A Road Scholar Program by Judith Heineman & Daniel Marcotte
What really happened after Sleeping Beauty is awakened by the Prince’s kiss? “Happily ever after…” is only relative, and what relatives inhabit these lurid tales! Listen to the 19th century tales of the Brothers Grimm as originally intended for adults, transformed through Judith and Dan’s 21st Century interpretations. The dramatic retellings, some sung as ballads, are accompanied on 16th Century Renaissance lute set to 16th century French and English ballad tunes. Bruno Bettleheim, in Uses of Enchantment, discusses the power of fright in children as a necessary and useful survival tool. Listening to narrow escapes in ghost stories and gothic tales strengthens human survival instincts, thus justifying the enjoyment we have always shared in hearing a good scary story.