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Ginger Wig and Strolling Man at The Last Tuesday Society

screen-shot-2016-04-05-at-23-51-55So on Sunday 10th April I was back at The Last Tuesday Society telling stories about fools, it being April and all. And sitting at the table were Ginger Wig and Strolling Man, hardcore reviewers of theatre, musicals, performing arts, comedy and now Storytelling!

And they loved the show! Click here for what they had to say…

I’m back at The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities on Sunday 8th May. Unfortunately it’s returns only for this performance, BUT there are still some tickets left for the 7pm and 9pm performances on Sunday 12th June. Click here to book.

See you there! G;{~

ps And they didn’t even mention the ginger connection…!

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Sneak preview of Alexander Pope: A Search for Perfection

Be one of the first people to see Alexander Pope: A Search for Perfection! I will be performing a sneak preview of my latest show at the Pope’s Grotto Preservation Trust symposium “The proper study of Mankind is Man” on Saturday 21st May 2016 at Radnor House School, Twickenham.

As it will be the first time I will have performed the piece in public, there will be an opportunity to feedback – who knows, you comments might help shape the final piece!

But the symposium is not all about me. Throughout the day there will be talks from leading authorities on Pope, a garden archaeologist and the planned virtual reconstruction of the Grotto. It’s a really exciting line up and you even get lunch.

For more information you can download the press release here and to book your tickets click here.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

G ;{~

 

Pope's Grotto ID                                              lottery_png_black1

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Imagine Children’s Festival, Royal Festival Hall, London

On Monday morning, 15th Feb, at the Royal Festival Hall in London, I ran an hour long session for blind children and their siblings at the Imagine Festival. My brief was to involve the children in a highly interactive storymaking session. This would draw on previous work I’ve done in Norfolk with blind children on behalf of the County Council’s Sensory Impairment Services. I started by telling a couple of very ‘joiny-inny’ stories and got the children singing, clapping, beating drums and shaking tambourines and maracas. In order to take the interactivity to another level I began to tell them a story, asking them to choose for themselves the elements that I could weave into the story as it happened. The result was a story about a knight who lacked courage, rode on a small steam-breathing dragon, and was armed only with an ordinary wooden stick. I told this new story back to them and asked “Who made up that story?” “WE DID!!” they chorused. By the time we’d told two interactive stories and co-devised a third, we had only seven minutes left. “Right,” I said, “let’s make up a complete story from scratch, only using your ideas….” Using Story Structure, we did. I was able to tell the them the tale they’d invented (to be honest, we told it together). Elements included: a giant horn-lacking unicorn! Quacking like a duck! International travel! Blackbirds! Lots of them! Struggles! Danger! Love, and, of course, a very happy ending.

Bloody good story, I reckon, given the time constraints, but this is one of the key things about the StoryMaking work I do. Speed helps. I found it fascinating that this group of blind children created a story about an animal born lacking something everyone else around him possessed.

I was speaking afterwards to one of the dads and an idea popped up – what about setting up a storytelling club for blind children in London, where they could develop their creativity, explore and express their articulacy as well as developing their confidence? What do you reckon – should I do it?