Resurrecting Dead Fairy Tales is composed of an online recorded lecture followed by a live Q&A with Jack. It is the beginning exploration of our next full-scale production where we will create a youth-centered theatrical work exploring plague in fairy tales, myths, and animal wonder tales from Indigenous and international cultures. Juxtaposed with the contemporary dystopian society emphasized by COVID-19, we will work with culturally and socially representative youth to look deeper into difficult questions and find a voice to process and heal.
Jack’s lecture will focus on some of the stories we hope to explore in our larger production, including Taiwanese plague myths, Grimm’s Tales’ The Pied Piper and its subtext to the abuse of children, and Pesta, the personification of the Black Plague in Norway. Through our work with Jack, we will unpack and decolonize the messages woven into folktales and investigate the impact of plagues across history and culture.
Jack Zipes is the editor of The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (Princeton) and The Great Fairy Tale Tradition.