@ Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, Friday 30 October 2015

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival brings together many storytellers from across the globe. From Village to Village: a journey through Jordan is a collaboration between the mother and son team of Rabeea Al Nasser and Tareq Al Nasser. Rabeea is a storyteller who draws her tales from the villages of Jordan. These stories have crossed generations and also crossed borders and boundaries from different areas in the Middle East.

The performance begins with musician Tareq Al Nasser giving the audience a flavour of the traditional sounds of Jordan. He plays a stringed instrument which is backed up with rhythms and effects from his ipad. The music sets the scene and takes the audience on a journey to the small villages of Jordan. Rabeea Al Nasser then takes centre stage and the storytelling begins. She starts in a familiar style, proudly proclaiming “Once upon a time”, however this tale is not an ancient one and takes place 80 to 100 years ago. We are told a tale of Jordanian custom and tradition, with the story of the ‘Ramadan Bell’. Rabeea is a performer who understands and respects her audience. She instills passion into every word and knows how to eloquently describe the locations and characters that inhabit the tales. She continues to recite more stories from Jordanian folklore and is accompanied by her son, who also joins in on the storytelling. Tareq talks about his passion for music and how a philosopher designed the instrument he is playing. Mother and son make quite a double act and both endear themselves to the audience with their open and honest personalities and their personal delivery in the stories they tell.

Rabeea and Tareq took part in several events at The Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2015. They spoke of their love of Scotland and how they now have family in the region. With ties close to Edinburgh hopefully they will both return to the city in the future to tell more tales from the remote, but alluring villages of Jordan.