Velveteen Rabbit, The

Holiday Plays

By: Albert T. Viola
Cast: 1 M, 3 F, 25 flexible, opt. extras (16 speaking roles, doubling possible)
Performance Time: Approximately 30 minutes, 34 pgs.

CLASSIC HOLIDAY. This adaptation of Margery Williams’ story contains all the warmth and charm that made the original tale a classic. The Velveteen Rabbit is given to a Boy as a Christmas present but is laid aside and soon forgotten amongst all the Christmas activities. One night, when the Boy cannot find his favorite china dog to sleep with, Nana gives him the Velveteen Rabbit as a replacement. The Boy adores the stuffed rabbit and the two become inseparable. As time goes by, the Velveteen Rabbit becomes shabbier and shabbier. His fur becomes dirty, his tail starts to fall off, and the pink gets rubbed off of his nose, but the Skin Horse assures the Velveteen Rabbit that these are signs of the Boy’s love and that some day a toy can become Real if the owner truly loves it. When the Boy becomes sick with scarlet fever, the Doctor orders that the Velveteen Rabbit be burned along with the Boy’s other toys. As the Velveteen Rabbit waits to be burned, he cries one single tear and a Fairy appears. The Fairy transforms the Velveteen Rabbit into a Real rabbit and she takes him to live in Rabbit Land with the other Real rabbits.

Freeviews: To read play excerpts click here.

About the Story: To read more about the story click here.

Albert T. Viola (1942-2009) was an award-winning actor and playwright who appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in television and motion pictures. Mr. Viola also served as a faculty fellow in Mathey College at Princeton University.