Storytelling performance at Fieldwork:

Isidora Spielmann | Sep 28, 2016

The four storytellers that performed at Fieldwork in Mabery last Saturday, thought carefully about which story to bring. Earlier in the year Fieldwork and 2 women productions from Ottawa walked the land and felt the history of both the land and the people. They brought four magnificent stories to enchant their audience with.

Storytelling is one of the oldest crafts of humankind, a transmitter of history and wisdom. It can be a friendly reminder of values and morals or a roadmap to overcoming obstacles and reaching one’s goals. The stories we heard spoke of living close to the land when life was simpler yet more difficult, when it took all of a person’s strength and wit to stay alive and magic was accepted, respected and often expected.

Once the audience had settled around the small tables in the comfortable barn loft at Fieldwork lit by strings of tiny lights that spanned the rafters, Jennifer Cayley of 2wp, curator of this show, introduced the concept and the individual performers.

Katherine Grier, a storyteller for 30 years, took her listeners on a journey following Grace. Fleeing hunger and a desperate future in their old country, Grace came to Canada on a boat with her parents and several other families. Life in the new country is not easy. The families have come on the calling of a rich landowner who needed cheap labor in this as yet untamed land. Grace learns about the tale of the boy with the hedgehog face. A woodling had put a spell on the pregnant woman, just for a lark, and the boy grows to look more and more like a hedgehog. Called the Hedgehurst, he goes off deep into the woods to make his own life. Finally, a king finds him, a princess marries him and this princess manages to break the spell and return the Hedgehurst to his true human form. Grace is relieved to hear that a person can make a living in those dark woods that have no paths or roads.

Daniel Kletke experienced his first storytelling event at Rasputin’s in Ottawa and has been an avid listener and teller since then. He enchanted us with the story of three brothers who set out together to find their future. The youngest, Fargo, is as good-hearted as he is beautiful, which makes his two older brothers angry and jealous. They plot against him. Stealing his bread while he sleeps, they use his hunger on the following day to trick him into letting them blind him and break his legs. Then they leave him broken. The youth never loses heart and magic water heals his eyes as well as his legs. In turn he collects some of the water to heal the paw of a wolf, the arm of a field mouse and the wing of a honey bee. All three of these animals bring their entire tribe to his rescue later, when a cruel king challenges him against impossible tasks. Fargo’s steadfast goodness and the magic of the healing waters wins him the heart of the lovely princess and the kingdom, where he reigns with wisdom and care for the rest of his days.

A widely known author and storyteller, Jan Andrews brought to us the tale of Ti-Jean who, on his mother’s wish, follows his two brothers who have gone to seek the hand of a rich man’s daughter. All they need to do is say something so important or clever to her, that she would be silenced. The two men ride on, while their young brother follows, undetected by them. On his way the clever (and hard working) young brother earns a magic napkin, a magic bottle and a magic violin. Of course in the end he frees all the men who tried in vain to silence the young woman, he also gets to marry her himself and they lived happily ever after. Jan loves stories that have magic in them, deep meaning and solid teachings.

Last but definitely not least we heard the story of Hansel and Gretel, told by Marta Singh. In this story Gretel and Hansel were real children who were told the fairytale of Hansel and Gretel by their mother, as long as they could remember. When times get tough and the parents have to send the children away to work at the next village, Gretel begins to understand how the book reflects their own lives and teaches the children the way to continue. The lives of the children in the tale and the children in the book mirror each other, weaving back and forth between history and present until they are set free into the future.

Stories have messages for us all, especially for growing up minds: messages to be connected to the earth and how to live with it, learning the trades and carving out a living.

At the Q+A someone asked how one becomes a storyteller. The answer: by telling stories. Like any craft or trade, one has to start; skill will follow.

Fieldwork, at 2501 Old Brooke Rd., shows site-specific artwork in and around a field and invites visitors to enjoy the exhibitions year-round. If you are interested in upcoming events and exhibitions, please visit www.fieldworkproject.com