Blog
A page for news and chat about what we are all up to!
December 2011
Sophie writes...
I keep asking the other Donkeys for a contribution to the Blog but I am sorry - but it is me again! We have a wonderful programme lined up for 2012!
In January we welcome Sarah Rundle from London with her gorgeous, uproarious and irreverent Gawain and the Green Knight. The reviews of the show just get better and better, and whether you love the story or are keen to see this lively and energetic performer - what a highlight to light up those post Christmas blues! We will break open the mulled wine and maybe go for a fine selection of cheese and biscuits as an alternative to the usual cakes!
In February we have our very own Spread the Word! open night of spoken word and music. To date I have been promised a wonderful seleciton of performers including songs from Irene Marshall and we hope a very special spot from Denise Quail with her amazing hurdy gurdy! Our special guest storyteller spot has yet to be confirmed (my fault, just been very busy) - but we have an intriguing name in mind!
And in March I am particularly delighted to welcome our friend and colleague from Norfolk Dave Tong. Dave has been up for our open nights a few times (despite the long journey) and easily won the hearts of our audience each time, so it is great to welcome him back for a full evening of what I am sure will be at turns informative, bawdy, and poignant fun.
We are still at our favourite venue of the Voicebox in Derby, despite juggling funds - they always make us so welcome and it is hard to beat such a lovely storytelling venue. If you are still being foxed by the new Derby inner ring road layout, remember that once you are on the dual carriageway (aka Lara Croft Way) - head for the roundabout with a turn off marked "Abbey Street carpark" - that is the large car park right at the end of the road that the Voicebox sits on (Forman Street). The parking is now excellent. If you are not sure do please ring me for more directions :)
In the meantime don't forget to join us at Derby Live! for Daniel Morden's "Sleeping Beauty and Alcestis" tomorrow evening (Dec 14th) - this time at the Darwin Suite, Derby Assembly Rooms. If you quote "flying donkeys" you will get a discount bringing the ticket price down to our usual £6 / 4!
Our warmest wishes and seasonal greetings from the Flying Donkeys! xxx
October 2011
Sophie writes...
Such a busy autumn so far - in the last month I have been to Wales on a research trip where 
I visited various sites of the tales of the Mabinogion - it is such an amazing set of stories and you can clearly see many of the sites of the stories scattered across North (and South) Wales. I have been working on the tale of Blodeuwedd (the so called Lady of the Flowers) and it really helps to actually see the landscape to which these tales and myths belong. The photo to the right is Gronyn's stone - through which the spear was thrown that killed him - we had to climb up to a secret location in the middle of a farm to find it!
Then just a couple of weeks ago Roy and I both went to Settle Storytelling Festival - only its second year of running but an event that is clearly growing fast. Such a stunning location and a rich mix of storytelling shows and events. We bumped into Flying Donkeys' favourite Dave Tonge who hosted a couple of the events and I took my eldest son with me to partake of a beginners' workshop led by Taffy Thomas (Ben came away buzzing with enthusiasm thanks to Taffy's kindness!)
The highlights are hard to choose - but probably TUUP's "Tales from the Singing Gourd" - a clever weaving of African / Indian dilemma tales, Nick Hennessey's high energy Tales over Afternoon Tea - not least due to the stunning array of cakes and scones! And the fantastic singing birds outside one of the venues (see photo) - you put your head inside the bird and told a story and it came out in singing bird speak! And certainly also Roy's favourite tale of the "Little Red Hairy Man", which he told with that inimitable twinkle in his eye at the closing festival club night! The whole festival must have taken a phenomenal amount of work to organise and was a real credit to organiser Sita Brand.
Now - I just thought I would update you all on some local Halloween and post Halloween events - then realised there seems to be quite a lot happening this year!
The Woolly Tellers (aka Dave and Mick) featured on one of our Spread the Word nights earlier this year and are hosting a Halloween Special at the WI Hall, Wilne Road, Sawley, Long Eaton on the 28th Oct. Tickets are available from Tel 0115 972 3913. Dave and Mick are regulars at the Nottingham Storytelling Club at the Trip to Jerusalem, which is hosting its own Halloween Horrors on Thurs 27th October 8pm.
You can see a Halloween version of my own Seven Deadly Sins for Folk on the Farm on Friday 28th Oct, 7pm at Newbold School, Coleorton (near Ashby de la Zouche) - this is their Samhain Tale Spinning Night so there is an opportunity to tell a tale of your own or sing a song / play a tune in the first half open mic section! Tickets are £5 / £3 from Sue Kendrick on Tel 07981 356388 or check out www.folkonthefarm.co.uk.
