On tour with The Company Of Storytellers
The Company of Storytellers (Hugh Lupton, Ben Haggarty, Sally Pomme Clayton) will be touring a few UK venues this autumn. They will be performing their new version of The Three Snake Leaves with music specially composed and performed by Dylan Fowler and Gillian Stevens.
The Three Snake Leaves weaves together less well known stories from the Brothers Grimm, retelling them in the light of contemporary values. A primitive world is conjured, taking the listener along twisted tracks, through a tangle of humorous, moving, and cruel stories, to transformation.
Twitter was a flurry of indignation last week when Radio 4 discussed Grimm’s Fairytales with Phillip Pullman and Sara Maitland. The programme had come to the conclusion that no one tells Grimm’s fairytales any more. They also seemed to think there is no difference between reading a story and telling it. In fact Grimm’s fairytales are a staple part of a storytellers repertoire all over the world, tellers translate and translocate the stories, making them their own. Last year I had a dialogue with a group of storytellers in South India who were performing Grimm’s fairytales. Many of the stories in the Grimm’s collection are not unique to Germany, versions of them can be found in other cultures. I often compare different versions of a story, then stitch together my own.
The Three Snake Leaves was originally commissioned by The South Bank Centre in 1994. And to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Brothers Grimm’s collection, Beyond the Border Wales International Storytelling Festival 2012, commissioned a revival of the performance with new music. The tour is supported by Arts Council England:
October 7th – Cheltenham Literature Festival, Box office: 0844 880 8094
October 10th – Northern Stage, Newcastle, Box office: 0191 230 5151
November 20th – Norwich Arts Centre, Box office: 01603 660352
November 24th – Ancient Technology Centre, Box office: 01202 888 992
November 28th – St Georges, Bristol, Box office: 0845 402 4001
December 1st – York Theatre Royal, Box office: 01904 623 568
December 13th – Warwick Arts Centre, Box office: 024 7652 4524
stacia
I heard this review on Radio4 too and just cringed! Obviously they haven’t done their research -not only misinformed but irresponsible!
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[…] was just one of those things that happened almost randomly at a point in time. The likes of the Company of Storytellers worked tirelessly to establish and continue this work, and to find other storytellers and nurture […]