A long time ago, in the Galaxy far, far away...

The story begins in South London, with two aspiring actors— friends if you will— who shared a vision of a stage where people of plastic could freely perform. Yet, they needed a troupe first: a dedicated group of actors who understood the difficulties and demands of such a project. So, in 1921, the Imperial Shakespeare Company was founded by the famous director/actor O.W. Kenobi and his long-time companion in the theatre, M.A.A. Skywalker. Kenobi and Skywalker, never ones to bow to convention, dared the fates themselves when they christened their Company with none other than the play that shan’t be named. But witches’ curses couldn’t daunt the company, and its production of Macbeth won brilliant accolades from critics. Barada wrote “’Bot did a terrific job at playing Macbeth’s mental breakdown, made all the more credible through the hauntingly cloaked weird sisters and the commanding presence of B. Leia.” 

Yet not all the reviews were so scintillating. Both Kenobi and Skywalker would remember the slings and arrows of their greatest detractor, R. Keeper: “The stiff performance of IG ‘Iggy’ Eighty-eight as Macduff completely undermined the play’s conclusion, turning that which should be of the cosmic order into that of comic fodder.” 
 
 

Nevertheless, the audiences were pleased, and the Company actually made a comfortable profit during Macbeth’s run. 

In 1929, the pair opened The Galaxy Theater, affectionately dubbed “the Shoebox.”
 

     The Company returned to its Shakespearean roots with its inaugural rendition of The Winter’s Tale. 
 
 

Despite accusations of exploitation from progressive groups, W.W. Warwick recalls his time as Chewbacca’s understudy with barely a note of bitterness: “It was a job. Frankly, there weren’t a whole lot of parts designed for a person of my stature. And at least the chance to understudy the part of the ‘bear’ meant I might actually perform something that didn’t involve being fawned over or wearing bows in my ears. Though I must admit, Leia didn’t seem to mind cuddling with me during rehearsals.” 
 
 

Indeed, Warwick’s nigh-minstrel appearance as the infamous pursuant bear caused such a delightful reaction from crowds that, in later performances, audiences began to have shouting matches just before the bear’s infamous entrance. The Company would send out whichever hoary actor seemed to have the greatest following that night.

     Despite the success of the Company, relations were quietly souring behind the scenes. In 1931, scandal broke out during one of the troupe’s rehearsals of the First Part of Henry IV...

“He actually struck me,” G. Guard told reporters. “He always belittled us. The way he directed us made us feel as if he had some kind of choke hold on us, as if he could force us to do his bidding. He treated us like swine.”
 
 

     Whether to counter accusations of alien exploitation or simply to continue to satiate audience’s ever growing desires for exoticism, Kenobi quickly casted S.G. Klaatu and J.P. Klaatu as the leading twins in Comedy of Errors.
 
 

Though their performances were apparently unremarkable, this choice gave unprecedented dramatic attention to non-human actors who had heretofore been relegated to nameless servants, ill-fated court advisors, villains, or children.

     Most theater historians see the casting of Comedy of Errors as the final wedge that drove apart the founders of The Galaxy Theater. Kenobi and Skywalker had a heated and public dispute over the casting of aliens in a ritzy London nightclub, The Cantina, which caused a sensation on the tabloid scene. Skywalker shortly thereafter sold his shares to Kenobi and, by 1936, had moved to Berlin. He would retire to Switzerland in 1939. 
 
 

“In many ways, those were the worst years of my life,” Anakin would reminisce. “But yet, there was an attraction to the order, the clean lines, the fantastic uniforms. I can’t imagine anyone seeing stormtroopers marching and not feeling some form of dread or awe.”

     In 1938, Ben Kenobi agreed to move to the United States to aid FDR in his New Deal program dubbed: FAUSTUS, Federal Aid to Unemployed and Starving Toys in the United States. The program set up small community theaters throughout the country, giving employment for tradesmen as well as actors, or, in the words of Kenobi himself, “It gave a new hope for those who fought to strike back against the menacing phantoms of poverty. It marked the return of the jobless to a life of respect, an attack of the poor, if you will.”

     In the wake of WWII, as industry and technology continued to boom in the US, Ben Kenobi’s muse inspired the all-droid casting of Antony and Cleopatra: “Jawa had phoned me, saying he thought it was time to revive our Antony and Cleopatra. I was preparing breakfast at the time, and saw my reflection in the toaster. Now, Cleopatra is stellar in her own right, but she also foils the glimmering refulgence of her ‘man of steel’...It was fairly obvious where the play had to go. Luckily, I was still in touch with Iggy from our production of Macbeth, and he was more than willing to take on the romantic lead.”

Problems erupted when the actor cast to play the role of Octavius Caesar failed to find the triumvir’s controlling personality. It was up to the seasoned veteran director to draw dominance from the diminutive performer. “He really helped me to exorcise some of my inner demons on the stage,” Power Droid would later recall. “It’s like he somehow said to my soul: ‘Hey, it’s 1955! It’s okay to be more machine than man, now!’” 
 
 

     By 1956, M.W. A. Skywalker, nearly impoverished and a troubled alcoholic after several disastrous failures as a playwright, came out of retirement to teach theater in the U.S.S.R. 
 
 

     Nine years later, Kenobi directed another theatrical milestone play – the first production of Othello ever to feature an African American lead in a mixed-racial cast. 
 
 

     Time was catching up with Ben Kenobi. By 1969, while directing rehearsals for Timon of Athens, he told L. Skywalker, “I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.” And, much to his dismay, the critics agreed. His choice of an all-Ewok cast for Timon of Athens was ill-timed. America was feeling the growing pains of Vietnam protests and race riots, and audiences could not let themselves escape into what one critic, B. Scout, referred to as “walking plush toys in need of a restuffing.” 
 
 

Kenobi returned to Britain, performing in small theaters, trying to rediscover his vision.

     Then 1977—Kenobi received a contract with Kenner and began his illustrious career working in film. Yet his love of theater remained, and in 2003, Kenobi worked closely with producer/director Tresob Yr towards the opening of the New Galaxy Theater and its first production: Hamlet.