Fables, Beasts, and Spells are three elements found in many traditional stories and myths. Fables are short narratives that typically feature animals or inanimate objects taking on human-like qualities and behaving in ways that convey a moral lesson. These stories often highlight human virtues and vices through the actions of the animal characters. Beasts, on the other hand, are mythical creatures that are often depicted as powerful, mysterious, and sometimes dangerous. These creatures can take various forms, from dragons and unicorns to werewolves and sirens. Lastly, spells are magical incantations or rituals that are believed to have the power to alter reality or manipulate the natural world.
The stories of Ka'wi the Gorger, Nitun, Kafi, and Dos-Ryga will exist in this land, always. Do you wish to meet them in battle once more?
There is grandeur to the Beast, scaling the side of a skyscraper, 26 stories hand over hand, to view his beloved, and as embodied by David Jones, the Beast is a creature of profound longing, his grunts providing eloquent testaments of surprise at the impossible beauty of the world and yearning to connect with it. Screenshots containing UI elements are generally declined on sight, the same goes for screenshots from the modelviewer or character selection screen.
Lastly, spells are magical incantations or rituals that are believed to have the power to alter reality or manipulate the natural world. In many folktales and legends, spells are used by characters to achieve their goals or to overcome obstacles. The common theme connecting these three elements is the notion of the supernatural or the extraordinary.
16 Spells to Charm the Beast
The Off Center, through March 8 Running Time: 1 hr, 40 min Once upon a time, Lillian was able to look out the window of her 26th-floor apartment and scan the skyline of the city to her heart's content. She could peer through her binoculars at the peacock weathervane atop the Baron Bank Building, the mysteriously slanted roof of the Oboe Lodge, and the Statue of Offended Dignity, and she was happy. But then a new building was erected next to hers and obscured her view, leaving a void in her heart. She was courted by a beast -- a bona fide beast, as from a fairy tale -- that adored her, and its love might have filled the void, but Lillian spurned his advances, refusing the floral bouquet he offered on bended knee as she stood shivering in the snow falling inside her apartment. In 16 Spells to Charm the Beast, playwright Lisa D'Amour has penned an urban fable of loneliness and love set in a world in which furry brutes pine for sophisticated housewives, meteorological phenomena occur in metropolitan high-rises, and architectural views offer epiphanies of desire. Here, wonders are woven slyly into the fabric of daily life -- the uncommon is commonplace -- and D'Amour is free to take our mundane struggles to live and transform them into something rich and strange, something that reveals the love of another for the miracle it is. The whimsy of it is buoyant, its images of snowflake dresses and helicopters whittled out of knotty pine, the Cult of the Tabby Cat and even the unfortunately phallic Plantain Building lifting us almost as high as Lillian's apartment. And regarding matters of the heart, the script describes the pain and beauty of our lives with a lyricism bordering on enchantment. That comes as no surprise, given the writing in D'Amour's Dress Me Blue/Window Me Sky, Anna Bella Eema, and Slabber. D'Amour doesn't so much set down dialogue as weave it in the fashion of a spell. Words are chosen not for verisimilitude of everyday speech or even clarity of meaning necessarily, but for the mystic power they hold to entrance and bring about some change in the hearer. She has Lillian describe a heart "as dear as an infant's palm" and herself in another realm, the "Realm of Clear Seeing," as something like "a Revered Eyeball, an Eyeball charged with observing the Way Things Really Are." As cast in words, it is a magical world, and Salvage Vanguard Theater's production has a nice feel for its fancy. When Lillian's neighbor, Millicent Hiccup, gabbles on about a dress dyed in bona fide rosewater (the color so faint as to be subliminal), Cyndi Williams is effusive and oblivious, a tremolo coloring her voice as her finger traces an eternal circle round the rim of her china teacup. When Lillian's husband, Ned, enters masked and pretending to be "Mr. Helicopter," a manufacturer of helicopters, Harvey Guion breezily affects the continental savoir-faire of a B-movie Don Juan. Monika Bustamante imbues Lillian's daughter, the no-nonsense Norma, with a stainless-steel soul and makes a speech introducing Norma's 20 children(!) into an aria of hysteria. Director Deanna Shoemaker adds to the fun by representing the children as silverware, rubber gloves, and other common items. And whether she is relating the myth of the bedraggled tabby cat at the bottom of the ocean, singing of her imaginary love Jonathan Keen Archipelago Redbreast, or entertaining her many grandchildren, Lana Dieterich's Lillian revels in the details of the world, sharing them, eyes gleaming, as precious lore. She's our ardent guide of the mysteries. And yet this is a tricky world to conjure in wood, cloth, and flesh; it is imagined so vividly by the playwright, so fancifully and fraught with longing, that reality is hard-pressed to match her vision. The domiciles for Lillian and for the Beast, designed by the gifted Ann Marie Gordon, are curiously earthbound -- plain, functional locales that reflect little of the character's identities or the imaginative extravagance in D'Amour's writing. Similarly, as the work nears its climax, some moments of conflict and revelation pass with relatively little intensity. It's as if Shoemaker and the actors were unsure in negotiating the shift in tone from humorous to heartfelt; these artists who rise to such heights aren't able to provide as much depth. Still, the production is not lacking in potency. There is grandeur to the Beast, scaling the side of a skyscraper, 26 stories hand over hand, to view his beloved, and as embodied by David Jones, the Beast is a creature of profound longing, his grunts providing eloquent testaments of surprise at the impossible beauty of the world and yearning to connect with it. And when Lillian stands in the snow, Dieterich's shivers and hard gaze convey a sense of aloneness terrible in its sorrow. In such moments and in its whimsy, when Beast is at its best, the show casts its own spell, capturing us in a thrall of poetic visions reflecting natural desire and supernatural devotion.
Fables, Beasts, and Spells are all devices used to entertain, educate, and transport the audience to a world beyond their ordinary experiences. Whether it is through the moral lessons of fables, the mythical creatures of beasts, or the enchantment of spells, these elements help create narratives that captivate and inspire the imagination..
Reviews for "Curse or Blessing: The Role of Spells in Fables and Fairytales"
1. Jessica - 2/5
I had high hopes for "Fables, Beasts, and Spells" but was ultimately disappointed. The book lacked depth and the characters felt one-dimensional. The plot seemed promising at first, but it quickly became predictable and uninteresting. The writing style was also underwhelming, with clunky dialogue and awkward descriptions. Overall, I found it hard to connect with the story or its characters, and I wouldn't recommend it to others who are looking for a captivating fantasy read.
2. Ryan - 1/5
I couldn't finish "Fables, Beasts, and Spells" as it failed to hold my attention. The pacing was incredibly slow, and the story meandered without purpose. The characters were uninteresting and felt like cardboard cutouts, making it difficult to care about their fates. The magical elements introduced in the book felt forced and lacked originality. The writing style was also lackluster, with repetitive phrases and little imagination. For me, this book was a complete letdown, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone seeking an engaging fantasy read.
3. Sarah - 2.5/5
"Fables, Beasts, and Spells" had potential, but it fell flat for me. The world-building was weak, with little explanation or depth provided for the magical elements. The characters were also forgettable, with their motives and actions often feeling inconsistent. The pacing was uneven, with long stretches of little action and then rushed climaxes that left me unsatisfied. Additionally, the dialogue felt stilted and unnatural. While the concept was intriguing, the execution left much to be desired. Overall, I was left disappointed and wouldn't recommend this book to others looking for a captivating fantasy read.