There is family storytelling at Kedleston Hall (National Trust) over Sat /Sun 29th / 30th Oct (11am - 3pm) - you can find me in Caesar's Hall by a roaring fire sharing stories for all ages.
In Derby the annual Halloween storywalks for Quarndon Live & Local take place on Sunday 30th Oct - there is the Family Storywalk in Allestree Park at 6pm - meet by the old Allestree Hall - it is a very child-friendly walk - about an hour - people usually come dressed up with lanterns and torches. We've been doing them for a few years now so I know it gets busy! Tickets should be pre-booked if possible - £5 adults / £3 children (under 2's free) from myself (email robandsophie@hotmail.com or Tel 01332 840007). We are also running an Adult Storywalk that same night Sun 30th Oct, 8pm through the hidden corners of the village of Quarndon (just off the A6, NW of Derby near Duffield) - children should be over 12 for this one - meet at the Joiner's Arms pub, 60, Church Street, Quarndon. Tickets as above. We did a reccie of the walk yesterday and have found a really lovely and very atmospheric route!
Then on Halloween itself Mon 31st Oct, The Wonky Table restaurant on Sadlergate, Derby is hosting a special meal with storytelling from myself "Strange Tales at the Wonky Table" - there will be specially devised spooky cocktails, and a three course menu of devilish dishes. Tickets are £22 / £25 (2 or 3 course meal) and must be pre-booked from Holly at the restaurant Tel 01332 295000. See also www.wonkytable.com.
The Nottingham Theatre Royal also has its own burgeoning troup of storytellers who are hosting their own event on Monday 31 October at 7.15pm at the Theatre Royal Dress Circle Foyer. Tickets £5 (age 13 plus) from the Box Office 0115 989 5555 . You might recognise Emma who went down a storm at our last Spread the Word night, who is part of this group.
On Tues 1st November a new storytelling club is starting up at Dronfield: "Dragon's Breath Storytelling" (what a lovely name!) kicking off with Tales for Dark Nights at the Green Dragon Inn, Dronfield. Hosted by Simon Heywood and Shonaleigh, tickets are £5 / 4 and you can get more info from Tel 0790 880 0796.
After a sell-out opening event in September, another new club: Tales at the Watermill, is hosting its second event at the Shepshed Watermill (near Loughborough) on Thurs 17th Nov, 7.30pm. It's a very atmospheric setting with great cakes I gather! This month there is an open mic first half and the second half is Seven Deadly Sins from myself. Tickets from Nick Fathers on Tel 0116 236 3739 or email nickfathers@sky.com.
So much to choose from this Halloween! Hope you have fun!
Finally a huge thanks to the team that helped us host "Zulu" for Flying Donkeys on October 12th. We had a packed hall and the show was amazing - this photo (a bit blurry, but you get the idea!) is of Zulu! with half the audience on their feet dancing - on stage and off - to a footstomping performance.
Don't forget our next Flying Donkeys' event at the VoiceBox on Wed 9th Nov - "Spread the Word" - our special open night which welcomes storytellers, poets, writers, and musicians. We are delighted to welcome storyteller Stephe Harrop from London who is doing a special guest spot during the evening and we already have interest expressed from several musicians and poets giving us a wonderful varied array of performers to look forward to!
Hope to see you there if not before! Best wishes, Sophie
August 2011
Sophie writes...
Well we have had our AGM and are in the process of confirming the forthcoming year 2011 / 12 season bookings (always a fun job - how to choose?!) and looking forward to a really interesting set of storytelling events. As usual with AGM's we have had a bit of a shuffle round - sadly Raymond Greenoaken has left us - Ray has been with Flying Donkeys many years, but being based in Sheffield and finding his Derby work reduced to just one day a week (and not a Wednesday!) he has resigned as a committee member - we knew this was likely but it is still sad to see him go - Ray we hope you will come back and continue to tell us your stories when you get the chance! So a huge thanks to Ray for all his time over the years, his design expertise (Ray did the website graphics and created our "donkey") and his wonderful engaging stories.
We are delighted however to see the return of our old friend Roy Dyson onto the committee. Roy set up the club all those years ago, and though he decided to take a break over the last year (during which he had a cataract operation on his eyes), has come back to help us with our new plans. Roy has so much experience and excellent contacts and besides has been much missed!
Another delightful piece of news was John Fearon's announcement of his appointment as an offical storyteller for the 2012 Olympics! John loves sport and storytelling so what could be a more perfect combination! His role is to help record the more personal stories and impressions of the Olympics and stands part of a wider team with some very well known names! Check out the full details at the BT Olympic Storytellers website: www.btlondon2012.co.uk/storytellers.
