Archive listings for The Crick Crack Club

Work type: Performance.

Orpheus Dismembered - T435653717

Performance storytelling by Ben Haggarty and music by Jonah Brody
2 Feb 24Theatre Royal, York :: V954
listing details L1370400292

Alternative Tarot: Wise Ones Wild Ones - T291271295

From flawed epic heroes, the petulant pantheons of myth and the masks of the fairytale mysteries, to the tropes of Hollywood Blockbusters - we're surrounded by archetypes and their shadows - by definition they're cliches but we need them to make stories work! Let Ben Haggarty, Jan Blake, Daniel Morden and Laura Sampson, explore why these potent characters populate myth and our psyche.
9 Jan 19Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L1550293302

The Fate We Bring Ourselves - T0911527745

Presented by The Crick Crack Club. Join performance storyteller Ben Haggarty at his most alarming, as he presents three remixed, extended and explicit Greek myths. Expect sex with Zeus, twice-born gods, formidable goddesses and some nasty clashes between naive mortals and uppity deities. These are stories which you thought you knew ? but here, thanks to extensive research and Ben's 30 years of reading between the lines of world mythology, you will find them conjecturally restored, live and direct, to their terrifying and truly awesome glory. This is world-class storytelling: dark, magical and provocative.
29 May 18Omnibus Theatre, Outer London :: V01534560440
listing details L1791785078

Red Bead Woman - T01414555410

Mythologist Martin Shaw sits at the very edge of the fire. Here a woman arises from a mare's tale plant with red beads falling from her mouth as she speaks, and a king's son tied to the top of the tallest pine tree, is slowly becoming a crow. Down below the forest path splits into two. One path is that of the sable. The other path is that of the bear. One is good. One is very bad. Which one will you choose? Enter a night of epic transformations.Author Martin Shaw. Performer Martin Shaw.
16 Apr 18Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L771618241

Others From the Other Side - T0250280667

The Irish landscape is full of stories peopled by shape-shifters and once-godfairies who move seamlessly between our own and a decidedly other world... The fabulous storyteller, Clare Muireann Murphy, acts as an intermediary between these two worlds, with stories of the other people, changelings, stolen children, strange marriages, theft, deception and wild curses. Be guided through a landscape of grown-up fairytale, where the light is a little too bright and the dark is very, very dark...
22 Mar 18Theatre Royal, York :: V954
listing details L049425356

The All-Star Birthday Bash - T01095308603

A glorious night of greatest hits from a silver-lined, gold-leafed, diamond-studded line-up of Crick Crack 30th birthday All-Stars.
29 Nov 17Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L1945859156

Under the Eyes of Baron Samedi - T0201525828

Sly humour, rum, good food, poverty, gods, animalistic transformation, and down-right voudon Storytelling queen Jan Blake, and eclectic troubadour and player of fantasy instruments Silver Sepp, journey through the unpredictable, ambiguous & beguiling dream-scape of Haitian folktales, inspired by Diane Wolkstein's seminal collection The Magic Orange Tree. This is the book that Ben Haggarty pressed into Jan Blake's hands 30 years ago and told her that she was a storyteller... the rest is history.Author Jan Blake. Music Silver Sepp.
13 Nov 17Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L0662543225

Frankenstein - T09730978

He's naked. He's angry. And he's on the run... Storyteller Ben Haggarty, and musician Sianed Jones embark on an intense monster's-lib interpretation of Mary Shelley's modern myth.
20 Oct 17Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L1276552433

1001 Nights - T1322246800

A king betrayed by his wife, decides to reap his revenge on woman-kind by bedding, then slaughtering, one virgin every night... but then he meets Sheharazade. Sheharazade, the storyteller who saved her own life together with the lives of her children by telling stories for 1001 nights, is one of the great cultural creations of the Arab world. Stories nestle within stories, with demons, errant spouses, thieves, fools & comedians all jostling for attention. The fabulous Egyptian storyteller and performer, Chirine El Ansary returns to the the Crick Crack Club to tell some of the most intriguing and deliciously seductive episodes from The Nights, stories that explore the deepest passions and desires of men and women .Performer Chirine El Ansary.
22 Sep 16Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne :: V568
listing details L992132395

7 Princesses or Haft Paykar of Nizami - T1314488202

A wild Persian fairytale. Secret rooms, impatient passions, clever women, wigs, and a prince who wrestled his crown from the teeth of two wild lions to become King. Funny, poetic & erotic by turn.
19 Mar 16Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L01821125555

