The Toy Theater
The Toy Theater
The Toy Theater
Artist

The Toy Theater

Date2012
MediumPaint on brick
Dimensions60 × 60 ft. (1828.7 × 1828.7 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Public Art Building Communities Grant (PABC)
Object numberDCCAH2012.074
ClassificationsMurals
Locations
  • Griffin & Murphy (1912 Sunderland Place NW)
DescriptionPeter Waddell’s mural “The Toy Theater” on Sunderland Place near Dupont Circle in DC is about how in DC we are always in the midst of history. It shows the first two great mansions of Dupont Circle – the British Legation on Connecticut Avenue and “Stewart’s Castle” on the Circle itself. The two grand houses are scenery on the stage framed by the monumental proscenium arch of a giant toy theatre similar to one owned by the artist as a child. Toy theaters were popular children’s toys from the nineteenth and twentieth century. They imitate the features of the full size theater but in cardboard.