There are some interesting developments locally for storytelling - a new club is being set up in Shepshed, near Loughborough "Tales at the Watermill". It is a wonderful venue - an 18th century working watermill with cafe and exhibits - very atmospheric. The main contact is Nick Fathers on Tel 0116 236 3739 and they kick off on Thurs 15th September, 7.30pm with an evening of tales from Graham Langley - if you are able to go along and support this new club I am sure you will be rewarded by a fantastic evening and great company. (By the way their next event is my own Seven Deadly Sins on Thurs 17th November!). Nick also runs the Midlands Storytelling website - a useful summary of what is going on in and around the Midlands.
I also heard on the grapevine that Hugh Lupton is running a masterclass for experienced storytellers on Sat 24th September at the Theatre Royal Nottingham (£25) - there are still a few places left if anyone is interested. The Theatre Royal have been setting up their own team of storytellers (including Emmas Carlton who told at our last Spread the Word! event) with occasional events so worth checking out too.
Our Spread the Word! format has been going down so well, we have scheduled more for the new season - on alternate months, starting Nov 9th - it is a great way to get some performance experience and see a variety of spoken word artists all on one night - we have already had some promises of music and stories for November, so do come along and support the evening - listeners and performers both needed!
Lastly a quick plug for Yard of Tales - the club Kevin Walker set up a year ago in Market Harborough. It is celebrating it's one year anniversary and has grown from strength to strength over the year. It's celebration event is on Thurs 1st September "Hatched, Matched & Despatched", an evening of tales with Kevin and myself which we have themed about births, deaths and marriages, and a particularly poignant evening as this will be Kevin's last public performance in the UK before he returns to Spain to live. The club continues under the auspices of Tom Philips and Dave Blake, however. The event is at Newton Harcourt Village Hall this time, 7.30pm and should be an extra special sharing of tales with friends new and old. Do come and join us!
warmest wishes, Sophie :)
June 2011
Sophie writes...
Flying Donkeys are delighted to announce preliminary bookings for the new season of storytelling events Autumn 2011...
Wed Oct 12th, 8pm - "Zulu"
Quarndon Village Hall, Derby, DE22 5JA
Following our successful collaborations with Quarndon Live & Local, we open the Autumn season of events with this fabulous 6 man / woman troup from the Zulu nation. Combining storytelling with music and dance, this will be a night to remember - and quite unlike anything we have done before! Note for this particular evening, we are back at the Quarndon Village Hall just outside NW Derby, where there is ample space to enjoy this unique event. Start time slightly later too at 8pm, to fit in with a daytime schools workshop. The evening promises to be a beautiful celebration of Zulu culture and stories - guaranteed to wake the Gods and get your feet going too!
Wed 9th Nov, 7.30pm - "Spread the Word"
Venue tbc - but we hope at the VoiceBox, Forman St, Derby
A return of our new but very popular open mic night format for spoken word and music. A chance to have a go performing any spoken word / music - stories, poems, monologues, prose, song and music - all welcome! We love visitors from all over the country (so far they have come as far afield as Norwich and Brazil - via Staffordshire!). We may even have a surprise or two in store - and of course don't forget our listeners get to sample exotic mammoth style chocolate cake and practise their skills at mimicing creaking gates...
Wed 12th Dec, 7.30pm - "Sleeping Beauty and Alcestis" with Daniel Morden, Dylan Fowler & Oliver Wilson-Dickson
Venue - Derby Live! at the Darwin Suite, Assembly Rooms, Derby city centre
What a treat! Daniel Morden and his team of musicians return to Derby for this new show, which by all accounts is very beautiful. I don't have full details on content yet but understand there are four stories including the classic Sleeping Beauty, told with a new twist, accompanied by music on guitar, violin and flute - "Daniel at his poetic best!".
Not only this but here is another Flying Donkeys' first - a joint venture with Derby Live! at the Darwin Suite in the Assembly Rooms, Derby city centre, and Adverse Camber (who previously brought Flying Donkeys such wonderful shows as the The Middle Yard). Very exciting - so do please come along and support us in this drive to broaden the access to and appeal of storytelling in Derby.
Don't forget to quote "Flying Donkeys" to get a super discounted ticket price of £6 / £4 (matching our normal ticket prices at the Voicebox) on advance bookings only (via Derby Live! box office).
So lots of new ideas turning into reality - really excited and we do hope you will join us in the Autumn - and bring your friends, family and collegues along too...
