In a gripping and hilarious show, Yorkshire storyteller Eden Ballantyne takes us back to the original versions of some of the most famous children’s stories and leaves us wondering what sort of world young people grew up in back in the early 19th century. Buckets Of Blood – Fairy Tales Not For Kids strips away the sanitisation that the writings of the Brothers Grimm have been subjected to over the last 200 years and delivers them in their startlingly raw first-edition form.
Ballantyne's renditions are a joy
Ballantyne is a consummate storyteller and could entertain on any subject, but here he revels in revealing the history and development of the Tales over time and in different cultures as well as delivering them in energetic performances the form the Brothers intended. Children in those days, it seems, were far less sheltered, protected and sensitive than their modern counterparts, or perhaps the realities of life at the time were so harsh that even a gruesome fairytale would fail to shock or cause distress.
If we think modern versions of Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel contain some awkward material then be prepared for the horrors of versions that wallow in mutilation, kidnapping, child abuse and cannibalism and were deemed entirely appropriate as material to induce a good night’s sleep. Excessive violence and gore are the norm in these works; the Tales are Grimm by name and grim by nature, but Ballantyne's renditions are a joy.
His highly entertaining hour-long storytelling and fascinating history lesson includes reference to lesser-known Tales and explains some of the illogicalities that have crept into the familiar ones over the years. If you have ever wondered about the impracticality of a glass slipper, this is your chance to find out how it came about.
