The Flying Donkeys
Derby's very own storytelling club. Our aim is to promote the traditional art of storytelling within the Derby city and Derbyshire area, providing top quality evenings of entertainment and an opportunity for people to share their stories and learn more about storytelling.
We usually meet on the 2nd Wed of the month, at 7.30pm in the evenings, throughout the year (except Aug and Sept). This is when we host Performance Storytelling Events at the VoiceBox, on Forman St, in Derby.
These monthly events alternate between guest performers one month and our increasingly popular "Spread the Word!" the next.
With our Guest Performer Nights we aim to bring you the very best of storytelling performers from across the UK and beyond, as well as showcase more local storytellers.
With our Spread the Word! events - this a new format for 2011 /12 - an open night when we welcome tellers, poets, writers, singers and musicians for a relaxed evening of stories in all their forms.
These open evenings are also an opportunity to showcase up and coming storytelling talent with a 30 minute "special guest spot".
Spread the Word! participants should make themselves known by contacting us before hand if at all possible so we can plan each open night's running order, but you can also just turn up on the night and find Sophie, our Chair.
Occasionally we venture further afield, telling at local festivals and events, or hosting One-off Special Events and working within the Community on particular Projects . When a fifth Wednesday occurs in the year, we take the opportunity to showcase something special - either a developing storyteller, or a show premiere from a more established teller, or a performance that is more experimental - our "Fifth Wednesday Project".
We usually serve refreshments during our performance evenings - hot drinks and home made cakes / tasty titbits, and particulary strive to offer a friendly, informal atmosphere where stories and chat can be enjoyed amongst new and old friends.
"I remember my first tentative visit to a Flying Donkeys performance evening - and how welcome I was made to feel. Despite being on my own and completely new to storytelling, everyone was so friendly. I was soon caught up listening to this amazing storyteller (Ben Haggarty's Frankenstein). I was bowled over and couldn't resist coming back the following month - well it hasn't stopped there!" Sophie Snell, Flying Donkey's Chair.
We are an adult storytelling club - which just means that our events are aimed primarily at adults. However older children and young adults are very welcome. Most material is suitable for over 12's but if you are unsure do please contact us beforehand to check. It is lovely to see younger members in the audience discovering storytelling!