This Thing Called Love - T618557151

Performance storytelling with Nell Phoenix, Tim Ralphs & Nick Hennessey. Expect strange attractions, lust, madness, deceit and desire, naughty bedroom scenes, forbidden dalliances, and even a touch of romance...
16 Feb 16Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L01221811434

Gilgamesh - T0108484277

Storyteller Ben Haggarty and musician Jonah Brody bring Gilgamesh to the stage in an extraordinary and powerful performance of one of the oldest stories in the world. Passionate, psychedelic and packed with quick-witted humour.
28 Nov 15Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L73127602

Inanna - T1490193051

Inanna - all powerful goddess of sex, fertility, and warfare, and clothed in terrifying radiance - harbours a desire for power, love and adventure that know no bounds, even if it requires a descent into the underworld where her big sister presides over the land of the dead... Performance storyteller Mikael Oberg, sonic artist Lee Berwick and visual artist Daniel Rudholm conspire to shed new light on the oldest story in the world... Ranging from humour to horror; from high comedy to deep enchantment, this is intense and immersive avant garde storytelling with deep bass sonics and stunning visuals ...come and experience epic on the edge.Performer Mikael Oberg.
27 Mar 15Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L0743514302

The Cabinet of Zoological Curiosities - T2135723068

Three of the Crick Crack Club's finest storytellers, Nell Phoenix, Hugh Lupton & TUUP unveil a grand cabinet of zoological curiosities, with animalistic fables for metropolitan grown-ups! Flouting utter disregard for logic, enlightened reason and the natural sciences in general, this will be a evening of unfluffy bunnies, beasts behaving badly, and unbridled social satire at its most entertaining. Comedic, surreal and magical by turn - come and take a walk on the wilder side of fairytale...Performer Nell Phoenix. Performer Tuup. Performer Hugh Lupton.
17 Feb 15Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L0517937913

Her...Performance Storytelling by Xanthe Gresham - T827884484

The ancient poets went into the dark for a spark of the deity known as 'Her'. Half closing their eyes, so as to be in two worlds at once, they would make a boat from the flash of a teardrop and speed out to Tir Nan Og, the Land of the Ever Young. As they chanted Her's song, she would enter, hang her mantle on the last sunbeam and sit down by the fire. Centuries later, a man, desperately googling for a Paradise Bride, accidentally summons Her again. But once she has crashed out of Tir Nan Og in an on-line up-chuck, she's stuck, and subject to all the addictions of life on the Other Side. In an attempt to get back home, Her comes face to face with the White Snake, the buried power of these Isles, in a place she least expects - the heart of the city... Suitable for adults 14+. Running time: 65mins
10 Nov 14Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L1758836655

The Day of the Dead - T1629812291

We don't want to die - not yet anyway - and we certainly hope to be remembered when we do! Inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead, three fabulous storytellers dig deep into their potent repertoires to dance hand-in-hand with that dynamic trio - God, the Devil and Death.Enter the Crick Crack Club's bizarre and quirky annual celebration of the Mexican festival of the Dias de Los Muertos, where dead ancestors are honoured; the souls of the dead are tempted back into the world of the living for a bit of a party, and Death is mocked, cheated and saluted by turn. Join us for what promises to be a sometimes poignant, sometimes irreverent, high-risk evening of stories selected in response to, or simply bent to fit, The Day of the Dead. Expect ritual, stories, and magical mayhem...
1 Nov 14Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L01125406070

The Master Thief - T01035294402

A princess awakes to find a pair of horns protruding from her forehead... A young woman follows a trail of blood in to a forest... A thief makes a deadly pact... Bizarre, dreamlike and chilling, these red-blooded folktales were told 100 years ago under the stars and by the light of the moon in rural Wales. Daniel Morden has painstakingly reassembled them and performs them with passion and gusto. No stranger to Crick-Crack Club audiences, Daniel is one of the UK's most popular storytellers. He has the timing of a comedian and the insight of a poet.Performer Daniel Morden.
19 May 14Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L2147174737

T17738668

Sometimes what you see is not what you get... Transmogrifying humans; old ladies with animalistic tendencies, feral lovers, protective mothers, Loogaroos with sly eyes - this is a night of transformations. With unsurpassed style & alarming charisma, The Unorthodox Unprecedented Preacher TUUP, and the mistress of Afro-Caribbean storytelling Jan Blake, pick their way through an untamed landscape in the company of those who can become other - in mind, in body, and in spirit.Performer Jan Blake. Performer TUUP.
26 Apr 14Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L1766660151

