the Federal Theatre Project and the Federal Music Project, with a prelude that was entirely choral, performed by a fifty-member African American chorale. The Denver production featured an avant-garde set design, which included a series of eighteen abstract suspended cubes and many experimental staging techniques.