We never forget the stories we were told as children. Even when they aren’t on the top of our mind, they lurk like palm prints on the drying cement foundations of our understanding of the world. We absorb the pluck of children in the face of adult perfidy, cheering the heroism of Hansel and Gretel or Beauty and the Beast. Counterpoised by the wickedness and cruelty of parents, stepmothers, and wolves in sheep’s clothing, children’s wiliness usually leaves them unharmed, if not heroic.

As adults, we keep returning to them again and again in film, in theatre, and in books. How many romantic comedies do stories like Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella inspire? Countless thrillers have a quest and danger in the style of Little Red Riding Hood or The Little Mermaid.

Once Upon A Fairytale is a collection of poems, short stories and songs that look at some of the oldest folktales through a modern lens, finding some struggles remain the same despite the passage of time.