Last September, we ran a review of a production of The Lion King by Sticks Theatre -- an incredible company in Oxfordshire, England, run entirely by teen actors, directors, designers, costumers, and producers. This weekend, they are offering a sassy take on the Cinderella fairy tale. If you're anywhere near Oxford, this is not to be missed. The peformances are on Saturday, July 7, at 2:00 pm and 6:30 pm, at St. Mary's Lodge, Challow Road in Wantage, Oxfordshire.
Cinderella is one of most popular tales in the fairy tale canon -- indeed, there are few people in Western culture (as well as in many Eastern cultures) who do not know her story. We've all grown up with the wicked step–mother, the pumpkin coach, and the slipper of glass; these images have become an indelible part of childhood. Yet the Cinderella we know today has been altered from the Ash Girl folk tales handed down for at least a thousand years. Our modern Cinderella is a simple (and simple–minded) rags–to–riches story: the tale of a timid, passive girl whose lovely face wins her the "happy ending" of a wealthy marriage. How did the feisty Ash Girl of the past turn into the feckless creature of the Disney film and countless modern picture books?
To examine this, we must go back to the oldest written versions of the story, beginning with a Chinese Cinderella tale recorded back in the 9th century (although the scribe, Tuan Ch'eng Shih, implies that the story was old even at that time). To learn more about Cinderella's history, follow this link to an article on the subject in the current issue of the Journal of Mythic Arts.
The art above is by Edmund Dulac; Val Cameron Prinsep; and an unattributed painting from Caesar Alcocar's page on Yeh-Hsian, the Chinese Cinderella. The little drawing below is by Jennie Harbour. And here's a poignant poem by Emma Bull, from the point of view of one of Cinderella's step-sisters.
Speaking of fairy tales: the queen of fairy tales on the web, Heidi Anne Heiner, editor of Surlalune Fairy Tales, has recently redesigned her whole website...so stop in and take a look if you haven't been there for awhile. It is truly a treasure. Heidi has also got a MySpace page now, still minimal but likely to evolve. Endicott has got a MySpace page now too, which is also in the process of growing and changing -- and we've just put up a new MySpace page for Ophaboom, the Commedia dell'Arte theatre company run by my partner Howard Gayton. If you're MySpace users, come "friend" us!
I really enjoyed Emma Bull's Cinderella poem. Thanks very much for linking to it!
Posted by: Eric Marin | July 06, 2007 at 02:41 PM
What a cool site!! I'll be back!
Posted by: rochambeau | July 06, 2007 at 05:24 PM