By Stephen Wilson
"I was very
surprised by how huge Moscow was and the vast size of
housing estates where
people live. It is enormous," stated the astonished
African Scottish
storyteller Mara Menzies who had come to Russia for
the first time . She
had been invited by Russians to give several storytelling
workshops to Russians.
At one informal storytelling session held at a
Moscow University she
enthralled people with her unique combination of
African as well as
Scottish stories. The audience was captivated. Mara
conveyed her stories
in a lively and highly interactive way by asking
spectators questions
such as : "How do you imagine fairies? " "What
do you think happened
next ?" and " What would you have done?"
She would even come up
to spectators and deftly weave them into
the story. By
skillfully using intonation with a potent voice she made
an unforgettable
impression. The audience were enchanted. For
instance, she told one
of her favorite stories of Tam Lin where a
young boy dreams of
going on a famous hunt, but ends up being
kidnapped by fairies
in the forest until a formidable and defiant woman
called Janet falls in
love with him and fights for his freedom. Mara,
with a versatile
voice, conveyed the beautiful, but menacing atmosphere
of a Scottish forest
with the words "A Scottish forest at night is very
different from a
forest during the day. Janet could see that the eyes
of different creatures
were watching her and all kinds of strange sounds
could be heard.... She
even had to hold her breath so it would not be
heard by the
riders."
I liked the part of
the story when Janet goes into the forest to pick a
flower and hears Tam
Lin scold her: " Who dares take the flower? " and
Thunders back :
"I'm Janet and I dared to pluck the flower ". Tam liked
this because he had
never before encountered such a strong woman
who was more than a
match for him. They then have a pleasant
conversation, fall in
love and she helps rescue Tam from the slavery
of the fairies where he can't do what he really wants because he
is under their spell.
Mara also told the
audience about her family history. Her mother was
a Kenyan doctor who
while studying in Scotland met her Scottish father.
She later learnt that
her grandfather had bravely defied oppressive customs
in the Kenyan tribe by
trying to get his daughters access to education.
Women were expected
only to become wives and mothers and not
receive an education
or to pursue their dreams. This courage provoked
the outrage of
relatives who poisoned him to death. His daughters were
forced to flee and get
an education in some orphanage. " I'm very
proud of what my
family did, respect them and I'm very inspired by
them." The story
demonstrates that there are still many men prepared
to risk their lives to
champion the rights of women . Unfortunately, we
don't hear enough of
those stories. But the stories were told just at the
right time as Mara's
visit coincides with International Woman's Day
held on the 8th of
March. And we need such stories to remind people
that this day is more
than just about men showering women with
flowers and gifts, but a day to inspire people to fight against the often
ruthless and
relentless oppression of woman.
Mara Menzies stated:
"When I tell people that I am a professional
storyteller they are
very surprised. They don't quite understand what
this is. .... It is
very difficult to be a full time professional storyteller. Most
storytellers who are
making money do it part time. I have the advantage
of coming from a
Kenyan as well as Scottish background and people find
this very interesting.
But I love telling stories and could tell them all day".
In deed, Mara was
still telling some stories in the Japanese restaurant
we later dropped into.
Scotland has a
storytelling center in Edinburgh and there is even a law
which exists in
Scotland where every school student must be told at
least one story in
their lives, at school! This in itself is something special.
However, despite those
advantages it still remains a challenge to draw
the attention of young
people as they are often engrossed in novel gadgets
and computer games.
"We have to find new ways of attracting young
people and also
getting younger storytellers. The old stereotype of a
storyteller is of an
old man who sits motionless by the fireside telling
a story to a passive
audience. But such a storyteller won't capture the
attention of many
children. So we have to use different ways of telling
stories that
attract the attention of young people." Mara's mode of
telling stories is to
actively embrace and involve children in her stories.
She does not just tell
a story from a distance but goes up to the audience
and even gets them to
become part of the stories. It comes as no surprise
to find that Mara is
in great demand to tell stories to children. Such an
approach evokes
a ready resonance with many hyperactive children.
Mara states that the
Scottish storytelling tradition greatly inspires her as
well as her African
heritage, But she told me that for storytelling to be relevant
it needs to address
the economic problems of people which most people
are absorbed in. She
found that one of the stories which really struck a chord
with Africans was how
the Scots had used the legend of the Loch Ness
Monster to provide
jobs for the local people. When Africans heard the
story they wondered if
they could use their own legends to create jobs
in their villages.
It is evident that
people who have heard her stories in Russia will greatly
miss her. But her
visit which coincides with International Woman's Day
should certainly
inspire women to empower themselves and attain
genuine freedom.
Without a doubt, more and more Russian female
storytellers will
emerge. It is happening right now. Mara Menzies is a
catalyst of this
unfolding International process.
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