Lupercalia in the Narrative Arts Club

by C Murray Fri Feb 15, 2008 13:57

Last night the city was full of cars and the restaurants full. There were plastic and cellophane
rose wrappers littering the streets (one wonders if they came from Kenya, where the export
of red roses is only second to violence and rape in the wake of the elections).

The evening of Lupercalia, a Roman feast dedicated to fertility and the jealous Juno
got underway at 8pm.

The evening was preceeded by a short talk on the 'Madness of Love' and the story
of Juno and Galatea ; and was divided into two sections with a break.

Two new story tellers took the floor , Caroline Hill did a rendering of the Pygmalion
story (with actions), it was very good though if you sit in the front row and relax enough
on a whiskey you can become an audience participant and have yer arms caressed.

Miren Mireia did 'Maria and her lovers', a tale of wardrobes and unscrupulous female
infidelity in Mexico.

The second half consisted of two short tales and some of the Arabian Nights.
'Moon Woman' was excellent, followed by an adaption of Carter's vampire tale
'The Lady of the House of Love' (perfect for the evening that was in it)
and The Arabian nights tale was on infidelity. There was a short piece called
'Giant Wife-Swapping' too.

All in all a lovely evening, wherein a short statement on the honesty and dishonesty
of women led me to the conclusion: better a dishonest one, than one who pretends
honesty (tis all in the intent).

audience interjections and giggles abounded and some new volunteers
are bravely going to tell their stories at the next round, which is scheduled for St
Patrick's Day.

Maybe there will be snakes...

by Coilín - NAC Fri Feb 15, 2008 16:32

Thanks for your enthusiasm for a rather mad listening experience! I'm delighted to discover that, no matter how far I push the boat out, there are always people keen to jump on board. Maybe it's the wonderfully outrageous, provoc-attractive influence of Denise Duhamel and Angela Carter at work?

Our next show will be close enough to Paddy's Day: actually Thursday 13 March. Event notice coming soon.

Thanks again,
Coilín

by The Oh-Aissieux - NAC Mon Feb 18, 2008 00:39

part 1:

Intro - Prozac takes the edge off the pain of falling in love!

Pygmalion - by Caroline Hill
Juno and Io
Maria and her lovers - by Miren Mireia
Sux races
The sun and the moon
The lonely chatelaine

part 2:
The wife-swapping giant
Moon woman (thanks to Chris for requesting it!)
Shahrazad

All stories were performed by The Oh-Aissieux unless stated otherwise.

Some sources:
Juno and Io is an ancient Roman myth, which can be found, in a version by Thomas Bulfinch, here:
Juno and her Rivals, Io and Callisto
http://www.bartleby.com/181/041.html

Maria and her lovers is a Mexican folktale, which appears in a version entitled "The three lovers" in Angela Carter's Book of fairy tales.

Sux races: The characters and events in this story are entirely fictional. Any resemblance they may have to any actual person or event is coincidental and unintentional.

The sun and the moon is a Greenlandic/Inuit creation myth, which has been collected and published in Danish by Knud Rasmussen. A version entitled "The raping of the sun" appears in Denise Duhamel's book, The woman with two vaginas.

The lonely chatelaine is an adaptation of Angela Carter's story, The lady of the house of love, which appears in her book, The bloody chamber. This book is a collection of very evocative literary retellings of old folktales about vampires, werewolves and other fearsome beasts, and is very highly recommended. Find it by searching for the following terms in a search engine of your choice:
"angela carter" "bloody chamber and other stories"

The wife-swapping giant was adapted from a poem by Denise Duhamel, entitled "The consequences of wife-swapping with a giant", which appears in her collection, The woman with two vaginas. According to the book, these poems are "inspired by the myths, folklore, and legends of the Inuit." The book is out of print, but can be bought secondhand, e.g. on alibris, or read on the Web here: http://capa.conncoll.edu/duhamel.ww2v.html

Moon woman was inspired by a poem by Denise Duhamel, entitled "Him-whose-penis-never-slept", which appears in her collection, The woman with two vaginas. See details just above.

Shahrazad was adapted from Husain Hadawy's faithful but very fine English translation of the Arabian Nights from a medieval manuscript.