Children’s Fairyland Aesop's Playhouse

Project Location

Oakland, California

Project Dates

2008

Services Provided

Cost Estimating

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Aesop's Playhouse, a new 200-plus seat amphitheater at Fairyland, the children's theme park set along the shores of Oakland's Lake Merritt, Playhouse takes the form of ancient Greek theaters, with tiered benches in a semi-circular plan. The decoration is classically inspired, though very whimsically and colorfully realized. Pumpkin and raspberry-colored Doric columns lean-to and fro, and are surmounted by pairs of animals emblematic of the Fables - the Tortoise and the Hare; the Ant and the Grasshopper; etc. Stage walls appear a slightly crazed pattern of polychromatic stone blocks. A low, translucent, fabric dome, supported on shady pink steel trusses, provides shade for actors and the audience. The 3 million dollar budget for Aesop's Playhouse was provided by a public bond measure.