Review: NOT YOUR GRANDMA'S FOLK TALES, VAULT Festival

"Because this is a story, and strange things can happen in stories"

It has been a long time since I sat down and listened to a self-proclaimed storyteller tell tales. The concept of listening to stories reminds me of my childhood, sitting down in the library and listening to a teacher read from a book. But, Not Your Grandma's Folk Tales is certainly not a teacher reading a book to children.

The show is made up of four short stories, with two told by Niall Moorjani and two told by Minnie Wilkinson from the Suitcase Storytelling Company. Having heard Moorjani's storytelling before, I was looking forward to another one of their performances and was excited to hear Wilkinson for the first time.

The show begins with a playful story from Wilkinson using characters from Norse mythology like Odin, Freyr, Thor, Loki, and Sif. But, from the start, one can tell that this is not going to be a traditional telling of the tale of the creation of Mjölnir, Thor's hammer. Wilkinson uses modern references and sometimes speaks directly to audience members, breaking the fourth wall (though it can be argued there is no fourth wall in storytelling, as the audience are one with the performers). The story is bright and funny, telling the tale of Loki attempting to appease Sif after playing a prank on her.

Wilkinson does a brilliant job of using hand gestures and movements to enhance the words of her story, creating worlds with simple waves of her hands in the air. With quick movements she becomes different characters, embodying Norse gods and taking on their characteristics. Wilkinson's words themselves are like sunshine, clear and bright.

The first story told by Moorjani tells the tale of a lumberjack who carries the literal weight of the world on her "square, strong, brown shoulders", refusing to let anyone help her and giving up the comfortable life she has with the love of her life, Carol, and their dachshund, Colin. Moorjani 's story is inspired by the Greek myth of Atlas holding up the world, but goes much further than the classic, delving into the psychological and physical hardships of carrying the world while also creating a beautiful metaphor for grief and the necessity of a support system. Moorjani has a voice like honey, dripping with words that soothe, bringing comfort.

Wilkinson's second story told the classic Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, but with an absolutely beautiful twist that gives Eurydice more autonomy in whether she leaves the Underworld or not but also does not give Orpheus a completely tragic ending. The tale is still a tragedy, but more bittersweet than heartbreaking, leaving the audience with feelings of love that will last throughout time. Each time that Wilkinson spoke of the gods holding their breath in awe of the songs of Orpheus I found myself holding my breath along with her and the gods themselves, waiting to hear what would come next in the tale.

And, last but not least, Moorjani ends the show with a story of The Witch of the Northmost Mountains and The Great God of the Sky, taking place in the same universe as their first story. Even though it follows similar beats of Greek mythology with The Great God of the Sky (presumably based on Zeus) and the Goddess of Kindness (presumably Hera) in an unhappy marriage, with The Great God of the Sky having many affairs while restricting his wife from having any. I absolutely adored Moorjani's description of the witch's home in the mountains, as they were able to create a magical picture in my mind of a tower in the mountains, a place where a woman is safe in her independence.

Ultimately, Not Your Grandma's Folk Tales is a beautiful hour of storytelling that will wrap you up in a blanket of magical tales and leave you feeling ready to face the world, armed with the words of others. I hope to hear more of Moorjani and Wilkinson's stories in the future and look forward to seeing what projects they have in store!

Not Your Grandma's Folk Tales ran at the VAULT Festival from 17 to 19 March at The Spacement at The Glitch with performances at 6:45 PM.

Photo Credit: VAULT Festival

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