A long time ago, in a faraway land, there were two brothers. They wanted to find the magic formula of the folk tales that were told around their kingdom. They also wanted to preserve these stories for posterity. So they went to the wise women in the country, visiting them in the villages and asking them for their stories.
The wise women were happy to help them, but when the brothers went home to write down the stories, they made significant changes to what they had been told. They omitted critical details, and often they jumbled up or completely altered parts of the plot. They left some wise women’s characters out of the stories or changed them to be wicked or ugly or stepmothers instead of mothers. Eventually, they even left the names of their sources, those wise women storytellers, out of their stories.
But they hadn’t reckoned with the sharp mind and good memory of their sister, Charlotte. Thankfully, she decided to put things straight, and we were finally able to find out the real story behind her famous brothers’ stories…
Curious? Coming up is a play that’s a little bit different from what you normally see at the theatre.
It’s about the story behind the stories of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, and why so many of the tales they collected have been removed from most editions over the years. Aptly titled GRIMMS’ TALES THEY NEVER TOLD YOU, the play features nine selected grim and gruesome tales embedded in a frame story and performed by 16th Avenue Theatre actors. It’s a horribly delightful and, at the same time, insightful show.
A Black Box Stage production by 16th Avenue Theatre, Tauranga. Show times are 7:30pm Friday and Saturday, 8 and 9 March, and a 2pm Sunday matinee on 10 March. Doors open 30min prior. Tickets are $10. Door sales only.
Play by Margarete Kraemer
Directed by Geraldine Broderick
Watch this short interview with director Geraldine Broderick