Storycrafters Perform at Chappaqua Library

The Storycrafters sang and told stories, with audience participation, at the Chappaqua Library on Tuesday evening. It was the third and final installment of the library's Midsummer Tales program.

Like the previous two programs, folklore and fairytales were told and sung to music. The Storycrafters are Jeri Burns and Barry Marshall, who travel with their instruments and 13-year-old son, Zachary.

Starting with a small wooden harp, Burns played an old Scottish air, Fingal's Lament. It set the mood for their version of a fairy tale, created from old British and other European tales.

They sang of two sisters who were as "different as night and day." Combining the Frog Prince, Well at the World's End and other lore, one good sister set out on a quest and did all that was asked, for which she was rewarded with jewels and marriage to a prince. In this Scots-inspired version, a frog turns back into a prince without a kiss. As Marshall told it, "just when you thought the story couldn't get more tasteless…" The girl is asked to cut off the frog's head with a sword. Her selfish, jealous sister was punished with toads leaping from her mouth when she spoke, and eventual banishment.

Switching rhythm and instruments, the Storycrafters brought out a djembe, a skin-covered wooden drum from western Africa. Marshall played the drum while they did a rap about the three little pigs. The first two lazy pigs met their fates in a rhyme to fresh pork and bacon.

Finally, a bit of whimsy and paper folding as they told a story of a boat that crashed against the rocky coast of Ireland. All that was left of the boat was a t-shirt.

The Storycrafters are scheduled to perform again in the area, at the Mount Kisco Public Library today at 6:30 p.m. For information go to mountkiscolibrary.org.

They will also be leading story telling workshops at the Mohegan Storytelling festival on Saturday, at 10 a.m. in Crompond. To register, go to hvstoryall.org/mohegan