A beloved bedtime story, Red Riding Hood has seen a lot of rewrites since it first came to light in the 1650s. Our first fable, Red, contends: that's been a little much.
Collaborating with playwright-musician Graham Porter, choreographer Roopa Cheema is well-prepared to rip away the centuries of cozy swaddling of this fable and restore it to its blood-drenched origins.
Not only is Roopa the recipient of a York University award for excellence in choreography, she's also a secondary school teacher and the artistic director of Toronto's Vessel Dance Projects - whose inspired mission it is to bring contemporary dance into venues with beer.
A Red with its edge intact? Let's go for it!
"The biggest challenge of Red," Roopa (pictured left and as Wolf) says, "has been making a 
creature seem real without over-dramatizing his movement, at the same time as a choreographer's vocabulary is movement. There's a lot more character and intention inside the body going on than is usual for me."
For Graham, who has composed Red's original17th-century-style score, the biggest challenge has been going without blood. Stage blood, that is.
"My first work on Red was in university, where we splashed a gallon of stage blood all over the walls and floors of our tutorial room. Regrettably the Hamilton Fringe schedule allows only 15 minutes for clean-up," he sighs.
Alternating with Roopa as the Red dancer will be Meaghan Giusti (below), M.A. in Dance and member of the Collective HEAT dance company.
Meaghan's performance credits include the Toronto Fringe, the Eros, Thanatos & the Avant-Garde series, and the fFIDA International Dance Festival. Presently choreographing her own contemporary dance circus, she has a definite fondness for beast roles.
Come see the fateful meeting of girl and wolf in the first act of Tell Me Another!
But, don't bring the kids. "As an adult, a feminist, and a teacher," Roopa concludes, "I think fables are reallyy f***'d-up. The more I look at them, the less I would read them to any future children I might have."
Our second fable features the work of Graham Porter, Tell Me Another's director and composer, who comes to the Hamilton Fringe fresh from work on John / Yoko Bed Piece, his fifth show with draft89 Productions in Toronto.
Graham's music was warmly received by www.newsfix.ca reviewer Mike Crisolago, who wrote:
"His original songs are passionate and genuine and woven wonderfully into the event. Porter deserves great credit for adding a soul to the heart and bones of [playwright Risha] Yorke's play." (May 2009)
Now, in Tell Me Another, Graham presents a musical rendition of a sadly-overlooked Grimm fable, The Juniper Tree, transposed to a Depression-era setting. It's the perfect summer fun-time story!
Freezing cold and out of gin, a balladeer consoles himself with the story of a barren wife praying before a juniper tree. Sure, her prayer is answered ... but in typical fable fashion, things can only go downhill from there.
What makes The Juniper Tree remarkable is the uncompromising steepness of the hill, with cannibalism and payback hard on the heels of murder and deceit. Could Graham's affinity for this fable arise from his background in Anglican liturgical music? You be the judge.
Come hear Graham tell this story in the second act of Tell Me Another.
The final fable in Tell Me Another is Fox and Girl, written by Kathy Bischoping and performed by puppeteer Michael Scott, a Fanshawe College theatre grad whose credits include The Touring Players' national tour of Charlotte's Web and, with Rusty Brass, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).
We join the actor(s) at a break in a rehearsal:
"For a one-man show," Michael remarks, "Fox and Girl has a most dysfunctional cast."
"Faith, the doll in the role of Girl, is routinely miserable, then faux contrite. Mr. Fox, the puppet playing Fox, is horribly needy and passive aggressive. The two of them turn rehearsals into pageants of bullying, resentful posturing, and tactless self-aggrandisement."
Mr. Fox is not amused. "Do ignore Mr. Scott's bleating. The real news is, I just took 17 stitches to my left ear and was frightfully brave. Posies and hothouse grapes may be sent c/o Blackcurrant Productions."
"I categorically deny rumours I was having an eyebrow lift. Might a fox not have his secrets?"
"Yuh, whatever (mono-brow)," is Faith's thoughtful contribution.
The interview was interrupted as a skirmish ensued. Despite Faith's concerted efforts and martial arts expertise, she was unable to ruin her costume, which she not-so-secretly despises.
Come see the dysfunctional trio put on Tell Me Another's third act! Mr. Fox wishes to inform you that he will be signing autographs after each show, provided a decent fountain pen may be procured.
creature seem real without over-dramatizing his movement, at the same time as a choreographer's vocabulary is movement. There's a lot more character and intention inside the body going on than is usual for me."
