Grad school projects based on “Harold and the Purple Crayon”?

A few days ago, my Facebook status read thus: “Alida’s creative idea is inspired by ‘Harold and the Purple Crayon.’ Yes, that’s right. That’s what grad school has done to my brain.”

A friend replied, “If you were in my grad program that would be perfectly acceptable. In fact a girl in my publishing class is doing her project on Harold. I am doing mine on The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”

I told her that maybe, once I’d finished the project, I’d post a synopsis of it, just for fun, since I’m fairly sure that a library school project based on “Harold and the Purple Crayon” is vastly different than mine, and it’s cool to see how we can take the same source material and have to do something completely different with it.

My assignment, for my Advanced Case Studies in Producing class, was to create a proposal for a project. This wasn’t a complete strategy (which would include a budget, marketing and PR plan, preliminary contracts, timeline, personnel needed, etc), but rather, a preliminary proposal for a commissioning project that was inspired by the research we’ve done into the worldwide producing environment. Preferably something exciting, challenging, complicated, compelling, and big. Basically, it was a chance to dream big without the limitations of trying to figure out the reality of it.

So here’s what I came up with:

Julian Beever, a contemporary English chalk artist, does elaborate trompe l’oeil sidewalk art, using an anamorphic effect that, when viewed at the correct angle, appears to be three-dimensional, taking the subject into the artwork and making them appear to be disappearing into the pavement (or, alternatively, raising the drawing up out of the pavement and allowing a person interacting with the drawing to be “in” the picture that way).

The idea behind this project is to present an adaptation of Peter Pan as a summer performing arts extravaganza for children, equally stunning and visually compelling to their parents, combining the anamorphic sidewalk art and the concept of Harold’s purple crayon with theatre, music, dance, and street performance into one production. The story, with its focus on creativity, imagination, and fantasy, as well as the possibilities opened up by the realistic, London scenes being performed in the “normal” dimension and the world of Neverland taking place “inside the sidewalk,” is an ideal choice.

Instead of taking the characters up into a world that opens up with the moving of a backdrop, it changes the imagery as they fly into a world opening up in the sidewalk and organically connected to the audience’s own neighborhood. The story’s familiarity also allows it to be adapted in a new way, while still maintaining the essence and attraction of the story for children and families.

One of the most important elements of the piece, the part inspired by “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” is the ongoing creation of the world. Obviously, given the complexity of the artwork, a majority of the drawing will be completed beforehand, but through the action of the piece, the actors and/or a team of artists (perhaps dressed up as extras, like the Lost Boys) would complete the drawings, fleshing out the details, and making Neverland come alive as the story is told. The physical trajectory of the piece will ideally move along the art, which would be close to 100 feet wide, completing the mural one scene at a time.

Because of the optical illusions, there is a need for a significant use of movement, levels, and distance perspective. The piece will be heavily dance-inspired, and the cast will include trained dancers, who can help to flesh out the fluidity and fantasy of Neverland through movement. The actors’ movements as a whole will also be choreographed, however, since the blocking and placement of the body is of utmost importance to maintain the illusion. For instance, in the flight to Neverland, the challenge in the actors’ bodies will be to create the illusion of flight through dance, without the use of wires and theatrical effects, and with the long, fluid motions that will allow the actors to draw on the pavement as they dance, filling in the details and the strokes of the world around them. As well, because of the limitations of the artwork, a structure of tableaux would need to be built into the adaptation and choreography.

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The assignment goes on into more detail about the location, logistics of the mural, marketing, civic partnerships, and so on, but this is the most interesting part; the idea of combining the Peter Pan story with the Harold concept and the anamorphic art. I think it would be pretty fun to produce one day… I don’t know that I ever will, but I kept having this great mental picture of what it would look like, and it would be fantastically cool. The class (and the teacher) seemed to think so, too, which is always a good gauge.

What about you? Would you go see a show like this?