April 2011

St. Marys Storytelling presents the final installment of the 2011 Winter Storytelling Performance Series: Tristan and Iseult, the medieval legend retold by Stephanie Beneteau.

Erotic passion and murderous rage succeed each other in this medieval love story that keeps audiences enthralled until the cliff-hanging finale. King Marc of Cornwall, his wife Iseult of Ireland and his nephew Tristan are caught in a tragic love triangle. Watch as they weave their way through danger and delight, accompanied by a motley crew of secondary characters, lepers, dwarves and servants who add color and humour to the tale. Love, laughter, sea voyages, dragons, beautiful green-eyed maidens and psychic dwarves, noble knights and cuckolded kings: all is in place for an unforgettable voyage.

The legend of Tristan &  Iseult travelled from bard to bard from the early Middle Ages through the British Isles down to the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine and back up again to Wagner and even Hollywood. The story has been told through movies, plays, operas and novels. Here it is brought back to its original form: oral storytelling. Let the storyteller’s words weave pictures in your mind’s eye as you travel to the distant land of Cornwall where the wind blows wild and the lovers walk the edge of a sword.

St. Marys Storytelling, a non-profit arts organization devoted to the art of oral storytelling, is excited to welcome storyteller Stéphanie Bénéteau from Montreal for the final installment of their Winter Storytelling Performance Series on April 10^th, 2011.

Stéphanie Bénéteau grew up hearing stories in three languages. Her French-Canadian father told her stories of a bank robber and his dog, her American mother read to her every night, and the children in the Italian village where she grew up told her stories of the witch that lived at the end of the street. She studied literature and education before finding her true vocation as a storyteller, a career she has been pursuing full time since 1996. She has put on a solo of erotic stories, a show of stories from the Arabian Nights which she toured in Europe, and most recently the story of Tristan & Iseult for which she received a grant from the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec. The premiere was held during the Quebec Intercultural Storytelling Festival in October 2009, and has since travelled extensively through Quebec, Ontario, and Europe. Stéphanie tells ancient myths and legends from the oral tradition in a lyrical, feminine voice touched with a hint of saucy humour. She also tells extensively to children.

Tristan & Iseult will take place at 2pm on Sunday, April 10th, at the St. Marys United Church Hall at 85 Church St. South in St. Marys. Tickets are $15 in advance, and $17 at the door (includes refreshments). Tickets are available by phone 519-229-6468, by emailing events@stmarysstorytelling.org, at Stewart Books in St. Marys, or online at www.stmarysstorytelling.org St. Marys Storytelling Inc. gratefully acknowledges the support of Canada Council for the Arts for the funding of this year’s Series. This performance is recommended for an older youth and adult audience.

Purchase tickets to Tristan & Iseult by clicking the image below. You will be taken to Perth Arts Connect, where you can purchase event tickets online via Paypal