Today is the
last day in Edinbourgh, but the
Spark Storytelling continues in London.
From September, in three different venues, each a bit different format.
True personal and carefully crafted stories told live - around a chosen theme each time.
Here is the review of our Edinburgh performance (I was the one from Hungary - and no, it was not about a dog, I never had one. My stories were about War and my doll. For Home. Father's tale helping me thirty years later, for Family. Desire to hold hands, for Desire (and some other desires). Last year stand-up adventures in Culture Shock told with humour.
And here is the Article of how she has perceived us.
Telling Tales
Broadway Baby Rating: ****
If
everyone has a story to tell, one that’s worth listening to, then why
is it that the only stories that shift copies off shelves and set
Twitter alight are the births, marriages and deaths of the rich and the
famous? As part of Grant’s True Tales, Spark London have come to
Edinburgh to question a celebrity obsessed era that only wants to hear
one type of tale and to deliver an important alternative: a tight and
beautifully told ten minute story written and performed by the person
it’s about.
It’s a flawless story
telling format that took this very reviewer from her seat at Riddles
Court to every corner of the globe in just under an hour, transported by
voices from every age and every background. I began in post war
Hungary, travelled through a Countdown obsessed Britain, en route
Cardiff’s Taff River, before crash landing on a Caribbean island.
The
stories were funny, elegant, and articulate and each one threw a light
on a life previously unknown. You might enjoy one more than another,
speaking for myself stories regarding childhood pets are usually lost on
me, but they’re all worth a listen.
Each
tale is delivered like a carefully gift wrapped package which has
dropped unexpectedly onto your doormat. The stories are carefully
crafted but not contrived for the sake of performance and because each
one is so personal, the performer cares about how it reaches you.
Riddles
Court provides an enchanting setting for the course of the evening. A
story telling mood is set from the moment you walk into the tree lined
courtyard, a short story suspended from each leaf and written by the
pens placed in front of you.
Yes,
the storytelling is interactive but in an utterly charming and
inoffensive way. Depending on the theme of each evening - mine was
family - you will be asked to impart just a few lines based on your own
colourful personal history. A few good ones are selected to read out in
an interlude between the performers who have already mastered the art.
Each of these few short lines proved to be performance worthy and
persuaded people to believe that, in the space of their own memory, a
treasure chest full of “ordinary” stories are waiting to be cracked
open.
If you fancy dusting off
any stories yourself, Spark are holding a 24 hour Storyathon and
workshops to support the shakier storyteller before they perform.
Spark London should not just be stumbled on; they should be booked in advance and seats should be taken with anticipation.
Reviewer:
Kirsty Allen
Kirsty Allen has written 12 reviews for Broadway Baby since joining the team in 2012.
