Latest news with #folktales
Irish Times
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Why the Moon Travels review: Eye-opening show is not just a retelling of Traveller folktales
Why the Moon Travels Bank of Ireland Theatre, University of Galway ★★★★☆ Travellers are part of the world, and the world is part of Travellers. The phrase figures in this new show from Moonfish Theatre, which aims to open up the Traveller world, but also help preserve some aspects. Devised from the book of folktales Why the Moon Travels, by Traveller activist and writer Oein DeBhairduin (who is dramaturge here), along with the ensemble and directors Máiréad Ní Chróinín and Ionia Ní Chróinín of Moonfish, it opens the curtains a bit. On stage are three strong, articulate and warm Traveller women, Catrina Connors, Ellen Doyle and Sarah McDonagh. The set includes a yew tree, the moon, a screen shaped like the back of a barrel-wagon, edged with Traveller symbols, and on the floor a giant wheel shape. This isn't just a retelling of folktales from the 2021 book, which is, rather, a starting point, with the cast adding their own takes and experiences. READ MORE The stories are largely unfamiliar to settled people: about the old man whose beard grew and grew (eventually becoming the bog across Ireland), the origin of the yew tree, the three sisters and their kindness to a crow, the truth about why the moon travels. In the stories there's a thread connecting humans and the natural world, with elements of the supernatural thrown in. As one of the cast tells a story, the others bring it to life with shadow puppetry on the screens behind, alongside songs from Rosie McCarthy. They also show something of themselves, and of Traveller hospitality and traditions, sitting for chats and stories with a cup of weed (tea, in case you're wondering), baking soda bread onstage (very tasty), spinning and weaving (we take home a traditional Traveller red and white cord, to tie around the wrist), along with the odd bit of the Traveller language Cant, fleetingly understandable to the outsider. The three performers have an ease and naturalness and there is a bit of gentle slagging and off-the-cuff that's lovely to witness. That level of comfort takes work and time and guts to develop, along with the professional skills and experience of Moonfish. It's backed by support from University of Galway's O'Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, the Arts Council , Galway City Council and a bursary from Galway International Arts Festival and Galway Culture Company. The care and attention to detail and approach shows in the finished result. For the audience, there are hints of things we want to hear more about, too: the women's own lives, and a passing reference to why many Travellers no longer travel, on foot of bad experiences. We're a small society but outsiders know little about the traditional culture of Travellers, who often get a bad rap. This is a lovely show, eye-opening and rich in the sharing with settled people, but also important for Travellers themselves, retelling the stories for fear of losing them. They ask, what do we lose when the old stories disappear, and what do we gain when they are told again? Significant too, that this show takes stories from an oral tradition, which were then committed to the page by DeBhairduin, and are here returned to a version of the oral tradition.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Critical Mystery Studies: When fact is scarier than fiction
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – On this episode of New Mexico Strange, News 13 Host and Anchor Chad Brummett sat down with the University of New Mexico's Department of Chicano and Chicana Studies' Matthew Goodwin, Ph.D., and Ashley Martinez, Ph.D. student, to talk about the connections between New Mexico's cultural roots and fantastical mysteries. The two scholars explained how New Mexico's folktales and mysteries, like La Llorona and the Roswell UFO crash, are based on realistic fears and often come about as community members try to make sense of the things around them. Many of the state's stories are even thought to have spawned from the early days of colonization, when different societies came into contact for the first time and every side experienced surprising and, often, scary novelties. Goodwin detailed how New Mexico got its nickname, the Land of Enchantment, when settlers and tourists used the word 'encanto' to describe the desert landscape. However, newcomers disregarding the depth of New Mexico's culture and, instead, perceiving it as exotic created an underlying negative connotation and a complicated relationship with that nickname. On this episode of New Mexico Strange, Goodwin, Martinez, and Brummett discuss the idea of the desert as a space of spirituality, the connection between conspiracy theories and xenophobia, and how people of various cultures resonate with the stories or use them to pull further away from their fears. To find out more about the work being done with UNM's Critical Mystery Studies, click here. New Mexico is perceived worldwide as a mecca for the extraordinary. Whether it's the healing soil of Chimayo, the haunted trails of the Old West, or visitors from the final frontier, our state is home to countless myths and mysteries. New Mexico Strange is KRQE News 13's online exclusive web series, celebrating our unique history and shedding light on the shadows of the unexplained, unexplored, and unknown. Hosted by Chad Brummett, New Mexico Strange takes viewers through some of the Land of Enchantment's most mysterious folklore and conspiracies. