Spaces for stories

Love in the Shadows

Dust off  your heart.  Dance with the devil.

A kiss in the dark.  A Valentine’s revel.

Sally Pomme Clayton tells tales of love and desire, stories of having and not having, for all hot hearts to celebrate St. Valentine on Wednesday, 9th February, 8.00pm, at Torriano Meeting House.

Torriano Meeting House, in Kentish Town, has been a space for writers and performers for over 25 years. It was created by poet John Rety, who believed that poets, writers, and storytellers needed a place where they could share their work. This tiny space exists on the slenderest of budgets, fueled instead by a passion for words and ideas.

The Meeting House is intimate, your knees touch your neighbors’, and your toes touch the performers’. And to suit the space I will tell a handful of intimate tales – ‘Love in the Shadows’ – and  bring my tiny shadow theatre to flicker and sigh into life. The event is part of  Story Nights run by Nell Phoenix. She follows the Meeting House tradition of encouraging performances from the floor. So the first half of the evening is open for audience members to tell short tales.

We need more spaces like The Meeting House, where artists can inspire each other, and keep their work alive. The funding cuts to the arts are a challenge.  But storytelling doesn’t require huge resources.  It is the performer’s skill that conjures worlds in the listener’s imagination.  Sitting rooms can become salons,  allotments amphitheatres, and cafes  performance spaces.

Story Nights is at:  Torriano Meeting House,  99 Torriano Avenue NW5 2RX.  Kentish Town tube, then walk up Leighton Road, and left onto Torriano Ave.   Tickets are on the door £6.00.  Doors open 7.30pm.  Stories start 8pm.