Welcome! Have a seat on one of them wooden benches and listen. I’ll tell you a story. Maybe it’ll be a dark legend or a mystic myth or perhaps a romantic fairytale, who knows? All you have to do is to give in to the story. Nothing mor but to journey in ways of old. Roaming in your imagination. Zoning out for just a little while.
Bastiaan “de Zwitser” has been telling stories for over fifteen years. And he does it with such a passion that it’s contagious. Each year for Castlefest he picks out his favourite stories and tells them with the simple tools of the trade: voice and gesture. He often uses well-known stories, such a Beowulf or Little Red Riding Hood but manages to bring these tales into a fresh light, making them accessible to the modern audience. So if you want to brush up on your Dutch and get to know the traditional art of storytelling, maybe this is a good way to do it. And if you are already a fan, well, then you know you’re welcome.
But why stories? Well, stories are a rather universal way to share information and to make meaning. Not a single human culture doesn’t tell stories. This makes it an accessible art form for which you have to do nothing but open up and listen. Because it is so deeply ingrained in your being. And to tell the truth, it might not even matter what story is being told but rather what it is telling you.
And should you want to know more about storytelling or the stories Bastiaan tells, feel free to pull on his sleeve and ask. He’ll gladly make time for you and shares some of his knowledge to feed your imagination.