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The National
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Saudi horror game Aunt Fatima uses Gulf folklore to deliver bone-chilling experience
The Gulf is rich in folk tales. Some speak of bravery and adventure, while other tell stories of hardship and turmoil. For Saudi YouTuber Abdulla Al Hamad, it was the scary folk tales that drew him when he was looking for inspiration for his first-person horror game, Aunt Fatima. Adapted from an Emirati jinn story about an entity called Umm Al Duwais that ensnares weak men to their death, the game follows a being inhabiting an empty house that stalks anyone who enters. Al Hamad says he was pushed to create a horror game when he realised how much people like the genre. 'I realised people genuinely enjoy being scared – it's fun for them,' he tells The National. He also wanted to create something simple yet effective, he adds. 'The games don't require loads of development. You only need to develop about five or six things, really simple stuff, and the rest is all about creativity in the story.' Since its launch in October 2024, Aunt Fatima has grown in popularity as more regional YouTubers began playing it on their channels. Al Hamad is also encouraged by feedback he's received from gamers in other parts of the world. 'When YouTubers picked it up, that's when things took off, horror is perfect content for creators,' he says Al Hamad. 'I discovered people were playing the game in East Asia and Turkey – we have similar cultures when it comes to folklore.' The game is played in first person, meaning the gamer is the eyes and ears of the main character. Upon entering what looks like an abandoned house, it quickly becomes clear that someone, or something, is lurking – watching every movement and reacting. The character is then tasked with solving puzzles around the house while also evading capture, and certain death, from the malevolent being known as Aunt Fatima. Some who play might be reminded of Resident Evil 7 or Hideo Kojima 's P.T., but despite the parallels, Al Hamad says those popular games were not on his mind while creating the game. 'I did play P.T. back when it first came out, but honestly, no – I wouldn't say it was an influence. I scare easily, and I don't like horror games at all. I don't even watch horror films. But somehow, I ended up making a horror game.' His main objective was to make a game that drew from the Gulf's culture, and paid tribute to it. He even went to a delipidated area in his city Al Khobar, which was believed by the locals to be haunted. His grandfather's house also served as the blueprint for the haunted house in the game. 'For example, you might notice the clock in the house chimes every quarter of an hour – that's directly inspired by my grandfather's house, which had a clock that did exactly that,' Al Hamad says. 'Or the old telephone, that's another thing that still exists. The rugs, the bed, the lamp, the light switch – all these little details are things I grew up with. I visited these places again just to recapture the feel.' Those details are instantly noticeable when playing Aunt Fatima. At one point, players come across a table with a mubkhar on top of it, bellowing incense smoke in the house, something that can be seen in most homes across the Gulf. Despite being developed and published by one person, Aunt Fatima is no small game. It clocks in at more than an hour of gameplay and uses Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling system, or DLSS, to enhance its capabilities. DLSS is AI-powered technology that renders fewer pixels and then upscales the image to a higher resolution, allowing a smaller-budget game like Aunt Fatima to look and feel like a game developed by major studios. The use of DLSS has allowed gamers to enjoy it exactly how Al Hamad envisioned it and has also allowed it to be highlighted by chips maker Nvidia alongside some of the biggest video games in the industry. 'To make a horror game work, you need quick reaction time, and that's why DLSS made a real difference,' he says. 'Seeing Aunt Fatima listed on Nvidia's website alongside games like Marvel Rivals and God of War made me incredibly proud.'
