Stories by: Hugh Lupton, Sally Pomme Clayton and Ben Haggarty
Music by: Sheema Mukherjee

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A father and daughter sit beside a fire in the snow; a bride is bricked up in a tower; marvels gleam in the half-light; and the mysterious snake leaves bring transformation.

The dark and unexpected pasts of three dishevelled travellers lost in a forest are untangled in this subtle and beguiling fairytale for grown-ups. Seamlessly interweaving a dozen of Grimm's lesser-known stories, legendary contemporary storytellers Ben Haggarty, Hugh Lupton, and Sally Pomme Clayton, and extraordinary musician Sheema Mukherjee, embark on an enchanted search for truth.

Shot through with evocative music and luminous beauty, this is a show about what it is to be a human.

'A wonderful, intricate piece about storytelling and the possibilities of redemption.'
The Independent

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CONTENT WARNING: this performance contains descriptions of, or references to death, incest, mutilation, rape, and maternal mortality contextualised within a paradigm of mythic narrative, archetype, and metaphor.

Hugh Lupton is an award-winning storyteller, performer, author, poet and lyricist. His work spans over 35 years, working on both solo projects and in partnership with other artists, writers, musicians, illustrators, and performers. Hugh is the poet of the storytelling world, and his work focuses on the crafted use of English language. He specialises in biographic storytelling, and the creation of praise poems to capture the lives of those living in specific periods of English history. Thematically his work often explores our place in the landscape and the deep cultural memories we carry. In 1985 he co-founded the Company Of Storytellers with Ben Haggarty and Sally Pomme Clayton. Together they created ground-breaking performances, especially for adult audiences, and because of their work storytelling is now a flourishing art form.

He has toured both nationally and internationally and has performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and the Barbican, as well as at schools, community venues and arts centres the length and breadth of Britain. His repertoire ranges from Greek epic to Grimm's Fairy Tales, from Norse and Celtic myth to East Anglian folk-tales, from the Great War to John Clare.

His books are as wide-ranging in subject matter as his spoken word work and cater for both adults and children.

hughlupton.co.uk

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Sally Pomme Clayton is a pioneering storyteller and writer creating unique performances and publications. She has a vast knowledge of fairytales and their cultural meanings, and a passion for stories where girls and women are the protagonists of the adventures. She co-founded The Company Of Storytellers with Ben Haggarty and Hugh Lupton in 1985, spearheading storytelling in the UK.

She has published both adult and children's books; many focus on female heroines. She also writes texts for composers and musicians, among them: David Bruce; Gundula Gruen; Panos Ghikas; Joglaresa; Dario Marianelli. She is an associate artist at Omnibus Theatre London and during 2019 she wrote the five star reviewed The Little Prince for it (based on the book by Saint-Exupéry).

She is an experienced and inspiring educator and mentor, teaching practical and creative workshops in writing and performance.

'Sally Pomme Clayton is a gifted storyteller who can bring the wonder of the most powerful stories from the past to life for audiences of any ages.'
The Guardian

sallypommeclayton.com

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Ben Haggarty is Artistic Director of the Crick Crack Club and one of the UK's most popular contemporary performance storytellers. Renowned for his playful, physical and often challenging performances, his repertoire spans Indo-European fairytales for grown-ups, Greek and Irish mythology, the epic of Gilgamesh and contemporary myths of Frankenstein and The Sandman. In 1985 he co-founded the Company Of Storytellers with Hugh Lupton and Sally Pomme Clayton.

benhaggarty.com

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Sheema Mukherjee absorbed North Indian classical music and the western tradition side-by-side, studying sitar and Indian classical music under the tutelage of her uncle, the late Pandit Nikhil Banerjee and then with the late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Today she is an established sitar player and composer; a regular in Transglobal Underground; a key member in The Imagined Village project and a formidable collaborator with internationally renowned artists from many genres.

mukherjee.co.uk

CRICK CRACK CLUB

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

Founded in 1987 by 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.