We have just had our second "Spread the Word!" open night event - which was such good fun - more people through the door, and a lovely array of fabulous tellers / poets and musicians... A big thanks to performers Dave Tonge and Jim Kavanagh who came all the way from Norwich, and to Ana Lines (via Brazil!), Brian Franks, Stephen Vaughan Williams, Dave Brookes, Emma Carlton, Andy Biddulph, John Fearon and Gary Longden.
And a particularly warm welcome to budding flying donkey junior - Ben Snell, who engaged the audience with a fantastic riddle and a second joke - much to everyone's delight! Ben is only 12 years old and spoke with great confidence (as his mum I was quite surprised when he suddenly offered to have a go!) He had a small bevvy of tellers clustered around him after the evening closed sharing more riddles and jokes to try out next time - he was well chuffed! Indeed if there are any other budding young performers out there who would like to have a go, do please get in touch - we would be very pleased to encourage younger tellers - you can see just how supportive the atmosphere is...
Finally - a nice little link to add to your entertainment - poet and spoken word officionado Gary Longden reviewed the June Spread the Word event (to our surprise) and wrote a lovely account of the evening - check out the full review on www.behindthesarras.com. (the reviews are in date order, so scroll down the page to find the one about Flying Donkeys on 9/6/11).
"Spoken word events traditionally major on poetry, interspersed with the odd prose piece to provide a bit of a break. “Spread the Word” turns this concept on its head by majoring on storytelling, and using poetry and music as the interludes – and very well it works too... each main performer not only had a distinct style, but also the stories themselves were quite diverse, ensuring a satisfying, stimulating and rewarding evening." Gary Longden, reviewing "Spread the Word!" June 2011.
best wishes, Sophie :)
May 2011
Sophie writes...
As I write Flying Donkeys is seeing a renewal of energy and ideas! With a change of committee of course new ideas are inevitable and we have been turning our mind to a range of issues - programming, funding, venue, audience development - indeed we would welcome any ideas and suggestions (do please email or ring me).
We were very pleased in December to received a modest award from the Tom Carey Foundation, which will help keep us going with basic running and marketing costs. But performers costs are still something we struggle to cover, although so many of our guests have been very generous with their time. But of course a club like ours is not about profit, and above all we strive to bring storytelling to Derby in an entertaining and accessible way, when otherwise it would have a very limited presence in the city, and to improve the reach of our audiences. So if you are planning to come along to some of our future events, do please help us spread the word, bring your friends, encourage them to give it a go - my first encounter with storytelling was just that - I did and was entranced from that moment on!
So what have we been up to? We have had some great guests - from Mike O'Connor in Cornwall and Hugh Lupton / Rick Wilson's Beowulf, to the dynamic Daniel Morden and the Devil's Violin Company, and John Bartley "Monologue John" and Dorothy Fryman, to more local tellers such at Graham Langley, Kevin Walker and Simon Heywood and a few less well known - it has been really lovely to see new faces bringing their developing styles with taster tales to the VoiceBox - Tom Philips from Northamptonshire, Kat Quatermass from the Lake District - even our very own Damien Barker and all of us trying out new stories and ideas. We even had an unexpected treat when Taffy Thomas (and friends) turned up at one of our story circles!
One of our latest initiatives has been "Spread the Word" - an open mic style event (no mics allowed!) inviting the performance of stories, poems, monologues, spoken word and music in all their variety - wherever there is a "story" shared. Our first event was in April and had a real buzz about it - 17 different peformers jostled for position and it was particularly nice to welcome our neighbours from the Nottingham Storytellers - Pete Davis and the Woolly Tellers themselves - Mick Physal and Dave Brookes. We had the most wonderful songs, stories, poems and music (who could forget those gorgeous Scandinavian fiddle tunes from David Webster?) in an evening that overran with energy and enthusiasm. So much so that we have decided to host another one in June - so if you missed out on the first one or are coming back for more - we look forward to another excellent night on June 8th!
In April, 3 of us were invited to entertain the WI at Stanton - there were various WI groups gathered together and their theme was the Royal Wedding (of course!) the hall decked out with flags and very glamorous ladies in beautiful dresses and suits - and the hats! So our stories were wedding themed too and at the end we were called upon to judge a limerick competition. The limericks all had to be donkey related and we had some hilarious entries, but the winning ditty was from Mrs Harrison of Walton-on-Trent in Swadlincote. Ah but the evening didn't end there! Oh no - there then followed two side-splitting sketches from the ladies themselves featuring gartered singing nuns and for John and Damien - well they were rather shocked (and delighted) to find themselves the focus of the raunchy charms of Tina Turner herself! Our sincere thanks to the ladies of the WI for such a warm welcome, some delicious puds and a very enjoyable evening.