The Iliad - T01698607468

Two of Britain's finest storytellers bring a mighty Homeric classic to the stage, with a cast of characters who have fascinated audiences for three thousand years: the haughty king Agamemnon; Achilles, the archetypal flawed hero; Helen, cursed by her beauty, and towering over them all, the omnipotent Olympian Gods and Goddesses, Zeus and Owl Eyed Athena. The story of the siege and fall of Troy is as contemporary now as it has ever been. This extraordinary account of a testosterone-charged war, with its savagery and mad ecstasy, explores questions of nationalism, grief, divine indifference, and the destructive and redemptive faces of love. Suitable for ages 12+Performer Daniel Morden. Performer Hugh Lupton.
27 Mar 14Theatre Royal, York :: V954
listing details L0364724289

Shakespeare with Cucumbers & other stories - T775884018

Mythic cat's cradle, epic origami, torn paper romance, a trip to outer space and Shakespeare with cucumbers... Street performers turned storytellers Joerg Baesecke & Hedwig Rost take to the Soho stage with the one and only 'smallest stage in the world' and an armoury of kitchen utensils, vegetables, paper, string, bottles of water and Hedwig's long suffering violin. Defying categorisation, this German duo perform stories with stuff. Comedic, surreal and truly enchanting, this is a rarity not to be missed.Performer Joerg Baesecke. Performer Hedwig Rost.
10 Mar 14Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L0239001515

Crow - T0557293212

Bird-like old women, mouse-like girls, bear-like men, and teenage boys with something of the jackal about them... we're quite familiar with finding something of the animal in our fellow human beings. But sometimes the boundary between human and beast, and between myth and history can become somewhat blurred. Dominc Kelly's one hour storytelling performance, Crow, traces the life and death of Dominic's own grandfather - a beak-nosed man and a corvid-like trickster. He was born into poverty in the distinctive landscape of the Lancashire Fylde and as a child he slept in a hollow in the floor, but as an adult he charmed, tricked and labored his way determinedly into an affluence that he ultimately found alien. A 1 hour long story-telling short Suitable for 12+Performer Dominc Kelly.
19 Sep 13Theatre Royal, York :: V954
listing details L0893636657

Forbidden - T0137086446

Enigmatically pondering over whether some stories simply shouldn't be told and if some subjects are off limits - we realised there was only one way to find out! So come, cross the threshold into a world of twisted, primeval (or is that primevil) fairytale and folklore, where incest, infanticide, infatuation, murder & mayhem abound. Guiding the uncontrolled passions of the night, Jan Blake journeys to somewhere a little close to the bone...Author Jan Blake.
8 Jan 13Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L290936309

Mr Sandmann - bringer of dreams & nightmares - T274448826

Internationally renowned for his dynamic and challenging performances, Ben Haggarty slips behind the lights into the dark side of the fairground, where you risk getting more than you bargained for. Via freak-show and moonshine bar, ready yourself for an intense and alarming journey through the ambivalent mythology of the Sandman. Flirting with Americana; drawing on urban legend, fairytale, myth and folklore, and paying oblique homage to Heinrich Von Kleist, ETA Hoffman, Hans Andersen and Nick Cave, Ben Haggarty surrenders his sanity to the magnetic pull of a ravenous moon. 'intense and alarming...screw up your courage and go' THE TIMES. Unsuitable for under 14s.
8 Dec 12Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L01416942275

The Three Snake Leaves - T01249092340

Performance Storytelling. Fairytales from the Grimm Forest by Ben Haggarty, Sally Pomme Clayton & Hugh Lupton. The dark pasts of three dishevelled travellers lost in a forest are untangled in this seamless and beguiling performance of grown-up fairytale and myth. Moving, cruel and humorous by turn - enter an enchanted search for truth...Performer Ben Haggarty. Performer Sally Pomme. Performer Clayton Lupton. Performer Hugh Lupton.
1 Dec 12Theatre Royal, York :: V954
listing details L507169559

The King and the Corpse - T700045704

A king is obliged to carry the corpse of a hanged man on his back, but the corpse is possessed by a storytelling vampire whose enigmatic puzzles threaten to burst the King's head... In a wild collaboration, TUUP and sitar virtuoso Sheema Mukherjee tell transglobalised versions of these 2000 year old myths - rammed full of ritual and mystery.Performer TUUP. Performer Sheena Mukherjee.
15 Nov 12Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne :: V568
listing details L0254074109

