ABCs "Once Upon A Time" Returns September 25th (Cue Flying Carpets & Lots of Evil Queen)

With yet another version of a "re-set" in which Regina splits herself into her good and bad halves, ABCs Once Upon A Time is set to begin season 6 with the Evil Queen in full force and on the loose, with a mish-mash of "various story worlds" making appearances and a side trip or three into Arabian Nights territory with Aladdin, Jasmine, Jafar, Sinbad and Scheherazade.

While we would love to see some real story spinning, Scheherazade style, we have decided we will settle for her at least being a strong and smart character, who uses her words wisely and well.

Here's a long trailer, shown at Comic Con in July, showcasing the Evil Queen arc (shown for the first few minutes) and a preview of the introduction to Aladdin.

We're very curious to see if this season is as popular with fairy tale fans and to see if it will continue on to season 7.

Barking Gecko Theatre Company's Hansel & Gretel "In A Dark Dark Wood" (Perth, Australia)

West Australian Children's Theatre Company, Barking Gecko, continues its mission of bringing quality theatre to the children of Perth and surrounding areas, with their new fairy tale show In A Dark Dark Wood. The show, a retelling of Hansel and Gretel, uses a modern take, combining live action, shadow puppets and object theater to tell the spooky-yet-magical story.

Hansel and Gretel is one of those tales that makes a huge impression on children and one of the fairy tales children generally remember almost the entire plot of (though often excluding the duck which helps the kids escape, which most modern tellers seem to omit, of not be aware of).

It's pretty neat that the playwright who worked with the creator had traveled the famous Fairy Tale Road in Germany, already aware and immersing himself in the environment out of which grew many of the Grimm's collected tales.

Barking Gecko artistic director Matt Edgerton, who is directing the production, collaborated with award-winning Australian playwright Caleb Lewis on this modern take on the Brothers Grimm fairy taleHansel and Gretel. 

“I was really excited about sort of attacking a Grimms’ fairy tale,” Edgerton said. 

“They’re wonderful stories that have lasted for hundreds of years because they have deep things to say about who we are as humans, but I wanted to do it in a contemporary way. 

“I thought Caleb would be a perfect partner with that because he’s a wonderful lyrical writer, but really playful, and is obsessed with Grimms’ fairy tales; he’s walked the Grimms’ fairy tale route in Germany, reading nothing but their fairy tales as he went.” 

Edgerton said he was drawn to Hansel and Gretel because of its universal themes. 

“There’s something about the central idea around the fear of abandonment which every child knows,” he said. 

“And most adults have repressed it in some way, but it’s still in us. 

“It’s a beautiful story because it explores that in a really full way and finishes with the message that all of us have the power to find our way home. 

“There’s hopefulness at the end and the idea that theatre is a safe place to explore dangerous ideas is true for something like Hansel and Gretel.” 

Barking Gecko admits to having a lot of fun with their version, aimed at children aged 6 and up. There's "fun, magic and an excess of junk food" - what wouldn't a kid love about that?

Here's their description:

In a Dark Dark Wood is a magical fantasy that brings Hansel and Gretel to a new generation in a strikingly original retelling of the Grimms’ classic fairy tale. 

Pippa and her little brother Mo live in a caravan at the edge of the woods. Since Dad hurt his back cutting wood, the family has struggled to make ends meet. Even though they may be poor, the children are gifted with a rich imagination.After Pippa gets the worst birthday present ever and overhears her worried parents talking, she decides the way to help, is to leave. Pippa packs her belongings and takes off into the woods, with little brother Mo hot on her heels.Hopelessly lost in the dark, dark woods, the pair stumble onto a lonely beach and discover a world with no rules and endless ice cream! But all is not what it seems. Pippa and Mo will have to call on all of their imaginative powers to escape! 

With spooky puppets, magical animals and fast paced storytelling, this theatre production will take audiences aged 6 and over through the dark, dark woods and safely home again. 

Recommended for ages 6 and up – Contains spooky bits that may make your knees wobble! 

Running time approximately 60 minutes

Where and when: 

• UWA’s Dolphin Theatre (September 23-24)
• Prendiville Performing Arts Centre, Ocean Reef (September 27),
• Kalamunda Performing Arts Centre (September 29)
• Don Russell Performing Arts Centre, Thornlie (October 4)
• Mandurah Performing Arts Centre (October 6-8)

Art: Claire Degans "Snow White"

Claire Degans is a French illustrator who's style pays lovely and gentle tribute to the Rococo art movement. It's not a surprise to discover, that along with her degree in visual arts and a keen interest in printmaking, that she majored in art history.

