The built environment of Barbie got a unique entry in 1964: a repertory theatre where Ken and Barbie starred in all the plays. In addition to the play set, seven costume ensembles were sold separately in 1964, with all but one carried over into ’65; the image above shows part of the packaging for a gift set that united all the costume sets that survived into the second year.

Like other Barbie play sets of the time, the theatre came as a chipboard carrying case that folded out to form the environment, and the closed carrying case represented the outside of the building. The exterior below, with its carved stone facade, hints at the sort of timeless grandeur of this set’s aesthetic.

Note the attractive illustration of Barbie and Ken in the “Now Showing” poster at left. Although the set came with tons of accessories and paper bits, it did not include separate posters for all the shows; instead, Barbie and Ken themselves were advertised.

The theatre’s interior is dominated by its stage. The set came with backdrops, furniture and other pieces of scenery, and a real fabric curtain could be raised and lowered like a roman shade. The backdrops are particularly nice pieces. The one shown above was probably conceived for the ball scene in Cinderella, and may have served for other plays, as well. With its resemblance to the Grand Staircase in the Palais Garnier (Paris Opera House), it also suggests a theatre within a theatre!

The castle courtyard backdrop shown above was probably created with Camelot in mind. Other scenes show a castle’s interior that evokes Camelot but may have also served for scenes in Cinderella (below); a bazaar or Middle Eastern city scene; a cottage interior that suits either Red Riding Hood or Cinderella; and a forest scene that suits several of the stories.

The 1964 Christmas catalogs showed the play set in action alongside the corresponding costumes, which were sold separately. While Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot musical toured the States in 1964 following its massively successful Broadway run, Barbie as Guinevere and Ken as King Arthur held court in the catalog image above. I wonder who played Lancelot? Or else, what was the plot of Barbie’s Arthurian drama? The book of short plays sitting near the center in the image above would tell us, but I haven’t seen one up close.

The outfit sets came with theatre programs or playbills showing Barbie and Ken in costume, charmingly illustrated. We saw three of the illustrations in a composition at the very top of this post, and here are three more.

When the Red Riding Hood costume says it’s “for Barbie and Ken,” it means something different than the Arabian Nights costume saying it’s “for Barbie and Midge.” In one case, a single set contained the pieces to dress two dolls, while in the other either Barbie or Midge could perform the role. We have to assume Midge understudied Barbie since it’s Barbie’s name “in lights” outside.

1964 was also the year of the travel costumes, five for Barbie and four for Ken, which came with illustrated travel brochures depicting the costumes in a style mirroring that of the playbills. I’m sure some of these costumes made their way onstage, as well.

Although Skipper debuted in 1964, she was not invited on vacation nor did she appear in any plays. Her Ballet Class ensemble did come with a program for the Nutcracker Suite, with Skipper herself heading the very short list of performers (okay, the only listed performer is Skipper), and the Little Theatre was the ideal venue for her dance recital. Barbie, whose Ballerina ensemble was sold through 1965, likely also twirled these boards a time or two.

But now it’s time to find our seats–the curtain’s going up!

Where to next? This post is about Barbie’s early built environment. Apart from the Many Abodes of Barbie series, the most recent post in this category is about Cafe Today, and the most popular are those on Mattel Modern and Susy Goose furniture and on penthouse apartments. The overall most popular post on this site is about Mattel fashion booklets. Or just head up to the Table of Contents to see more options.