Grimm Tales: Telling Stories at the Cambridge Theatre

2012-10-29-20-33-43

I managed to get hold of a ticket for Grimm Tales: Telling Stories last night at the Cambridge Theatre in London. I was gutted when I found out that Philip Pullman wasn’t going to be there owing to ill health (get well soon, Philip!) but was partly mollified on learning that Meg Rosoff would be conversing with Neil Gaiman instead. Another surprise came when author Audrey Niffenegger (The Time-Traveller’s Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry) appeared on stage to read a story from Pullman’s new book, a retelling of several Grimm fairy stories. She received a massive cheer from the audience, which she became part of after her reading was complete.

Despite being disappointed at Philip Pullman’s absence, I enjoyed listening to Neil Gaiman (author of several books including Neverwhere, American Gods and Coraline) and Meg Rosoff (author of a number of teen novels including How I Live Now) talk about the history of fairy tales and their relationship to culture. Some of the things they discussed I already knew – such as the original version of the Sleeping Beauty story (put it this way, she wasn’t woken with a kiss) – but other ideas and concepts were new to me.

I found it interesting to hear about stories from contrasting perspectives and different cultures: Neil Gaiman is a British author living in the USA and Meg Rosoff is an American author residing in London, and I enjoyed hearing about their diverse experiences. The differences between the US and British attitudes to scary stuff were fascinating: the film of Gaiman’s Coraline – a frightening movie for kids – was greeted quite matter-of-factly by British audiences and critics but with puzzlement by their US counterparts, who were surprised that it was meant to scare kids.

The evening, which was over far too quickly, ended with a reading by Gaiman of his new story, Click-Clack the Rattlebag. I am sure I was not the only audience member to be enthralled by the tale: the twist towards the end drew a gasp from the audience and I spent a lot of time looking over my shoulder on the way home!