The Day of the Dead - T01298041025

Inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead, three storytellers dig deep into their potent repertoires to dance hand-in-hand with that dynamic trio - God, the Devil and Death.Performer Tim Ralphs. Performer TUUP. Performer Clare Muireann Murphy.
1 Nov 12Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L1661626614

The Three Snake Leaves - T01540174120

The forest is a place where marvels gleam in the shadows and the mysterious snake leaves bring transformation... 200 years after the Brothers Grimm's first collection of fairytales was published, three masters of contemporary storytelling conjure a primal, metaphorical world, shot through with evocative music. The dark pasts of three disheveled travelers lost in a forest are untangled in this seamless and beguiling performance of grown-up fairytale and myth. Moving, cruel and humorous by turn - enter an enchanted search for truth...Performer Hugh Lupton. Performer Ben Haggarty. Performer Sally Pomme Clayton. Music Gillian Stevens. Music Dylan Fowler.
10 Oct 12Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne :: V568
listing details L2071596947

Pussy's in the Well - The Goddess Under the Pavement - T0619789170

A well is an eye of the earth. In an attempt to improve vision, Xanthe Gresham and Nick Hennesey uncover the stories and songs of the U.K's lost watercourses and their even more lost goddesses. Like a divining-rod incarnate, Xanthe Gresham has spent the last few years unearthing deities from Soho telephone boxes, Argentinean tango classes and middle class dinner parties. They've been airy, earthy and fiery ? and this time they'll be wet. This is metaphorical archaeology of the soul. ?Whatever we lose (like a you or a me), It's always our self we find in the sea' E.E. Cummings
19 Jun 12Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L0448810015

T2045790919

This 9th and 10th series of monthly events, in the Club's anniversary year, showcases the very best of contemporary performance storytelling with artists and narratives to suit every taste.
18 Jan 12 to 22 May 12Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L626198430

A Thousand and One Nights - T01855563760

Sheharazade, the storyteller who saved her own life together with the lives of her children by telling stories for 1001 nights, is one of the great cultural creations of the Arab world. The fabulous Egyptian storyteller and performer, Chirine El Ansary returns to the Crick Crack Club to tell some of the most intriguing and deliciously seductive episodes from the Arabian Nights, stories that explore the deepest passions and desires of men and women.Performer Chirine El Ansary.
22 May 12Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L0906626901

Shrine Tales - T1963235667

Join Hugh Lupton & experimental folk duo, Horses Brawl, for a night of miracle cures and superstition at the water's edge... Throughout early Christian England the shrine of Saint Edmund at Bury St Edmunds and the Holy Well of Walsingham were visited by countless pilgrims (including most medieval monarchs). Many miracles were attributed to the power of these places. Lepers were made clean, the dumb sang, cripples threw away their crutches and danced, the blind opened their eyes, even the dead were revived. In a performance of stories and music Hugh Lupton, Laura Cannell and Adrian Lever tell the legends behind the shrines? a rich mixture of piety, bloodshed and magic, interspersed with medieval music.Performer Hugh Lupton. Group/Band Horses Brawl.
17 Apr 12Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L497046490

Baba Yaga & Other Suspected Cannibals - T129683438

Making their tongue-in-cheek selections from the Crick Crack Club s quirky, magical & comedically gruesome menu will be performance storytellers Tim Ralphs, Rachel Rose Reid and Ben Haggarty. Dine out on the cannibalistic side of fairytale, myth and urban legend, in the company of characters who endeavour to eat others, or even themselves - with varying degrees of success. Enter a very wild haven of fairytale...Performer Ben Haggarty. Performer Rachel Rose Reid. Performer Tim Ralphs.
4 Apr 12Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne :: V568
listing details L589881681
4 Oct 11Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L2035771585

The Girl Who Became a Boy - T0764567690

Ladies and gentlemen and all those in-between! We welcome you to a post-apocalyptic word of futuristic imaginings and unlikely transformations. Fairytale castles and kings have lapsed into a brutal tribal existence. One territory is depleted and a girl, as beautiful as she is courageous hacks off her hair and joins the fighters on the frontier. Enter a topsy turvy world where horses talk, girls slay monsters and princes long to be rescued from the grasps of monstrous reptilians. Jo Blake Cave conjures a vivid landscape where modernity and the ancient world colliede, and a merciless gypsy-king sips mead from a decorative old baked-bean can. Storytelling and seductive gypsy-folk music from The GlowGlobes weave together in this serpentine tale of tenderness and humour. Recommended age 12+
29 Feb 12Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne :: V568
listing details L900559721

