Aesop Online

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Thanks to the Library of Congress, many of Aesop’s fables are online in a gorgeous, interactive edition with illustrations by Milo Winter.

Google Books also has many electronic editions of Aesop collections, including a free public domain volume illustrated by Harrison Weir.

There’s a searchable collection at www.aesopfables.com, which also includes fairy tales from Hans Christian Andersen and others. This is likely the most extensive collection, and you’ll find many fables that are nearly identical but with slight variations in the details.

Who was Aesop anyway? Wikipedia can tell you a little more about who he might have been. But no writings attributed directly to “Aesop” survive. We do know that many philosophers and poets, including Aristophanes and Sophocles, knew of Aesop’s stories; Sophocles composed some of them into verse poems. We also know Aesop didn’t write down any of the morals; the lesson of each story was thought to be clear without articulating it, but later authors have added them and today we recognize many familiar aphorisms in the morals of “Aesop’s Fables.”

And for more images, head to Wikimedia Commons for a wealth of public domain illustrations from historical editions of the fables.

Happy exploring!

Wenceslas_Hollar_-_The_jay_and_the_peacocks
A Wenceslas Hollar illustration found at Wikimedia Commons

Character Profile: Mouse Council

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With a ton of fables featuring Mice, you can be sure that Mice will have a starring role in the Peripatetic Players’s Aesop Amuck!

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The Mice in Aesop’s Fables always seem to be having councils. They have a lot of important decisions to make, like how to get away from the Cat, or to better organize their mouse armies. And of course there’s songs to be sung… But we’ll let that be a surprise.

Stay tuned for more character profiles, and more fabulous drawings from Mr Bertken (a.k.a. Meekins)!

Rehearsal Report #1!

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Hi Everyone!  Marlene (Princess Gwen) reporting in here.

In t-minus 2.5 hours we will be having our first full rehearsal with the full company, and I couldn’t be more excited! The energy with the troupe is so amazing, and to finally have everyone present is going to super stupendous.

So far we’ve been working on a skeleton outline of what Aesop Amuck is going to look like, and how each fable will flow into the other. We’ve also been exploring more moments for audience interaction and games, and I can tell that one game is going to — well…. you’ll just have to come and see the show to find out!

Lastly, if you want an inside peak into my brain, I’ve created a Pandora shuffle station between “Hot Club Jazz” (listen to some Django Reinhardt) and “Bluegrass”-eqsue (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, anyone?) — it helps to put me in my groove!

Well, I have to keep getting ready for today’s rehearsal — Au revoir!

–Marlene
PS. You can catch Princess Gwen on the following media platforms:
-Twitter @peripateticgwen
-Instagram @peripateticgwen
-Email @ princessgwen.peripateticplayer@gmail.com

PPS. Here is a picture of Princess Gwen playing around as the Country Mouse (from my own Instagram):
https://instagram.com/p/4YR54qwiHY/?taken-by=mfyarosh

Announcing… Aesop Amuck!

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During August 2015, the Samuel Peaches Peripatetic Players — that madcap troupe of travelling thespians who brought you O Best Beloved — will take the show on the road once more in Aesop Amuck.

2015 Bay Area Parks Tour:
Saturdays and Sundays, August 1 – 23

Aesop Amuck is the Peripatetic Players’s adaptation of Aesop’s fables. It’s fun for the whole family, decidedly fabulous, marvellously moralistic, and at least 300% educational!

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The Fox and The Lion – illustration by Harrison Weir from Three Hundred Aesop’s Fables, translated by G.F. Townshend, 1867

Grab the kids, throw on some sunscreen (or, if in SF, pack a parka), and head out to the nearest park or public space! The Peripatetic Players will arrive 30 to 60 minutes before showtime to set up FluxWagon, their folding mobile stage. Shows last just under an hour, and are full of songs, pratfalls and theatrical mayhem.