The Velveteen Rabbit

It is Christmas morning, and a young Boy discovers a Velveteen Rabbit in his stocking. The Boy loves his Rabbit and plays all sorts of games with him… until company arrives with more presents. Then Rabbit is left behind in the nursery with the other toys. String Puppet snubs Rabbit because he has no joints to move. Mechanical Soldier snubs him because he has no clockwork inside that allows him to move. Both the Soldier and the Puppet fancy themselves “real,” unlike Rabbit who is made up of “sawdust and string.” But the oldest toy in the nursery, Skin Horse, explains to Rabbit that what makes a toy “real” is not how it is made, but rather how much its owner well and truly loves it. That night, when the Boy goes to bed, he cannot find his China Dog. Nana, the Boy’s governess, gives him the Rabbit to sleep with instead. The Boy is afraid of the dark, but Rabbit assures him that he is safe and that he, the Rabbit, will keep watch over him. From then on the Rabbit becomes the Boy’s constant companion and is beginning to feel “real.” One day, while he and the Boy are playing outside, the Velveteen Rabbit meets actual rabbits, and he realizes that he is different and yearns to play with them. Then the Boy falls ill with scarlet fever. Rabbit never leaves his side and after a long while, the Boy recovers. The Boy’s Father and Mother take him to the sea so he can continue his recovery. Fearing the spread of sickness, the Doctor orders Nana to burn the Velveteen Rabbit. While awaiting the bonfire, the Rabbit cries a real tear. This tear brings forth the Nursery Magic Fairy. The Fairy explains that although the Rabbit was “real” to the Boy, she has the power to make him alive. She performs her magic and the Rabbit bounds to the woods, where he joins the other rabbits. The following spring, the Boy sees the Rabbit hopping in the wild and thinks he looks like his old Velveteen Rabbit, but he never knows that it actually was. But the Rabbit understands that he will never be forgotten, for once you are real, you become part of a child’s soul, which lives forever.

Adapted by Catherine Gray from the classic children’s novel by Margery Williams.

Presented by The Barter Players

Sponsored by:  Johnson County Community Foundation