DIRECTOR’S NOTES

It was the middle of July in the year 1900 one-hundred thirteen years ago (perhaps to this very day)  that the first edition of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" came off the press. The author, Frank Baum, personally assembled the first volume as a gift for his sister. In the "Wizard of OZ"the author explores the theme of self-contradiction. Dorothy's three friends, the Scarecrow, the Tinman and the Cowardly Lion all lack self-confidence and self esteem. However, after fulfilling their commitments to Dorothy, they all find they indeed possess the human virtues of intelligence, caring and courage. Frank Baum  deliberately composed his "American fairy tales" to include the wonders of life without the horrors. In his own brief introduction to "Oz" story,  he wrote, "It aspires me to being a modernized fairy tale in which the wonderment and joy are retained, and the heartaches and nightmares are left out." We at PAPA welcome and invite you to our "Peninsula Kansas!" May the magic of Frank Baum's beautiful fable restore in you the imagination and delight that we possessed as children.