While it's difficult to find complete collections of her fairy tale work (she's illustrated a number of books), re recently discovered, what appears to be, the entire set of paintings created for Snow White.

We thought it was about time we had a lovely art post for the weekend, so please enjoy.

Article: Seanan McGuire on Fairy Tales and Poetry: Pamela Dean's Tam Lin

On tor.com this week, writer of fairy tales and and folklore based novels (among other fun books), got wonderfully nostalgic about Pamela Dean's treatment of another favorite fairy tale of ours, Tam Lin. There's quite a group of people who were greatly impacted by this book, both for the fairy tale themes and the style of writing, not to mention the poetry.

Here's an excerpt:

I liked fairy tales. I liked folk music. When I found a book in a line of books about fairy tales, with a title taken from a ballad, I figured it would be good for a few hours. 

I didn’t expect it to change my life. 

Tam Lin, by Pamela Dean, is one of those books that defies description in the best way, because it both is and is not a fantasy. For most of the book, it’s the story of a girl named Janet starting her college life, with all the changes and chaos that entails. She sees weird things on campus. Okay. Everyone sees weird things on campus. I was already taking classes at the community college across the street from my high school, and I’d seen a man with six squirrels on a leash, a woman attending all her classes in a ball gown, and a person we all called “Troll” whose wardrobe consisted mostly of chain mail and rabbit skins. College campuses are alive with weird things. 

Only her weird things are very real, and eventually they make it clear that the book is a fantasy, and more, that Janet is in some pretty deep sh*t. 

...Tam Lin is a book about choices and consequences, friendships and relationships, and the way our adult selves are built on the bones of the children we once were. It’s also about poetry. If Pamela Dean had never written another word, she would still deserve to be remembered as one of the greats, for this book alone. 

Read it.

You can read the whole article HERE.

Theater: "The Handless Maiden" by Art House Productions

"Follow me down to the old stone mill, where the river has forgotten how to run..."

'THE HANDLESS MAIDEN'

A dark, immersive fairy tale

Looks like immersive theater is the new trend!

This new theatrical version of Grimm's The Handless Maiden takes the audience throughout a theater which is, we assume, filled with the sets you can see in this post. The stage is set in Jersey City, NJ and it is recommended that this production is not for children under 13. The environment may be too creepy for sensitive or young children, violence is implied (per the title and tale source) and there is one non-graphic sexual situation.

Here's the press release:

The spooky stage is set for Art House Productions' immersive, Brothers Grimm-inspired play.  

"The Handless Maiden" is the non-profit's main stage production. The 50 minute play takes a feminist twist on the the German fairy tale. In the original production, a young maiden flees into the woods after an evil force descends on her village.  

Playgoers will follow the seven-person cast throughout the theater while the production is underway. 

Art House posted a mini-interview about the show's inspiration and experience on their Facebook page, which I have re-posted below:

Art House had a conversation with one of our show's creators, Shayfer James, to talk about the upcoming production of THE HANDLESS MAIDEN: 

- What is the inspiration behind this play?
Director Mason Beggs and I have wanted to create something together from the ground up since meeting last year. We are both fascinated with Grimm's fairy tales and Mason suggested we start there. Our desire was to retell an old story in our shared creative language through original music and movement without using any dialogue. One of the most exciting things for me is that the piece was literally created from root to leaf in only two months. I'm a big advocate for capturing art spontaneously and from the gut. With a creative team like the one involved in this, that process has been fun, seamless, and incredibly rewarding. I must mention also that the lighting design by Lance Michel and set design by Andrea McKenna are absolutely stunning. 

- Why "The Handless Maiden"?
The fairy tale on which the piece is based, "The Maiden Without Hands" is rather obscure, which offered us a lot of freedom to re-imagine the story. It is important to us that the main female character has a strong arc that isn't dependent on "damsel in distress" nonsense. This story in particular gave us the opportunity to make that happen. Not to get too serious here, but for me "happily ever after" is a phrase that has done more damage than good through the ages, especially in regard to gender roles. It's also one of the darker tales. It really digs into horror a bit, which I love. 

- What can one expect from this "immersive" experience? What does that mean?
You can expect to be absorbed into a beautifully twisted world and become part of the story as it unfolds. It's a world of magic and horror, and beauty.

