Skip to main content
2019-2020 Season

How the Years Change the Story

An image of a wood carving of rumplestiltskin

by Samantha Baird, Dramaturg

Fairy tales, as we know them today, are much like the children’s game of “telephone.” Over the years of being told orally, stories naturally will change and adapt to match the environment in which they are being told. However, something that is even more intriguing is when stories are intentionally changed to emphasize different elements. Below is a comparison of three retellings/adaptations of the classic tale Rumpelstiltskin.

TitleRumpelstiltskinRumpRump: The Musical
WhoJakob and Wilhelm Grimm (The Brothers Grimm)Liesl ShurtliffTimothy Threlfall
WhatWhen a young woman is taken by the king after her father promises that she can spin straw into gold, a mysterious little man appears to help her. But for Rumpelstiltskin, the help comes at a cost. “In a magic kingdom where your name is your destiny, 12-year-old Rump is the butt of everyone’s joke. But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems to change. Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold. His best friend, Red Riding Hood, warns him that magic is dangerous, and she’s right. With each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a curse.”  ~lieslshurtliff.com/rump“Based on The New York Times’s bestselling novel by BYU alum Liesl Shurtliff, this fractured fairy tale follows the adventures of Rump, a young man who discovers that sometimes the greatest gifts come with the most terrible curses. Told inventively through an a capella musical score, this workshop performance is an exciting world premiere.”  ~arts.byu.edu/rump
When181220132019
WhereHanau, Hesse, GermanySalt Lake City, Utah, USAProvo, Utah, USA
WhyTo write down and preserve a story that had been told orally for centuries, maybe even millennia. “To tell a story that would be more on the level of kids today and how they, and how a lot of people, view the world.”  ~Liesl Shurtliff“Rumplestiltskin is such a famous story, that it becomes more about HOW you tell the story rather than about telling the story for the first time.”                     ~Tim Threlfall

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Art in Motion

November 09, 2023 03:10 PM
Art in Motion is a new show that was conceptualized by three female ballet faculty in collaboration with the animation department director here at BYU. The show beautifully merges animation, music, and ballet to tell the stories of three female artists from history. Those artists are Berthe Morisot, Sofonisba Anguissola, and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Exposing the Power of the Everyday

November 08, 2023 03:14 PM
When I think of the word powerful, I often associate it with the really unique, rare, extraordinary moments in my life. I envision grandiose gestures or out-of-this-world ideas. However, through my research for BYU’s Art in Motion, three female artists changed my perspective of the word.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Is There Really an Edge to Everything?

November 04, 2023 09:05 AM
Is there really an “edge” to everything“? For centuries, scientists, scholars, and even simple farmers have wondered about space - and how to see, up close, what is so far away.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=