A Rogues Gallery - Tale of Vagabonds Thieves and Chancers - T237544815

The Crick Crack Club presents: A Rogues Gallery - Tales of Vagabonds, Thieves and Chancers with Christine McMahon, TUUP & Ben Haggarty, with Ben McMahon on brass! A canting crew of mendicant storytellers raid the treasure house of world folklore, myth and fairytale. In this glittering hoard of quick-witted, cruel and cunning stories - top dogs are bested by underdogs, bribery and corruption in high places is exposed, and it is indeed possible to get something for nothing... Lancashire lass, Christine McMahon comes down to the dodgy south - button-holing a brass section along the way - to be joined by Transglobal Underground's TUUP and Crick Crack Club Maestro, Ben Haggarty. Join this motley bunch of chancers for a night of deceit and treachery... ?Performer Christine McMahon. Performer TUUP. Performer Ben Haggarty. Performer Ben McMahon (brass).
26 Jan 12Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L0874914330

The Liberty Tree: Tales of Robin Hood and the English Radicals - T01149983552

It's plain to see that we still hold a special place in our hearts for Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Something deep in our cultural psyche takes an irresistible delight in tales of the rich and powerful being taken down a peg or two - of the balance being redressed - if only for a moment. And our man in green is far from alone. Levelers, Diggers, Grindletonians, Muggletonians, Ranters and Seekers...the UK's history of dissent, of pushing against the ties that bind and rule of law, is timeless. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries it made its presence felt though Christian anarchy, the formation of new communities, new schools, and emigration to the new world - acts of dissatisfaction that echo noisily in the world we know today.Performer Hugh Lupton. Performer Nick Hennessey.
19 Jan 12Arts Centre, Aberystwyth :: V817
listing details L0864643557

The King & the Corpse - T0649965453

A king is obliged to carry the corpse of a hanged man on his back - but the corpse is not dead, it is possessed by a storytelling vampire, whose enigmatic puzzles threaten to burst the King's head into a thousand pieces... The magical storyteller, TUUP, and virtuoso sitar player, Sheema Mukherjee, both core members the wild world music collective Transglobal Underground, team up to tell transglobalised versions of these stunning, 2,000 year old tales. This is an 11th Century Indian fairytale being brought right into the heart of the West End - as much an encounter as an event, it promises to be a bold, raw and experimental piece of performance storytelling.
18 Jan 12Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L1875999610

Christmas Cabaret - T0929854383

London s treasure house of myth, rumour and romance, THE CRICK CRACK CLUB, presents a season of fairytales - adult, urban and shadowy - plus the Crick Crack Club Christmas Cabaret. Before you succumb to Xmas excess, let the Crick Crack Club fill your stocking with its own peculiar brand of festive folly. Five seasonal oddballs present a turkey-full of bauble-busting and winter-wonderlusting folktales, fairytales and centrally heated other-tales in The Crick Crack Club Christmas Cabaret.
21 Dec 11Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L1916878736

Fairytales for Grownups: The Grateful & the Dead - T1498471186

London s treasure house of myth, rumour and romance, THE CRICK CRACK CLUB, presents a season of fairytales - adult, urban and shadowy. World renowned for his playful performances, allow Ben Haggarty to lure you into the richly metaphorical world of a full-blooded fairytales for grown-ups. Fierce, fast-paced, and unashamedly magical, these are stories of dreams, initiations and the repayment of debts, told with infectious charm and ease.Author Ben Haggarty.
23 Nov 11Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L2024020725

From the Odd/The Balance of Things - T927667291

From The Odd by Tim Ralphs - From the Odd is Tim Ralphs spectacular re-imagining of some of the most familiar material in myth, folktale and nursery rhyme - treated with reverence, love, sewing scissors and a welding iron. The resultant panoply of resonant images includes, Orpheus' Lyre, urban landscapes, the Devil playing scrabble, stars, sheds, and jocular cannibals. Let Tim take you to the edge, and back... The Balance of Things (or how to settle a debt with a chicken) by Michael Harvey Venture into the vibrant and liminal world of Breton fairytales, and a landscape filled with encounters with beauties, beasts, strange companions, bizarre marriages, and ruthless atonement. In a charm-your-socks-off performance, Michael Harvey draws on the collections of Fran?ois-Marie Luzel, to recast and retell these grown up tales of wonder with a disarmingly light touch. These stories come from a place where everyday life and the fantastic collide - somewhere simultaneously earthy, ethereal and real... with a decidedly comedic twist.
23 Nov 11Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne :: V568
listing details L01413257214

