Streaming Theater: "Disenchanted"s Witty Exposé of Fairy Tales Launches Virtual Events (Fri AEST / Thurs Late Night EST/PST)

This coming Thursday (Friday for Australia), there is a very special opportunity to take part in the newly revised, digital launch of the live stage show, "Disenchanted". Now that they've gone virtual, anyone anywhere in the world can see this hilarious and thought-provoking show! This Thursday/Friday, the virtual cocktail hour with creator and star of the show, Eliane Morel, will begin half an hour before the show, where folks are welcome to mingle and chat online with her, before live-streaming the show.

But what is Disenchanted? 

“France 1699 at the Salon of Madame d’Aulnoy (Eliane Morel), and Fairy Tales have joined the revolution!

Disenchanted is a cabaret retelling from those supporting fairy tale characters, unimpressed at the stories being told to the public… 

Madame d’Aulnoy guides you through an intimate, behind-the-scenes exposé of what's really going on in your favourite fairy tales. It’s an anthology of mini-stories laced with wit, laughter and a healthy dose of very early strong-willed women – those Féministes... 

Witty, musical, topical, and totally original, Disenchanted transports you to D'Aulnoy's 17th Century Parisian salon, hosted by the Godmother of fairy tales herself, where you learn Fairyland's secrets: the truth and nothing but the twisted truth about why the wolf was in Grandma’s bed, the Marxist philosophy of the Goose that lays the golden eggs, what those pigs in the building industry were really up to, why the so-called Ugly Sisters were robbed, why six of Bluebeard’s six wives died unnoticed, what this all has to do with revolution, and so much more! (Note: We've used an edited combo of various promotional materials for an overview and link the unique fairy tale show this is, with how it's evolved to adapt to bringing live theater to you during the pandemic.)

Here is the promo from the stage show (before we all went into lockdown):

And here's a promo from the NEWLY revised digital/online stage show. The different details are outlined from the press material via reviews: "... a new version of this magnifique showcase for Morel (where) the team embraces the opportunities of making a film... freeing up the visual staging imagination while keeping her biting wit intact: split-screen chats, animations, backgrounds, and especially gleeful fun with technical hiccups... Brillante. Not to be missed – join the fairy tale revolution immediately." 

THE SPECIAL EVENT THIS THURSDAY/FRIDAY:

Make sure you book a ticket, as the season is limited. Note that THIS THURS LATE NIGHT (FRIDAY AEST - Australian Eastern Standard Time) is special because I've created a FaceBook event, and I'm hoping there will be quite a crowd. So, if you want to join in the fun, bring your pre-dinner drinks and enter the virtual 'foyer' at 5.30pm this Friday (10:30pm Thurs 12th PST/1:30am Fri 13th EST Thurs for US folks!), 13th November, book now:
https://melbournefringe.com.au/event/disenchanted-a-cabaret-of-twisted-fairy-tales/
Be sure to check your time zone conversions to make sure you don't miss it!

HOW IT WORKS (from an invitation via Ms. Morel):

This is how Melbourne Digital Fringe works: you can book any time, up to half an hour before each show starts. You’ll notice you can choose your price - ranging from $5 to $100 – OR - you can choose to get tickets for free and pay what you like after the show. Everyone has a different budget, so please pay what suits you.

You’ll then be sent an email link and, from 5.30pm (AEST), you can log on and be part of the pre-show crowd. So grab yourself a pre-dinner drink and 'mingle' while you wait for the show to start at 6pm. My team and I will be in that chat room on Monday 9th of Nov (AEST), and I’ll be there every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night (AEST).

I look forward to seeing you online!

REVIEWS:

“Sexy and subversive, audacious and hilarious, this show puts a knife in the back of traditional fairy tales." Katie Mac
"Irreverent, hilarious, cheeky the pace never slowed." Jan S.
“Brilliant at so many levels. I was blown away.” Moira S.
“Sharp, talented, mesmerising!” Greg N.

The project is supported by the NSW Government with a grant from Create NSW.

Warning: Contains mild coarse language, potentially triggering content or themes, including Domestic Violence, Sexual References

Artful Journeys: Oddly Modern Fairy Tale Series Program (6 Weekly Live Online Lectures & Discussions with Prof. Jack Zipes)

The Forgotten by Ray Ceasar

NOTE: This awesome program actually began last week, on November 3, and is continuing for six weeks. Our Editor, Gypsy Thornton, learned of it just as the first session was getting underway and quickly joined in mid-discussion, as she's a HUGE fan of the Oddly Modern Fairy Tales series. Having jumped in at the deep end of the first session she happily recommends this special program! If you're familiar with the fairy tale collection series published by Princeton University Press, that's a plus, but you will get a lot from it if you're not, and each week, PDFs of a selection of tales are sent to participants ahead of time so everyone can get up to speed without having to purchase the book and read it all that week.

The next session is TOMORROW, so sign up today so you don't miss out on hearing about Fairy tales written in the French Decadent tradition in the late 1800s, and being part of a stimulating discussion. (The original cover above remains our favorite - we love this collection of crazy, decadent tales!)