May saw our performance night with guest teller the stunning Katrice Horsley - I had seen her at Yard of Tales (Market Harborough club) and knew she was good, but this evening surpassed all expectation. To a glamorous backdrop of red satin and lace, Katrice entranced her audience like no other, with a tale of delicious demons and crusty crones, forbidden love and resurrection. The beauty of the language, imagery and rhythmic pace and poetry was strikingly echoed by Katrice's charismatic style. One of our favourite evenings to be sure!
So looking forward - we have our open mic night in June and in July, another first for Flying Donkeys - as we are invited to the Multi Faith Centre at Derby Univeristy, hosting an evening of Budhist Tales from the wonderful Kevin Walker. Kevin runs Yard of Tales, and has cut a dash in storytelling circles with his warm, welcoming nature and the club he set up last year has rapidly grown in popularity. We are rather saddened though by the news that he is returning to Spain in September so this may be one of the last chances to see him perform in a club setting, unless we can tempt him and his partner back from sunnier climes!
The new autumn season is being planned as I write and we hope you will follow our progress in months to come - if you are not already on our email list, do please get in touch by emailing us on info@flyingdonkeys.co.uk.
Warmest wishes, Sophie, Damien, John and Ray x
Sept 2010
Sophie writes...
We are very much looking forward to the new season - kicking off with a scream for Halloween on 13th October! Even our story circle will be specially themed for Halloween with the atmospheric and cosy Brunswick pub our new story circle venue, so dust down your ghostly tales and try them on out 27th Oct.
This year we are collaborating with Quarndon Live & Local to bring you two very special events - the first in Oct and the second in Mar 2011. Quarndon Live & Local is a community co-operative that hosts Live & Local events in the village of Quarndon (where I live) - just off the A6 in NW Derby (before you get to Duffield). We have booked the wonderful Daniel Morden and The Devil's Violin Company performing The Singing Bones on Thurs Oct 21st (7.30 for 8pm start). Tickets are set by the Q Live & Local team at £8.50 / £6 (adults / older children and students) and should be booked direct from myself on 01332 840007. The Live & Local shows sell really well so we recommend you book ahead.
Then on 11th March 2011 we will have Hugh Lupton's "Beowulf" - a real treat, so don't forget to put that in your diaries!
For more information on the scheme see:
www.quarndonliveandlocal.co.uk and www.liveandlocal.org.uk.
Over the summer various of us have been telling stories - Annie told at a party of one of our audience members, and both John and Annie went to Whitby Folk Festival to suss out storytellers and music - which is where Annie spotted John Bartley and Dorothy Freeman who are joining us in Oct - Dot has an amazing singing voice and John is the storyman. Various of us made it to Festival At The Edge in July to enjoy a veritable feast of storytelling.
Damien, who joined the committee this summer, being newly graduated has become our Secretary but also our chief liaison with the students of Derby University and on Mon 27th September will be hosting a stall for the Student Storytelling Society at the Freshers' Fair - 10am - 4pm. Both Annie and I will be turning up for a bit so come and join us all for a story or two. Over the summer Damien and his partner Sarah announced they are expecting a baby and we are all delighted to offer them our very best wishes! We're expecting Damien mark 2 to be as talented as his parents!
I have been busy with various things, but was particularly excited to being doing my show Seven Deadly Sins at Buxton Festival Fringe in July, where it earned two nominations for Fringe Awards - under New Writing and Spoken Word. In the latter category, Rachel Rose Reid was also nominated so storytelling did well raising its profile at the festival. Seven Deadly Sins was first premierred in Oct last year at Flying Donkeys following its development as one of the Fifth Wednesday Projects. I have just come back from performing at Wirksworth Festival and later this year will be in Ireland for a two week storytelling tour as part of the Stories from the Hearth Storytelling Festival, in Co Wexford.
In April next year, Flying Donkeys have been invited to the Acchord Festival in Derby and a WI group in Burton - but more about those closer to the time. In the meantime, as our Arts Council funding has come to a close, we are busy looking closely at the group's finances and reinventing what Flying Donkeys does and how best to continue on from the fabulous body of storytelling events we have had in the past. We are always keen for suggestions and ideas from our audience and if you would like to help out in any way, we would welcome your involvement - just contact any of us or come and chat at one of our evenings.
All best wishes, Sophie :)