Caribbean Spook Tales - T1413952150

Caribbean Spook Tales: stories of vampires, jumbies and shapeshifters by Jan Blake and TUUP A thunderous storytelling exploration of sorcery and shape-shifting. Disturbing, comedic and poignant tales of ghosts, duppies, jumbies and conjure folk that haunt the Caribbean and the Americas. The Unorthodox, Unprecedented Preacher, TUUP, and the Queen of Afro-Caribbean storytellers, Jan Blake, take to the stage with unsurpassed style and alarming charisma, for a thunderous storytelling exploration of sorcery and shape-shifting. Working with the magic of contraries, these are disturbing, comedic and poignant tales of the ghosts, duppies, jombies and conjure folk that haunt the Caribbean and the Americas.
26 Oct 11Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne :: V568
listing details L349136649

Love in the Shadows - T0308718289

London s treasure house of myth, rumour and romance, THE CRICK CRACK CLUB, presents a season of fairytales - adult, urban and shadowyAuthor Sally Pomme.
25 Oct 11Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L1024779430

The Court of the Queen of Claywood Flats - T2080135096

London s treasure house of myth, rumour and romance, THE CRICK CRACK CLUB, presents a season of fairytales - adult, urban and shadowyAuthor Tim Ralphs.
21 Sep 11Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L0550164493

The Good The Bad & The Ugly...Fairies - T44560757

On midsummer’s day, amidst the photon-fantastic daylight overload, there’s always the possibility of a fairy epidemic Beguiling, tricksy, highly-strung, suspiciously helpful and occasionally insufferably twee - dare to spend an evening in the company of the little people, the good folk, the banshees, boggarts, sylphs and sprites in all their subversive glory. Three expert bounty hunters - performance storytellers Jo Blake, Dominic Kelly, and Clare Muireann Murphy - will take to the stage, armed with nets and fairy-swats, to act as intermediaries between this and that decidedly 'other' world.
21 Jun 11Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L02075659324

Crow Dog - T0866265034

The Unorthodox, Unprecedented Preacher, TUUP, takes to the stage with unsurpassed style, alarming charisma, an ear for mimicry and an eye for a wild story. Enter a world of transformation, myth and magic. In the 1800s, the turbulent up-rising of the American civil war leaves an African American boy orphaned. His name is Henry, but that’s about to change. Destitute, this young blood is found by a group of Seminole Indians, with whom he begins a life of vision quests and shamanic-animism. With accompaniment from Togoan bass guitarist Emmanuel Folorunso, Crow Dog is a storytelling performance to bring the moon and the stars down to listen in at the windows...
2 Jun 11Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L2143078185

Baba Yaga & The Virgin - T01133308616

Crick Crack Club Performance Storytelling Xanthe Gresham presents Baba Yaga and The Virgin... Has your pilot light puttered? Your credit crunched? Never fear, help is here to re-ignite the spark. On a road trip through Mexico (via haunted hotel rooms, day of the dead celebrations, visions and peculiar folklore) two deities dangle like dice from the rear view mirror... One is Baba Yaga - once a goddess of fire and fertility, now just a witch in Russian fairytale. With iron teeth and cannibalistic tendencies, she scuttles through the forest in a hut balanced on a pair of hairy chicken legs. The other is The Virgin of Guadalupe - Latin America’s iconic Mother, who launches Mexican waves of tea towels, plastic bracelets and prayer cards across the country. Famous and beloved she holds us all in the folds of her mantle. Unlikely travelling companions perhaps, but only they can guide the way to the 360 degree hilltop epiphany, where you, me and the moment collide...
26 Apr 11Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L2023672691

Metamorphoses: Performance Storytelling - T0835362790

Enter another world - a world of gods... The nation's most celebrated storytelling duo, Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden, breathe life into some of the most famous myths in the world. Inspired by Ovid, they bring us Orpheus, whose musical and poetic powers were so great that they even survived an encounter with Hades; Midas, with his golden touch; the abduction of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld; the nymph Echo, repeating the last words of others, and the beautiful, vain Narcissus. This is storytelling at its most poetic. Suitable for adults (children 12+)
30 Mar 11General, General :: V284575333
listing details L69050653

