Rip Van Winkle Renascent - Play co-written by Welles

[Le Chiffre]

Thanks for the link to the used book site, Rkadin. Some interesting items there besides Moby Dick Rehearsed, including this one, which I saw a copy of under glass at a 1990 Welles film fest in Woodstock:

Pub: Hortense Gettys Hill Memorial Fund; Rip Van Winkle Renascent. An Allegory by Orson Welles and Roger Hill, 1984 Hortense Gettys Hill Memorial Fund for Peace. 87pp. SIGNED and inscribed by Hill on cover. Contains the script for play performed at Todd Boy School, attended by Orson Welles. Welles is listed as coauthor of this book which was published just around his death. Stiff wrappers is VG+ with no visible blemishes, weighs 2 lbs.

Selling for $88. I had no idea that this was a play which had been performed at Todd School in Welles's presence. It would be nice to find out more about it.

[Christopher]

MTeal,

"Rip Van Winkle Renascent" was not a play but a movie made in 1948 on the campus of the Todd School for Boys in Woodstock, Illinois, long after Orson Welles had left the scene. All the actors in "Rip" were Todd students, ranging in age from 10 to 17. The script was written mainly by Todd's headmaster, Roger Hill, and directed by Hill and his son-in-law, Hascy Tarbox. Most of the indoor scenes were shot in the school's basketball court. Contrary to Hill's claims after Welles's death, Welles had very little to do with either the script or the movie, which is corny and amateurish to put it mildly.

[Le Chiffre]

That's too bad. Thanks for the info, Christopher. I believe Hascy Tarbox posted here at Wellesnet one time, didn't he? Also, I seem to remember reading somewhere that he staged the only known perfomance of MARCHING SONG, a play about John Brown which Welles co-wrote (or was said to have co-written) as a teenager with Roger Hill.

[Christopher]

If I remember correctly, MTeal, it was Todd Tarbox, Hascy's son, who posted here. Hascy Tarbox died some years ago.

[Terry]

Anybody know of some student listings from Todd? My 1934 edition of Everybody's Shakespeare has a name written in it in very faded ink. I'd be totally psyched to find it was a Todd student.

[Le Chiffre]

Bought a copy of this book at the Welles Fest in Woodstock this past May. I'll take Chris's word for it that the film is amateurish, but I found the book to be quite interesting, a kind of scrapbook of ideas and information bits about the dawn of the atomic age. The play also has an interesting premise: that instead having Rip Van Winkle go to sleep for twenty years and wake up after the American Revolution, he goes to sleep for 150 years and wakes up in the Atomic age. I know Welles is said to have helped out with the film in a limited capacity, and the basic idea seems similar to the premise Welles would later use for DON QUIXOTE: transferring a mythical figure to modern times.

[NoFake]

http://www.filmcomment.com/blog/the-wonderful-world-of-welles-no-nuke-orson/

[NoFake]

And here's the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8FizJSpFCc

[Le Chiffre]

Thanks for the link, No Fake. I liked it, both amusing and thought-provoking. The rappers, if they can be called that, reminded me a bit of the munchkins from THE WIZARD OF OZ.

[NoFake]

My pleasure, Le Chiffre! I agree. (Should anyone wish to read the book: https://www.friendlyduck.com/LP_TA/index.cfm)