BRATTLEBORO — Is teaching peace through a classic short story a lot of bull?
That's what New England Youth Theatre's junior company asks as it presents Ferdinand the Bull, directed and adapted by Peter Gould, on Friday, Feb. 22, at 4 and 7 p.m., and Saturday. Feb. 23, at 2 and 7 p.m.
With blessings from American author Munro Leaf's estate, Gould and NEYT have created a new adaptation of the classic short story The Story of Ferdinand, about that beloved Spanish bull who refuses to fight, and would much rather just sit quietly and smell the flowers.
When he is led into the ring, Ferdinand resolutely ignores the matador and others' provocations to fight.
Leaf wrote The Story of Ferdinand on a whim in an afternoon in 1935 largely to provide his friend, illustrator Robert Lawson (then relatively unknown), a forum in which to showcase his talents. It was published in 1936, and by the end of 1938, Gould claims that it had knocked Gone with the Wind from its New York Times perch as the best-selling book of all time.
The story was adapted in 1938 by Walt Disney as the beloved short animated film of the same name, and won the 1938 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (cartoon). Ferdinand has been translated into more than 60 languages.
The Story of Ferdinand was released nine months before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, but was still seen by many supporters of Francisco Franco as a pacifist book. American artist Michael Rakowitz claims Ferdinand “caused an international controversy” due to its perceived pacifist tone, and was banned in Spain (then ruled by Franco), and “burned in Nazi Germany.”
In advertising the show, NEYT proclaims, “Before Gandhi, King, Mandela, and the Dalai Lama, there was Ferdinand the Bull.”
“What a role model for our students!” says Gould. “Ferdinand, a bull apart; Ferdinand, big, strong and muscular; Ferdinand, refusing to join his brothers in banging heads and bellowing; Ferdinand, unwilling to perform for an audience hungering for blood!"
Gould said he believes that Ferdinand is more than a bull who says no.
“He knows himself,” he says. “He's active, proactive, and decisive. He wants to seek the peace in a loud, bullying, jackbooted world where books about him are piled up and burned.”
Gould, who teaches a course in peace, conflict, and coexistence studies at Brandeis University, the same program where he was awarded his Ph.D. in 2002, has adopted the story as a lesson in civility.
“Ferdinand is someone who knows his nature,” says Gould. “He stands up to power and is willing to risk his life for his beliefs.”
Gould has written his version with an eye on social and political issues that the story tacitly address.
“I am a quirky kind of guy. I always prefer to make my own adaptations of classic works. I find other adaptors talk down to the students and even things out. As a writer and thinker with an eye on what is happening in the world today, I see what I do as a re-vision of classic works like Ferdinand or A Christmas Carol, which I adapted several years ago for NEYT. People don't realize how much work goes into the adaptations I do for NEYT.”
With its re-imagining the idea of masculinity, Gould believes The Story of Ferdinand has a special message for gay people.
“Our version takes place in an alternative classroom where the teacher is clearly gay. Using the story of Ferdinand, he is trying to rethink the traditional ideal of masculinity as knee-jerk warriors. In the production at NEYT, shortly after the story begins to be told, the classroom is suddenly transformed, and we get a fully staged version of the story of Ferdinand, which last 35 minutes. There the first act ends.
“Then we try something amazing in the second act: The story is told over again, now completely in Spanish. And because we are dealing with a different language and culture, this time we revisit our show in an emotional and over-the-top fashion appropriate to Spanish culture.”
Gould claims that the production was a “deep winter, complete art experience” for the 25 NEYT junior company actors, aged 9 to 12.
“The kids have learned to speak some Spanish, how to dance the cha cha, and explored art and history of Spain. One day, we had art supplies all over the stage at NEYT as all the students drew pictures of a bull which we used as backgrounds for the set of our staged production.”