Work in progress performance in Much Wenlock May 2022
Storytelling at Christchurch LEAF (Local Ecology & Arts Festival)
Gill Redmond (of Jigfoot), Madeleine Grantham, Pete Gritton, Graham Rogers.
Work in progress performance in Much Wenlock May 2022
Stories & Story Collections
I have an an eclectic repertoire of folk tales, wonder tales, fables, myths and legends. I draw on these when responding to any theme. Themes such as: seasons, landscapes, weather, animals, wisdom, loss, love and many more can be accommodated.
Over recent years I have been involved in several group tellings of epic material: The Iliad, Gilgamesh, the Loki cycle and coming up in 2017 Hercules.
Below are a few examples of various story collections that have featured in past performances.
A Taste of Salt
A collection of stories with a nautical theme.
Featuring, among others:
Sadko - A Russian tale of a poor lad come good and the kingdom under the sea.
Donald the seal hunter - A Scottish story of selkie folk.
The Ghost Ship - A story of a cursed ship off the coast of Spain
Salt - Another Russian story, a tale of merchants and trade on the high seas.
Norse Myths
Niord & Skadi - A strange marriage arrangement.
The Making of the Gifts - Dwarves make amazing gifts for the gods.
The Marriage of Thor - Thor is forced to don a disguise in order to recover his magic hammer.
The Mead of Poetry - How an act of peace-making led to poetry entering the world.
The Death of Balder - Frigg's beloved son is lost to the world of the living.
Loki's Flyting - Loki insults the gods.
Greek Myths
Various tales from Ovid - including the story of King Midas, of his special gift and famous ears, Echo & Narcissus, Arachne
The Tale of Dionysus - From his remarkable birth, through his childhood, to his spectacular return from exile.
Book 13 of the Iliad - In which there is much fighting and featuring an encounter between Idomeneus and Meriones, and lots of fabulous similies from Homer.
Arthurian Tales:
Gawain and the Green Knight - A story of the Christmas season, from the classic alliterative poem. One of my favourite stories.
The Marriage of Gawain - The tale of Arthur and the loathly lady.
The Making of the Round Table - developed from Layamon's version of the Arthur story, Telling how arguments about rank led to bloodshed at a Christmas feast. And how a craftsman from Devon comes up with a solution.
Wild Merlin - Tells of how Merlin suffers a break-down in the midst of a battle, and how, as a result, he takes himself off to live rough in the woods. Followed by how his sister sought for him and what followed. 20 min
Tristan and Isolde - The return to Cornwall - Tristan escorts Isolde to her wedding with King Mark, but they don't realise that hidden amongst their luggage is a love potion...
Chaucer
Various tales from Chaucer, including:
The Wife of Bath's Tale - What do women want?
The Pardoner's Tale - An encounter with death.
The Summoner's Tale - A dying man pays back some hot air.
The Nun's Priest's Tale - Chanticleer the cockerel.
The Miller's Tale - The bawdy tale of a gullible carpenter.
The Reeve's Tale - A Miller is cuckolded.
From the Kalevala
The great Finnish epic
The Bleeding Hair Brush - Lemminkainen's trip to the northland and his mother's journey to find him.
Voyage to recover the Sampo - Vainamoinen and the other heroes attempt to recover the magical Sampo.
Enthroned!
A fund raiser for sanitation projects in the developing world.
A collection of ribald stories with a scatological theme.
