Performance storytelling by: Ben Haggarty. Music by: Jonah Brody.

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A bored king
A wild man
A quest for eternal life
And the deepest secrets of the gods

★★★★☆
'Vivid, rich and imposingly epic.'
Dominic Maxwell, The Times

Over 3,500 years after this ancient Sumerian epic was first etched into clay tablets, world renowned storyteller Ben Haggarty, and multi-instrumentalist Jonah Brody, bring Gilgamesh to the stage in an extraordinary and powerful telling of one of the oldest stories in the world.

Haggarty's bold and physical performance is underscored by the uncanny psychedelia of Brody's music. The result is passionate, fast-paced epic, laced with humour.

Goddesses are insulted and appeased by turn, supernatural beings are slain, apocalypse is averted, and our anti-hero turned hero, discovers what it really is to be a man.

'I was spellbound - I don't use the word lightly.' 
Erica Wagner, The Times

'Bloody brilliant.' 
Time Out London

★★★★☆
'An immense talent.'
Everything Theatre

'Storytelling genius.' 
Brighton Fringe

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CONTENT WARNING: this performance contains descriptions of sex, prostitution, violence, death, and grief contextualised within a paradigm of mythic narrative, archetype, and metaphor.

BEN HAGGARTY

Ben Haggarty is one of the world's leading contemporary storytellers, creating and performing work inspired by international fairytale, myth, and epic. Renowned for his playful, physical and often challenging performances, he performs in theatres, art centres and festivals across the UK and Europe. He has been a guest artist in over one hundred International Storytelling Festivals in 25 countries, and for 10 years was the official storyteller with Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble.

Ben is a Fringe First Award winner, Honorary Professor Of Storytelling at the Arts University Of Berlin (UDK), artistic director of the legendary Crick Crack Club and Visiting Research Fellow In The Creative Arts at Merton College, Oxford. Ben is a much sought after teacher, director and narrative consultant, working with performers, writers, illustrators, theatre makers, filmmakers, and myriad other creatives. His graphic novel series MeZolith is published by Archaia.

benhaggarty.com

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JONAH BRODY

Jonah Brody is an international award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist, playing bass, guitar, gamelan, Japanese koto, and harmonium. He trained at SOAS (University Of London), winning the 2010 Darmasiswa Music Scholarship. He is a member of contemporary folk ensemble Sam Lee & Friends and founder member of the Super Best Friends Club. Having studied the musical accompaniment of the Ramayana in Indonesia during his MA, he carries deep knowledge of improvised Eastern traditions, and is an accomplished improviser.

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CRICK CRACK CLUB

'Mesmerising. The Crick Crack Club weaves a web of enchantment.'
Time Out London

Founded in 1987 by world-class performance storyteller and sector pioneer, Ben Haggarty, today Crick Crack Club is the UK's busiest and boldest performance storytelling programmer and promoter. It creates exuberant, intelligent, wild, weird, and wonderful events in London, Bristol, Dorset, and across the UK, that draw people from all walks of life into a shared experience and the stunning content of international fairytale, folktale, myth and epic. Featuring outstanding performance storytellers and the very best new talent, its annual public programme of shows and residencies can be found in theatres, at festivals, in castles, caves, village halls, rose gardens, and derelict warehouses.

'A treasure house of humour, romance and myth.'
City Limits

crickcrackclub.com

Every month, Crick Crack Club brings its wild haven of fairytale, myth and epic to the awesome red velvet surroundings of Bristol's finest independent cinema, theatre, and place of happenings, The CUBE Microplex; THE place in Bristol for unusual events, performance art, spoken word, and live storytelling for grown-ups.