The Velveteen Rabbit Hops onto the Castle Stage this June!
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
We are thrilled to announce that this summer’s June Session play will be The Velveteen Rabbit. Based on the beloved 1922 children’s book by Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit follows the story of a stuffed rabbit who lives in the nursery with all the other toys, waiting for the day when the Boy will choose him as a playmate. In time the shy Rabbit befriends the Wooden Lion, the wind-up Tin Mouse, the Rag Dog, and the tattered Skin Horse, the oldest and wisest resident of the nursery. Soon the Velveteen Rabbit becomes the Boy’s most treasured toy. The Boy loves the Rabbit, and the Rabbit loves the Boy. But more than anything, the Velveteen Rabbit wants to be a real rabbit. One night the Toy Fairy offers him his chance, but he must leave with her immediately. But the Boy has become ill with scarlet fever and may die without him. Will the Velveteen Rabbit go with the Toy Fairy, or will his love for the Boy cause him to turn his back on the thing he wants most? If he stays, what will happen to him? As we present this touching and timeless tale on the Castle stage this summer, discover a loyal little rabbit who learns that love makes all things real.