''Revolt of the Beavers'' was a children's play put on by the Federal Theater Project by Oscar Saul and Louis Lantz. It was originally directed by Peter Hyun, but he was replaced when his actors refused to go Broadway with him, insisting on a name director. One critic described the play as "

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

à la

Mother Goose Mother Goose is a character that originated in children's fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as ...

". The show ran at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from May 20, 1937, to June 19 of that year.

Jules Dassin Julius "Jules" Dassin ( ; December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, where he continued hi ...

and John Randolph were among the play's cast. The play involved a worker

beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

named Oakleaf, who leads a revolt against "The Chief" Beaver who was exploiting the workers. Though the play was a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

intended for children, it was attacked by the

HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...

for promoting Communist ideals. In October 2009, the play was re-written, adapted, and performed at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

as part of the University Theatre's 2009–10 season. The new adaptation was written and directed b
John-Stuart Fauquet
and Pete Rydberg and features an updated script, shortened production time, and smaller cast of character

In the 2009 version, the theme of environmentalism that was present in the original is highlighted even more in the story of two children who are transported to a mythical place called "Beaverland." They are forced to work endlessly by a cruel beaver chief while he sits back and reaps the benefits, which eventually leads them to revolt and establish a society where everything is shared equally. ''Revolt of the Beavers'' is one of the plays that actor/director

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and Jacob Singer in '' Jacob's Ladder'' (1990), as well as winning an Academy ...

featured in ''

Cradle Will Rock ''Cradle Will Rock'' is a 1999 American historical drama film written, produced and directed by Tim Robbins. The story fictionalizes the true events that surrounded the development of the 1937 musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'' by Marc Blitzstein; ...

'', a 1999 film about the production of the play ''

The Cradle Will Rock ''The Cradle Will Rock'' is a 1937 Musical theater, play in music by Marc Blitzstein. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman. Set in Steeltown, U.S.A., the Bertold Brecht, ...

''. In 2015, New Orleans' Cripple Creek Theatre Company mounted a staged reading/performance of ''Revolt of the Beavers'' at Stein's Market & Deli for two performances on March 28 and 29. In 2017, the

Jim Henson Foundation The Jim Henson Foundation is a foundation that was founded by puppeteer and Muppet creator Jim Henson to promote and develop puppetry in the United States. Since 1992, Jim Henson's daughter Cheryl Henson has served as the president for the Found ...

awarded Joseph Therrien a Workshop Grant to create a new adaptation that included scenes from

Hallie Flanagan Hallie Flanagan Davis (August 27, 1889 – June 23, 1969) was an American theatrical producer and director, playwright, and author, best known as director of the Federal Theatre Project, a part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). B ...

's testimony before the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

. The first showing was on April 29, 2017 at The Brooklyn Folk Festival at St. Ann's Church. In 2018, the acclaimed director, Shannon Twohy directed Revolt of the Beavers at Mixed Blood Theatre during the Minnesota Fringe Festival.

References

External links

Article about the play, with photos
from ''Life'' magazine
''Revolt of the Beavers'' script
a
George Mason University
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Revolt Of The Beavers 1937 plays Children's theatre Works Progress Administration in New York City Federal Theatre Project