COSTUMES
For the two smallest children, long nightgowns; Harry, striped pajamas; Nell, a long white nightgown and over it a gaily colored wrapper. The Mother Goose children to be dressed as nearly like their pictures as possible. In general, the Kate Greenaway style should be followed. The boys wear tunics of cheese cloth, over their own loose knickerbockers, the tunics loosely belted in. Broad white Puritan collars and cuffs may be cut out of stiff white muslin. Their edges need not be finished, as they hold very well.
Miss Muffet, pink and white, exactly like the pictures; Bo-Peep, a shepherdess costume of figured blue-and-pink cretonne over a blue skirt, and big white hat. Jill, a real Kate Greenaway girl, in blue and white; Mistress Mary, also Kate Greenaway, in yellow and white. Mother Goose, a black waist, with big white fichu, black overskirt over red underskirt, high-peaked hat, made by rolling stiff brown paper into a cone, cutting it even around the bottom, and fastening it to an old hat crown which has a narrow rim of black velvet. The joining is covered by a narrow band of gilt paper pasted on.
The Mother Goose book should be made for the occasion, out of Bristol-board or corrugated packing board, with pages made of brown wrapping-paper, and the cover picture of Mother Goose pasted upon the outside. The change in the color of the hat is easily effected in this way: the hat in the cover picture is painted red in the first place. Then a bit of brown paper cut the same shape as the peak is lightly pasted on over it. After the book is taken off the stage by the children, this bit of paper is pulled off, so that when Santa Claus brings the book in again, the hat is red. The inside pages of the book, of course, are never seen at all by the audience.
Real toys are put into the stockings, so that the joy of the “real children” in pulling the things out, especially of the two-and three-year-olds, is entirely genuine and spontaneous.
If it were desired to use fewer characters, one or two of the Mother Goose children can easily be cut out. If more characters are wanted, they can be added, such as Old King Cole, needing a new bowl; Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son, needing a new pipe; the Queen of Hearts, needing a new batch of tarts, etc.
HOW CHRISTMAS WAS SAVED OR
THE SORROWS OF SANTA CLAUS
(A Christmas Play)
By Catharine Markham