Mad March Hare - T684407887

In a back-to-front world, the hot stepping, quick stepping fool holds a mirror to the world...Three mighty, harebrained performers unleash a riot of cunning tricksters, madmen and idiots. ‘Richmixing’ on the theme will be the sagacious winner of the Crick Crack Club’s liar’s cup, Hugh Lupton, ‘master of the odd’, Tim Ralphs and the Queen of Afro-Caribbean storytellers, Jan Blake. Anticipate a night of gleeful deceit and anarchic tomfoolery - masterfully ceremonialised by Ben Haggarty.Performer Hugh Lupton. Performer Tim Ralphs. Performer Jan Blake.
22 Mar 11Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L01621558202

The Girl Who Became a Boy - T376340126

The Crick Crack Club performance storytelling at the Soho Theatre Ladies and gentlemen and anyone who’s not quite sure... Jo Blake returns to the Soho Theatre with a vibrant clash of myth and fairytale, where cross-dressing and unlikely transformations abound. Bizarre, comedic and magical by turn - and underscored by evocative gypsy-folk music…enter a mirror world where girls slaughter monsters, princes dream of being rescued and reptilian gods smirk from the margins. Featuring Jo Blake and the GlowGlobes
1 Mar 11Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L122273520

Fairytales for Grownups: The Grateful & the Dead - T290184020

Producer Stage 2. Producer Northern Stage. Author Ben Haggarty.
2 Feb 11Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne :: V568
listing details L02097268865

The Cabinet of Zoological Curiosities - T1217460440

French storyteller extraordinaire, Abbi Patrix, and The Unorthodox, Unprecedented Preacher, TUUP, come together on stage to unveil a grand cabinet of zoological curiosities, with animalistic fables for metropolitan grown-ups! Flaunting utter disregard for logic, enlightened reason and the natural sciences in general, this is unbridled social satire at its most entertaining. Suitable for adults 14+Performer Abbi Patrix. Performer TUUP.
1 Feb 11Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L0725278317

Old Nick - T733119220

Lucifer, Old Scratch, Old Hob, Beelzebub, The prince of Darkness, He, Himself, Old Nick... you can call him what you like, but the devil is still the devil. A spotters guide would no doubt suggest you keep an eye out for give-always such as cloven hooves, hairy britches, a tail-coat worn in vain attempt to hide a tail, a tall dark top hat, a pale face prone to hot flushes, and a slight whiff of sulphur... but that all sounds rather too obvious. Three performances take to the stage at the Soho Theatre to indulge in the decadent company of the devil, through fairytale, myth, urban legend and everything in between.Author Tim Ralphs. Author Ben Haggarty. Author Clare Muireann Murphy.
4 Jan 11Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L1479467423

Orpheus - T0212043384

The Crick Crack Club's monthly performance storytelling events at the Soho Theatre continue this December with Orpheus - and other tales from Ovid's Metamorphoses Storyteller Daniel Morden and cellist Sarah Moody turn their attention to some of the most famous Greek myths: Orpheus, with his musical powers; Midas, cursed with a golden touch; the abduction of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld; the nymph Echo, and beautiful, vain, Narcissus. Combining voice with haunting melody Morden and Moody conjure unforgettable images in the mind’s eye.
7 Dec 10Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L810304259

The Day of the Dead - T02007856173

The Day of the Dead, with storytellers [Ben Haggarty], TUUP, Joanne Blake, Rachel Rose Reid, and music from Mariachi Jalisco Inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead, and roused by a musical extravaganza from Mariachi Jalisco, four storytellers dig deep into their potent repertoires to dance hand-in-hand with that dynamic trio - God, the Devil and Death. Enter the Crick Crack Club’s bizarre and quirky celebration of the Mexican festival of the Dias de Los Muertos, where dead ancestors are honoured and Death is mocked, cheated and saluted by turn. Expect ritual, stories, music and magical mayhem.Performer Ben Haggarty.
2 Nov 10Rich Mix, Outer London :: V0478944234
listing details L02094260134

Spice Arthur 702 Kamishibai storytelling - T0520137858

Manga and comic strip speed dates with Japanese picture storytelling and an extra zealous horn section - this is Spice Arthur 702 - turning the usually sedate art of Japanese Kamishibai into something else entirely. Fast, noisy, and in Japanese, this is one-off, inimitable, phantasmagoric excitement.
26 Oct 10Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L622675089

