Giants, green dragons, wonder tales, sock hunts…. The Island Storytellers’ Somewhen team brought a myriad of stories to Ventnor Fringe last week in a multitude of events.
Internationally renowned storyteller Xanthe Gresham Knight (pictured above) enthralled the audience with her tales chosen by the audience; Xanthe had stepped in at the last moment as well-known storyteller, Daniel Morden, had been taken ill.
Bailey: Xanthe pulled the stops out
Sue Bailey said,
“It was great that Xanthe was able to come. We were looking for someone of a similar calibre to Daniel, and Xanthe pulled the stops out to fill the void with mesmerising stories and accordion playing.”
Green tales
On Wednesday, seven regulars from the Island Storytellers’ monthly story round, took to the floor to tell tales linked by the word green.
Sue continued,
“I loved the diversity of voices and styles at our ‘Green’ storytelling at Ventnor library.
“It really showed that stories come in many forms whether they are based on anecdotes, traditional folk tales or even on impossibly probable animal stories.
“We rocked with laughter when local storyteller Sue Clark related her story of how their caravanning group converted a car into a green dragon.”
TisTales at Ventnor Arts Club
Stories continued on Friday, when TisTales, a trio of local storytellers, regaled a packed audience at Ventnor Arts Club with tales of giants.
Holly Medland’s tales of the origin of Britain gave a possible insight into the assertive nature of women on these islands today, as the heroine, Albina, encouraged the daughters of a Syrian king to rise up against the mundane and devaluing requirements of being obedient and subservient wives.
Welsh hero, Branwen, Irish giant, Finn McCoul and Norse god, Thor, all featured in this excellent hour of stories.
Infamous storywalk
On Saturday and Sunday Sue Bailey led one of her infamous and highly engaging storywalks.
Sue said,
“One sock – a riddle and story filled sock hunt, is such fun
“The children are very sharp eyed and always manage to follow the clues and find all my missing socks. I love the way they work together and even though they are keen to be the finders, they make sure all the children taking part have a chance to find something.”
Storytelling was the standup of its day
Tony ‘Monty’ Hirst added to the wealth of storytelling at the Fringe with his set ‘Unforeseen Consequences’. He said,
“The Fringe is a fantastic opportunity for bringing traditional stories to new audiences.
“Storytelling was the standup of its day, and many of the tales work as well today as ever they did.”
Sue Bailey continued,
“It has been great being part of Ventnor Fringe. We are very grateful to the organisers for providing a platform for all the performances, whether they be local, national or international. Our storytelling events this week have been part of a year long lottery supported project called ’Somewhen Storytelling.”
Chale Show
Look out for more storytelling at Chale Show where the Somewhen team are running a storytelling tent with stories for all ages, on the hour for 20 minutes, followed by creative activities for all the family. Make a model, dance a story, add sound effects and music, act it, dramatise it – who knows where the story will take you?
Great for all ages – children and adults, because stories are not just for kids.
The Island Storytellers
The Island Storytellers are an Island-based storytelling group that meets once a month, at a different location each month, for an evening of round-table, informal storytelling. Story round events are open to tellers and listeners alike.
Visit the Website or the Facebook Page.
Somewhen
To keep up to date with storytelling events organised under the Somewhen umbrella, see the Somewhen Website.
News shared by Sue on behalf of Somewhen Storytellers. Ed
