The Velveteen Rabbit, Child Players ACT’s new play, opening this week, is the original Toy Story, artistic director BJ Anyos explains: a magical and poignant story about the love between a boy and his stuffed animal.

The play is Ms Anyos’s own adaptation of Margery Williams’s 1922 children’s classic, a favourite childhood book for many.

One Christmas, a boy is given a velveteen rabbit that soon becomes his favourite toy. The boy’s love makes the rabbit “Real”; like Calvin and Hobbes, what seems an inanimate stuffed toy to others is the boy’s closest companion, able to move and talk. When the boy gets scarlet fever, the rabbit, who loves him dearly, stays with him the whole time. But when the boy recovers, the rabbit must be thrown out. Fortunately, the Toy Fairy comes to the rescue…

“It’s a very sweet and moving story,” Ms Anyos says. “There are some beautiful themes in the story about love … and love making us feel real.”

One of her favourite lines is when another toy explains to the rabbit, who is new and naïve, what love is. “It’s hugs and kisses, but it’s also flying, it’s falling, it’s buttons off.” “Will it hurt?” the rabbit asks, worriedly. “Oh, a little bit.”

“And then the rabbit actually feels love, what it is to be loved and to love.”

The play is Child Players ACT’s first production with teenagers since before the pandemic. Ms Anyos had always wanted to adapt The Velveteen Rabbit, but the last two years have made it timely.

The parallels between scarlet fever in the book and COVID today, and the precautions and restrictions taken, spoke to her.

“A lot of the children in the audience will understand those things where they may not have in the past.”

The lead roles, the Velveteen Rabbit and the Toy Fairy, are played by Asha Ellis and Lily Welling, both long-term members of the company.

“It’s a show with a lot of heart, and we’re all working very hard on it,” Asha said.

“It’s a lovely show, with such a beautiful message … and it’s great for all ages to come and watch,” Lily agreed.

The Velveteen Rabbit: Or how toys become real runs from 5 to 8 October at 11am and 2pm, Belconnen Theatre. Tickets $20 from canberrarep.org.au.

Nurturing young talent

Child Players ACT, a family-run children’s amateur theatre group, was established in 2005.

“Our aim is to give children a love of theatre, let them experience all aspects of theatre, not only on stage, but also on backstage,” Ms Anyos said. “We have young people acting; we also have young people directing, and young people doing tech. A holistic approach to theatre is our motto.”

Asha, 14, joined Child Players when she was nine, and has acted in eight shows with them.

“I grew up here in the theatre, and I’ve loved every minute of it,” she said.

Asha’s mother was an actress, and put her children into shows from an early age.

“I remember seeing my older sisters doing Child Players because they were old enough; I looked up to them, and wanted to do that,” Asha said.

“As soon as I got into theatre, I loved it. I couldn’t get enough. I just love all the little moments you can create and show the audience – I love making people laugh and cry, if that’s what they want to do.”

Lily, 18, has been with Child Players ACT since 2015, and appeared in 11 productions.

“It’s been a very long, very good journey… I say it’s my second family, my theatre family, because I’ve been here since I was 10.”

Lily began theatre when she was five years old.

“I’ve always loved to perform. I started doing calisthenics when I was three – but let’s just say, I have two left feet! So dancing was not for me.”

In her first calisthenics performance, she remembered, she ended up acting more instead.

“There was a massive Easter egg on stage, and I was poking out, pulling faces instead of [the little twirls she was supposed to do]. I was three; please forgive me! But that was the moment [Mum] realised I wanted to do theatre.”

The motherly Toy Fairy – “fun and light and happy, she wants to help everyone” – is the polar opposite of her last role: cruel and bitter Miss Havisham in Budding Entertainment’s Great Expectations last month.

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Lily will make her feature film début in The Blacksmith, a horror film from Walk World Productions, which will première at Dendy in November. The cast – which also includes two of her siblings – has filmed every weekend for a year; filming wrapped last weekend.

Both Asha and Lily want to pursue their passion for acting as professionals when they are older.

“I want to do a career of something that I love – and I love theatre and acting so dearly,” Asha said.

“My love has just grown and grown – and now I want to do it as a career,” Lily said. “There are so many benefits that come from theatre, in terms of confidence, and being able to make those personal connections and friendships.”

Both leads are also regional finalists in the World Monologue Games, a global acting competition with entrants from 19 countries. Entrants from 19 countries record themselves performing, and submit the videos.

Asha chose a monologue, “Blank”, about someone suffering chronic fatigue, and realising how dissociated from the world they are.

“Growing up with a disability, I just related to watching everything go by, not actually being in it. It was nice to have that cathartic sense of releasing that, and showing that to Canberra.”

Lily wrote her own monologue, “Hiraeth”, which she intended to make into a short film. “It’s about a father / daughter relationship that’s gone a bit south… It came from a very personal place.”

Both will compete in the ACT and NSW round on 28 October.