Shows are scheduled for Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, today (September 15th) through Sept. 24, at 8 p.m. An afternoon showing will be on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 4 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased in advance for $18 on Art House's website or at the door for $20.  

Donna Jo Napoli's New Snow White Retelling "Dark Shimmer" Released (+ Paolo D'Altan's Biancaneve)

A nice surprise turned up in the fairy tale newsroom room this week: a new fairy tale retelling by Donna Jo Napoli, Dark Shimmer. (Have to love pre-orders!)

Longtime readers are probably aware that Snow White is a tale our Fairy Tale News Hound has a special fondness for, (if you don't understand why, let's just say, she sees the tale very differently from most folk), so to find Napoli had given this tale a new skin, it was a given to add this to the library.

Napoli is a truly gifted writer whose YA retellings of fairy tales have a habit of making people see the tale - and the world - a little differently. Our perspective of the Hansel and Gretel tale has changed permanently, thanks to her book, The Magic Circle, and aspects of the Pied Piper retelling in her novel Breath, still haunt us. Dark Shimmer promises to do the same, particularly with regard for the queen in Snow White, but from a very different perspective than pop culture has been rehashing very much of late, tackling the oft-tabooed subject of mental disorders.

Here's the description:

Set in medieval Venice, this captivating fairy tale retelling by award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli explores belonging, beauty, and the transformative power of love through the eyes of a teenage girl. Dolce has grown up hidden away on an island in a lagoon. She is a giant, a freak, tormented by everyone but her loving mother. She spends her time learning the valuable secret of making mirrors. Following a tragedy, Dolce swims away and lands on an island where people see her as normal, even beautiful. Marin, a kind widower, and his little daughter bring Dolce to live with them in their grand palazzo. Eventually, Dolce and Marin marry. She secretly continues to make mirrors, not realizing that quicksilver endangers her . . . and so evil begins in innocence.

We have yet to finish reading this compelling book to give a proper review, but if you've read Napoli's other fairy tale retellings, you will recognize the unique style and "voice" she uses, to give a very personal perspective. Yet it doesn't feel like Napoli's other work either. While other books explore body image and the beauty complex, this book looks even more closely at the psychological impact of being seen as different, in combination with additional factors outside of a person's control.

Beginning the story on an island of dwarfs, where Dolce is considered, and feels, a freak, she tells the reader her story, with the narrative being a unique form of mirror, not unlike the profession she learns early on. But this liberty in learning a special skill also transforms her in ways she couldn't have imagined, changing her image from a recognizable character we feel much sympathy for, to a true freak and monster - one which is irredeemable. It is quite a feat that the reader still finds themselves moved by Dolce's story as her acts become more and more twisted, as they did at the beginning when Dolce was young, innocent and (almost) normal. (We have yet to get to the conclusion but, just like The Magic Circle had us sympathize with the witch's perspective in Hansel and Gretel, so too is Dark Shimmer proving to perform a similar feat, so far.)

From an interview with Napoli by Adventures in YA Publishing:

What do you hope readers will take away from DARK SHIMMER? 

Dolce goes insane.  I think talking about insanity is still a taboo in our society.  Some people still feel embarrassed if a loved one has a mental illness.  I wanted to show how mental illness can happen to very fine people, and when it does, they can do things -- sometimes terrible things -- that they really can't help doing. And even though you may know they can't help doing it, what they do still hurts everyone around them maybe as much as if they were in control.  It's very hard to have pity in those circumstances.  But I hope the reader can have pity on Dolce.  That's what I want very much -- for readers to see that they are capable of pity even when people do the so-called "unforgivable".

Although we recommend all of Napoli's fairy tale retellings, our favorites are those mentioned above as well as Bound, a Cinderella retelling, and Zel, a Rapunzel you likely haven't read before.

While the tale of Snow White is well know, it's the details and how it's told that makes it different and unexpected. Under the jump, we are including an excerpt from an interview with Napoli on Dark Shimmer, which has possible spoilers.

✑  ✑  ✑  ✑  ✑  ♛ (click the "Read more" link below this line) ♛  ✑  ✑  ✑  ✑  ✑

CW's "Beauty & the Beast" Series Finale Airs Tonight (& Thus Begins the End of the Fairy Tale TV Series Golden Age)

We haven't posted much on the CW's Beauty & the Beast over the years. This "Summer series" is somewhere between a star-crossed lovers romance and a police procedural - vacillating wildly from one extreme to the other at times - but overall it's had as many passionate fans as did the original from 1987 to 1990. Finishing at the end of four seasons, this modern reboot of the eighties New York city fantasy romance has lasted a year longer than it's predecessor, likely due to the active social media support it's received (despite it's lack of fantastical underground libraries and candle-lit dens). Unfortunately for fans, even with that advantage, the network didn't feel it rated strongly enough to continue and has finally pulled the plug.

