June 5, 2008 issue
Jack Tales in Blowing Rock June 11 to 27
The Blowing Rock Stage Company 2008 interns will stage their annual free performances of Jack Tales, the rich and orally derived tales spun for more than 200 years throughout the Appalachian Mountain region. The group will perform a trio of playlets at the outdoor Annie Cannon Gardens, off Laurel Lane in downtown Blowing Rock, on Wednesdays and Fridays from June 11 to 27 at 10:00 and 11:30 a.m. Admission is free.
The BRSC interns will perform three adventures: “How Jack Ended Up in This Neck of the Woods to Begin With,” “How Jack Appeased the Chipmunk of Doom” and “How Jack Hoodwinked Ol’ Raggedy Bones.”
The repertory of Jack Tales finds its constant in a good-natured but clever young hero named Jack, known to many of us as the hero of “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Jack the Giantkiller,” who goes out alone into the world, faces challenges his brothers fail and surmounts them by means of ordinary objects endowed with magical powers, such as a bullhorn, tablecloth and cowhide. Farm families in the North Carolina mountains have preserved and passed these stories on orally, with their existence traced back as far as the 15th century and continuing today on Beech Mountain.
Today, Jack Tales are more likely to be told at folk festivals and in classrooms or performed on stages than recounted by an old woman sitting next to a fire, but the fact that we continue to perpetuate these stories is proof that Jack will live a long, promising life.
Jack Tales will be performed on Wednesdays, June 11, 18 and 25, and on Fridays, June 13, 20 and 27. For more information, call 828-295-9627.
Want To Go?
Dates: Wednesdays, June 11, 18 and 25/Fridays, June 13, 20 and 27
Times: 10:00 and 11:30 a.m.
Location: Annie Cannon Gardens, downtown Blowing Rock
Cost: Free
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