Hosted by our ever gracious Pat Carfra, the evening began in an "unusual" way with dimmed overhead lights and a lit candle on a table in the position of a teller.
The audience was asked to concentrate on the candle and to listen while Janna's "Poem for Six Voices", beginning and ending "We are the storytellers" was spoken by Janna, Pat, Shoshana, Sandra, Jennifer and Diane.
This was followed by Jennifer's contribution to the recent telling in Vancouver of 'the birth of Sundiata" from the Mali epic of the same name. A magical recreation of another long-ago world.
Molly Newman, who plays the character of Emily Carr at Emily Carr house, among other storytelling and musical events, accompanied herself on the ukelele as she sang her first ballad, returning later in the programme to sing Hawaiian songs connecting the Hawaiian/Kanaka people's history to early Victoria.
Jacquie Hunt's rendition of Rudyard Kipling's beloved story of "The Elephant's Child" enchanted this writer and, I suspect, every listener there.
Carol Kenway's story "The Tourist and the Traveller" opened the doorways of the mind to the idea of leaving preconceived ideas of other cultures and behaviours behind when becoming a true traveller willing to travel as opportunity presents itself, rather than within the confines of a predestined tourist package.
Lee told us "Wee Meg Barnileg and the Fairies" with delightful gusto and humour. As Lee writes: "A spoiled young girl meets the fairies and gets her comeuppance. Well, or redeems herself and changes the course of her life. Depends on how you look at it !!"
Janna
editor's note: Janna always keeps track of the happenings at our monthly Fern St meeting. She has kindly agreed to share those reflections on our TMAS blog. If you have never been to Fern or if you have missed it a few times, do come and join in the fun. See our website calendar for details on Fern and on all of our storytelling events.
