09/07/2026
Rambling post. Musings. Thoughts welcome.
I've told the same "Stories for Midsummer" set at two very different venues to two very different audiences in the last seven days. Two things occur to me.
Firstly, there is something rather amazing that happens when we tell stories orally that I don't think happens in other art forms (except possibly stand up), in that we adjust the stories and even the content of a show to some degree to suit our audiences...as it comes out of our mouths. As we get to know an audience, we adjust so many parts or our performance without even thinking about it. I could actually feel myself tweaking the content of the show and the nuances of the stories and frame that was about to unfold as I was talking. I think telling stories must make us better at understanding people.
Secondly, I was again reminded that the very best bit of the whole shebang - which, for me at least, is the connection. When people came to talk to me afterwards and during the interval, they were sharing parts of their own lives, telling me things that have happened to them, sometimes years and years ago. One person even felt comfortable enough to show me a poem they had written the previous week which seemed somehow to exactly match the evocations of parts of the narrative frame. I heard people sharing memories with strangers sat next to them in the audience. It was wonderful. There is something so connective about storytelling that isn't there in the same way as theatre for example. Perhaps the closest I can think of is poetry or even stand up. Whatever it is, it is very special indeed.
Pic: sharing Greek myths at Manchester Art Gallery last summer. A different audience again!