Gilgamesh:Performance Storytelling by Ben Haggarty - T331152669

Over 3,500 years after this ancient Sumerian epic was first outlined on stone tablets, storyteller Ben Haggarty and percussionist Manya Maratou, bring Gilgamesh to the stage in an extraordinary, exuberant and powerful performance. This story of a bored tyrant ruling a city so beautiful that even the Gods choose to make it their home, explores the nature of power, the threat of apocalypse and our own mortality.Performer Ben Haggarty (storyteller). Performer Many Maratou (musician).
7 Sep 10Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L2090196748

Orpheus - T0443959835

Daniel Morden (storyteller) and Sarah Moody (cello) are well known to Tobacco Factory audiences through their work with The Devil’s Violin and The Singing Bones. Their combination of spoken word and haunting melody is perfectly suited to the stark, poignant myths of ancient Greece. This captivating performance features some of the most famous tales of the classical world, such as Demeter & Persephone, Orpheus in the Underworld, Midas and Echo & Narcissus.Performer Daniel Morden. Performer Sarah Moody.
10 Jul 10The Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol :: V1384579886
listing details L0600408076

Isis is You Sis & Hegate Tango - T2044874198

Teetering between the sharply hilarious and the devastatingly provocative, this pair of roller-coaster performances combines mythology, fairytale, playground rhyme, and the things people get up to in their pursuit of love, happiness and enlightenment. Xanthe Gresham takes her aversion to wavy hems firmly in hand and delves deep into Isis and Osiris, the Egyptian tale of love versus murder, rape and betrayal, and brings Hecate, the great goddess of blackness and beginnings back onto the dance floor.Performer Xanthe Gresham.
9 Jul 10The Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol :: V1384579886
listing details L0406767799

The Intermediaries - T0590753754

Despite the forced spread of the Yoruba peoples across the Atlantic their West African mythology survived in the Caribbean and Americas - concealed in Voudon and Candomblé. The fabulous Jan Blake lays bare these magical stories of immortalised human sprits, the origins of the gods and an ancient cosmology, with passion and power.Performer Jan Blake.
4 May 10Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L379978969

The Grand Annual Lying Contest - T01468408109

The Crick Crack Club launches its 4th season of performance storytelling at the Soho Theatre with its Grand Annual Lying Contest An evening of relentless and preposterous absurdity is thrust upon a bewildered world, as fibbers, leg-pullers, prevaricators, and downright liars compete in public, for the most treasured trophy in the storytelling world - the legendary Hodja Cup - plus a chance to win one hundred guineas in hard cash, and be heralded the ‘Liar’s Laureate’. Ben Haggarty will marshal an unruly squad of hopeful contestants as they lie, or tell a story about lying, in an attempt to impress the audience and a panel of three carefully selected judges whose decision may or may not be final...
6 Apr 10Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L01033920678

From the Odd/The Cradle of Life - T01406277916

From the Odd, is Tim Ralphs’ spectacular re-imagining of some of the most familiar material in myth, folktale and nursery rhyme - treated with reverence, love, sewing scissors and a welding iron. The resultant panoply of resonant images includes, Orpheus’ lyre, urban landscapes, the devil playing scrabble, stars, sheds, and jocular cannibals. Let Tim take you to the edge, and back... + There are plans to build a new radio telescope nicknamed ‘ the cradle of life’, to listen for echoes from the Big Bang. Binding together Mesopotamian creation myth, a Tibetan story of a wrath-ridden mother and the birth of a magician - Vergine Gulbenkian performs The Cradle of Life- picking through themes of sound, sacrifice and motherhood.Author Tim Ralphs. Performer Vergine Gulbenkian.
2 Mar 10Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L01382761649

The Cauldron of Living and Dying - T0890389383

The Crick Crack Club's performance storytelling season at the Soho Theatre continues in February with Michael Harvey's 'The Cauldron of Living and Dying' Expect a Welsh appetiser, followed by a rare chance to plunge into a feast of wondertales from the vibrant Breton collections of François-Marie Luzel performed with verve, passion, humour, and a deceptively light touch, by Michael Harvey. Immediate and arresting, these stories come from a place where everyday life and the fantastic collide - somewhere simultaneously earthy, ethereal and real. Unsuitable for children under 12Author Michael Harvey. Author Francois-Marie Luzel. Performer Michael Harvey.
9 Feb 10Soho Theatre, Inner London :: V1035
listing details L2066287635

Other listings

21 Apr 12Theatre Royal, York :: V954
listing details L2066360790
CORONAVIRUS: All UK venues closed on 16th March 2020, restrictions were lifted on 19th July 2021. Please note that iUKTDb archive listings between March 2020 and July 2021 may not be accurate as we did not receive details of all rescheduled and cancelled shows.

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