The story, however, is set to a large and clearly final conclusion (according to reports and rumors), so hopefully it will still feel satisfying for folk who have been following the against-all-odds couple of Cat and Vince.

The series finale episode is titled "Au Revoir" and the plot is teased as:

Vincent and Catherine will be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop an attack and rid the world of beast makers once and for all. 

It's a tribute to the popularity of the concept and fairy tale source that this underdog series survived as long as it did. Although seeming to suffer from inconsistencies of writing and plot from time to time, the show did attempt to explore some of the themes in the original fairy tale and find their own contemporary "solutions" or outcomes to the inherent issues of such a couple (woman and beast-man) existing in this age.

We're going to wait to catch up until we can see it as a whole, to perhaps follow some of those themes and ideas through in their development and ultimate resolution, but in the meantime, even though it's not a show for everyone, it is bittersweet to see a TV series with a fairy tale-based idea, come to its conclusion. (You can currently "begin the binge" via Netflix.)

It won't be the only fairy tale show we'll be saying goodbye to in the coming months so this is the beginning of the end of an interesting era, in which regular people around the globe were discussing fairy tale plots and ideas via social media and creating fanfics (writing their own versions and developments of the stories and characters, ie. fan fictions), delving much deeper than the show did into some of those ancient roots.

In the meantime, we're back in a fantasy feature film golden era once again, even if most of them are reboots of old material (ahem - Disney), the best part being that many of those are fairy tales as well. While we've done our fair share of complaining of the lack of fresh material, it is wonderful to have new fairy tale films, of this time, (many surprisingly better than expected) to share with families and watch the responding social media and commercial trends. We haven't had that since the 80's, which isn't a complete coincidence. There are an amazing number of parallels between the eighties and the mid-twenties both in terms of pop culture (including entertainment) and popular concerns. The parallels even extend to the volume of fairy tale publishing in both fiction and scholarly texts. It's a pretty great time to be interested in fairy tales! (Someone should do a study...)

Following this Beauty and the Beast incarnation is the one everyone is waiting for: the Disney live action reboot, with Emma Watson as Belle, so B&tB fairy tale fans are a little distracted by the upcoming shiny to mourn too much at this point. What happens after that, since the Christophe Gans Beauty & the Beast is available for purchase and the TV series is done, remains to be seen. We've had a plethora of B&tB themed shows in the form of vampires, werewolves and other beasts so public preference for fairy tales may turn elsewhere for a spell (we have money on The Little Mermaid...), though there are bound to be ideas pitched to cash in on the popularity of the Disney blockbuster once those expected numbers are confirmed. It all depends on the numbers. And the climate. Who knows where the world's attention and cultural temperature will be in March 2017 when the next B&tB fix is released? I do look forward to watching which fairy tale rises back into the spotlight next...

Ask Baba Yaga: Is It Possible To Be Kind Without Expecting Reciprocation?

Jan Pieńkowski

Kindness. Why do people take advantage and walk over you? A better question: what should you do about it? Baba Yaga has some ideas, I'm sure.

Here's today's question and answer (via poet and oracle Taisia Kitaiskaia* of The Hairpin):

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

Tend to your garden, choose your company. You think that would be obvious. But how do you identify weeds? Is it so bad to see the flowers instead? I've always believed most people have the potential to flower, to show beauty, despite themselves. And isn't a weed, often only a weed because it's not in the right environment? But maybe that's the whole problem. I'm ignoring the essential nature.

This is going to take some re-training...

What do you think of Baba Yaga's advice?

Want to ask Baba Yaga a question of your own?

You can!

This is the email address where you can send your questions

directly to Baba Yaga herself.

AskBabaYaga AT gmail DOT com

To encourage Baba Yaga to continue imparting her no-bones-about-it wisdom (ok, there may be some gristle in there... bones too), I suggest we not to leave her box empty... 

Thank you Baba Yaga (& Taisia).

* Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. Born in Russia and raised in America, she's had her poems and translations published in Narrative Magazine, Poetry International, and others.