Page "Aesop's Fables" Paragraph 58

There have also been several dramatic productions for children based on elements of Aesop's life and including the telling of some fables, although most were written as purely local entertainments.

Among these was Canadian writer Robertson Davies ' A Masque of Aesop ( 1952 ), which was set at his trial in Delphi and allows the defendant to tell the fables The Belly and the Members, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse and The Cock and the Jewel while challenging prevailing social attitudes.

Another example is the musical Aesop's Fables by British playwright Peter Terson, first produced in 1983.

What lifted this work into another class was Mark Dornford-May's adaptation for the Isango Portobello company at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2010.

The play tells the story of the black slave Aesop, who learns that freedom is earned and kept through being responsible.

His teachers are the animal characters he meets on his journeys.

The fables they suggest include The Tortoise and the Hare, the Lion and the Goat, the Wolf and the Crane, the Frogs Who Desired a King and three others, brought to life through a musical score featuring mostly marimbas, vocals and percussion.

Another colourful treatment was Brian Seward's Aesop ’ s Fabulous Fables ( 2009 ) in Singapore, which mixes a typical musical with Chinese dramatic techniques.