Saturday, October 10 from 6-7:30 PM
In the DAC 2nd Floor Classroom
$10 PER PERSON, ONLINE OR AT THE DOOR
ABOUT THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
Islam exploded out of Mecca in 600 AD as a 'new' political
religious force across the sands of Asia to Persia and across Northern Africa. It borrowed and embraced the stories,
gossip and ideas from the peoples it conquered. Itinerant
storytellers, settling for a week of story nights in desolate villages, reflected the forbidden, the ambitious, the poetry, the
lust, the supernatural, the heroic, and all-too-human aspects of life. These 'storytelling geniuses of the
sands' were the multiplex cinema of their day. When these
oral narratives were printed as The Arabian Nights, Europe
(1700s) went wild for them, just as Islam called them
heretical. This is Islam's pulp fiction!
"THE PORTER'S TALE"
"The Porter's Tale" is one of the original stories. A porter
carries a lovely woman's purchases home. Two sisters are
there, and the porter joins them for the evening meal.
Knock knock: three men are admitted (the Khalif!). Soon
they are followed by three more, each with only one eye.
Each then tells his bizarre tale of how he lost his eye(s) —
these tales are truly a wild ride!
JEFF'S HISTORY WITH THE TALE
In 2003, Jeff was commissioned to tell an Arabian Nights
tale for the opening of the Doris Duke Islamic Museum. It
was packed. So were all four theater shows that followed.
Over the next 18 months, Jeff, two musicians (Reggae and
Steven Rosenthal) and belly dancer Willow Chang filled their 10 different shows at Indigo's Opium Den (Chinatown).
During that run, George W. Bush invaded Afghanistan and
Iraq with Shock and Awe, black sites, 'Mission Accomplished,' and the bloodbath that followed without solution. People
wanted to hear the tales of Arabia. Jeff did not support the
war. He also made two trips to Turkey (research and as part of a shadow puppet festival).
Through the years, he's returned to these tales from time to
time. He made shadow puppets to animate a few. Last year, over lunch, he casually started to tell "The Porter's Tale,"
which he'd just reread. It lasted the whole meal, with pauses for phone calls ('Don't tell the story without me!'). It was fun.
WHO IS JEFF GERE?
Jeff Gere, born on Halloween, created, hosted, and produced Talk Story Festival (Hawaii's largest storytelling celebration,
26 years), and a story radio and TV series. He tours Hawaii
and internationally (until COVID), does shadow puppets, and has lots of projects and ideas. He received a lifetime award
from the National Storytelling Association this summer. He has hosted the monthly storytelling series at DAC and is
currently teaching a storytelling class through OLLI.
(www.jeffgere.com and on YouTube)
~ ~ ~
This show is part of a monthly storytelling series at DAC, in
partnership with Honolulu master storyteller Jeff Gere.
September 26 - DAVID O'SHEA Me & The 95th: A Son Discovers His
Father's War
October 10 - JEFF GERE Arabian Nights: The Porter’s Tale
Nov. 21 - WOMEN, WORDS, WHATEVAH with five local female
authors