Artful Journeys is actually an Arts Education program set up to take people on a special art-based travel tour, to see amazing art, and to participate in artful experiences -in person- around the world. With the pandemic locking everyone down, and travel being put on hold, Director Joan Hill looked to continue the Arts Education programs in a different way by developing Armchair Journeys, that anyone can join online. She had been wanting to focus on a theme of fairy tales for some time, and with everyone stuck at home, she contacted highly respected fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes and asked if he might be interested. He immediately proposed a program based on the Oddly Modern Fairy Tales series of books for which he is the Series Editor and this unique lecture-with-discussion series was born. Opportunities like this are rarely accessible to people who aren't local to wherever the speaker will be, so this is a special opportunity to hear - and meet - Professor Zipes, along with other fairy tale enthusiasts.

From the promotional material:

Jack (Zipes), will take us on another Armchair Journey, not through castles and turrets, but on a more modern, recognizable path full of mean-spirited bullying; "saucy, angry and capricious" persons from late 19th century France; political tales for social equality; subversive German Dadaism; and Hungarian persona with transcendent powers. The series will end on a return to more familiar children's stories but retold to mesh into our reality. ​

Oddly Modern Fairy Tales is a series dedicated to publishing unusual literary fairy tales produced mainly during the first half of the twentieth century. International in scope, the series includes new translations, surprising and unexpected tales by well-known writers and artists, and uncanny stories by gifted yet neglected authors. Postmodern before their time, the tales in Oddly Modern Fairy Tales transformed the genre and still strike a chord. 

 

 

November 3–Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men: Political Fairy Tales of Édouard Laboulaye (a recording of the session was made and access may be available on request. Please contact Joan Hill with this special request if you are interested.)

 

November 10–Fairy Tales for the Disillusioned: Enchanted Stories in the French Decadent Tradition

 

November 17–Lucky Hans and Other Merz Fairy Tales by Kurt Schwitters

 

November 24–The Castle of Truth and Other Revolutionary Tales by Hermynia zur Mühlen

 

December 1–The Cloak of Dreams: Chinese FairyTales by Béla Balázs

 

December 4, 11 am EST/8 am PST/4 pm UK–Old Tales Told Again by Walter de la Mare

 

*Schedule is subject to change.

Tuesdays, 11 am EST/8 am PST
November 3–December 4, 2020*

 

Registration Status: OPEN

​

Tour Cost: $10 per session, $50 for series

Ages: 15+

The Gates for Entry to Carterhaugh's Gothic Fairy Tales Course Close TODAY!

Red by Jay Bendt
"What beautiful eyes, you have" the wolf whimpered, as I carved out his heart."

Carterhaugh Is Still Open To Take Students for:

BUT HURRY...

THE GATES CLOSE TONIGHT!

This unique 4-week course begins MONDAY, November 9th, 2020!

Why Gothic Fairy Tales?

Gothic fits 2020. 

Not because it’s full of horrors (though there is that in common), but because, deep down, the gothic is about transgression. It’s about subverting power. It’s about shadows - but it asks us to think about why there are shadows, how to find beauty in them, and, when necessary, how to dispel them. 

The gothic is about grappling with the darkness and facing down monsters.

Just like fairy tales.

In this course, you’ll take a deep dive into the gothic mode and into fairy tales. You’ll learn what they are, how they overlap, and how their dread glamour and magic feed each other. And you’ll learn how they can ignite your own creative process.

The modules include:

We will also be using the fairy tale anthology Beyond the Woods: Fairy Tales Retold edited by Paula Guran, so if you don't already have a copy, check your local library or find a copy online today (used copies can be found for around $5).

Click HERE to go to the course info page for more details

and to SIGN UP.

Photo by Tiko Giorgadze

The Curse Is Broken

Today we saw people of all affiliations defend democracy.

Today we saw Americans arm the Sword of Truth.

Today we saw the Sword of Truth break the curse.

A new chapter begins, this time in blue. 

We know there is a LOT of work to do.

But for today, let us rejoice and may the healing begin.

NB: All animation/Sleeping Beauty images are owned by Disney. The artists for both wallpapers (book, and butterfly on books) are unknown.

A Kingdom Lost For A Drop Of Honey (A Very Relevant Folktale for Today)

This folktale from Thailand and Burma, sometimes titled "A Drop of Honey" or "Not My Problem" is perfect for where we're at as a society today. We'll leave you in the capable hands of writer and storyteller Margaret Read Macdonald, who includes it in her book Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About. It's a very short story and perfect to share with families too. 

We've found a lovely sequence of illustrations that are perfect to scroll slowly through if you'd like some illustrated visuals to accompany the storytelling. Just click play then scroll down. (If your video stops once you've scrolled beyond it, open it in a separate tab in YouTube, press play, then click back to the tab with this page and scroll slowly as the tales unfolds. It works wonderfully.)

Enjoy!

There are variants of this story in other countries too, specifically Myanmar, Iran, and Armenia. There are even two lovely illustrated versions from Armenia, which you can see the covers for below the illustration sequence, though they're a little difficult to track down. 

The beautiful illustrations in this post are by Wenda Collins. Go give her a "like" on her page! We think this tale should be much better known and illustrations like hers make tales much easier to share!