The Thaumaturgy Department
thaumaturg
Main Entry: thau·ma·turg
Pronunciation: \ˈthȯ-mə-ˌtərj\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from New Latin thaumaturgus, from Greek thaumatourgos working miracles, from thaumat-, thauma miracle + ergon work — more at Theater, Work
Main Entry: thau·ma·turg
Pronunciation: \ˈthȯ-mə-ˌtərj\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from New Latin thaumaturgus, from Greek thaumatourgos working miracles, from thaumat-, thauma miracle + ergon work — more at Theater, Work
The official blog of the Dramaturgy Department at Baltimore's CENTERSTAGE. For posts related to our current and upcoming shows, click the links to the right. Alternatively, you could begin at the beginning, and explore our posts in chronological order.
Five hundred new fairytales discovered in Germany
Collection of fairytales gathered by historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth had been locked away in an archive in Regensburg for over 150 years
(via rmgilby)
In Search of the Folktale
With our second preview tonight for Sondheim & Lapine’s Into the Woods, a short reflection on folktales.
D. L. Ashliman's folklore, fairy lore, and mythology home page
Website of Prof. D.L. Ashliman, folklorist and literary historian, author of A Guide to Folktales in the English Language and other resources we’ve found quite useful in prepping for Into the Woods (and just intriguing in their own right).
Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of A Fairy Tale (Catherine Orenstein)
In Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked a young scholar goes to Grandmother’s house—and beyond—to uncover the surprisingly complex and contradictory morals we’ve learned from this seemingly simple folk tale. In Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked Catherine Orenstein reveals for the first time the intricate sexual politics, moral ambiguities, and philosophical underpinnings of Red Riding Hood’s epic journey to her grandmother’s house—and how, from the nursery on, fairy tales influence our view of the world. Beginning with its first publication as a cautionary tale on the perils of seduction, written in reaction to the licentiousness of the court of Louis XIV, Orenstein traces the many lives the tale has lived since then, from its appearance in modern advertisements for cosmetics and automobiles, the inspiration it brought to poets such as Anne Sexton, and its starring role in pornographic films. In Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked, Red appears as seductress, hapless victim, riot grrrrl, femme fatale, and even she-wolf, as Orenstein shows how through centuries of different guises, the story has served as a barometer of social and sexual mores pertaining to women. Full of fascinating history, generous wit, and intelligent analysis, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked proves that the story of one young girl’s trip through the woods continues to be one of our most compelling modern myths.
-bookdepository.com
“ The best fairy tales and fairy-tale films deal with the human condition and survival. One of the reasons that we keep returning to fairy tales after we have heard, read, or seen them since our childhood is that they touch on vital and relevant issues in our daily struggles and endeavors to control our destinies.
Jack Zipes, from an online interview about his work on folk and fairy tales, here: LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD GOES TO COLLEGE: an interview with Jack Zipes
“ The fractured fairy tales that comprise Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods are initially a frothy frolic, becoming dark in the second act. As children, we were satisfied when the wolf was vanquished, the princess was united with her prince, and the tenacious boy outwitted—or outran—the giant. But happily ever after, Sondheim reminds us, is not part of the human condition.
Martha Thomas previews Into the Woods in the latest Urbanite at Old Tales Made New | Theater | Urbanite Baltimore Magazine
The Great Collectors: A Brief History of the Brothers Grimm & Their Timeless Tales
Kim Furano’s deft digest of the Grimm’s process, history, and agenda—program dramaturgy for Into the Woods at CENTERSTAGE and Westport Country Playhouse.
“
The wolf, now piously old and good,
When again he met Red Riding Hood
Spoke: “Incredible, my child,
What kinds of stories are spread. They’re wild.
As though there were, so the lie is told,
A dark murder affair of old.
The Brothers Grimm are the ones to blame.
Confess! It wasn’t half as bad as they claim.”
Little Red Riding Hood saw the wolf’s bite
And stammered: “You’re right, quite right.”
Whereupon the wolf, heaving many a sigh,
Gave kind regards to Granny and waved good-bye.
Original "Little Red" goes back Into the Woods
Rehearsal video and interview with Danielle Ferland, who appeared in the original Broadway production of Into the Woods as Little Red—now returning as the Baker’s Wife in Mark Lamos’ co-production between CENTERSTAGE and Westport Country Playhouse.
The Sand-man (1817, 1885 ed.) by E.T.W. Hoffman
e-text of
The classic — and widely anthologized — tale of a boy and his automaton — and, according to Freud, who discusses this work in his essay “The Uncanny,” castration anxiety. Automata, by the way, were a happening phenomenon in the C19 — check out Edgar Allan Poe’s “Maelzel’s Chess Player” and Hoffmann’s own “Automata” for other Gothic-tradition examples; for a general discussion of automata, check out The Automata Gallery or this History of Automata.
