Sharing Story - the secrets of a master storyteller

This week I encountered master story teller, Ben Haggarty from the CrickCrack club, at the National Gallery, London. On a rainy afternoon a group of half term kids, their adults and passers by sat attentively listening to Ben weave worlds together round the paintings. It was an absolute pleasure to be in the hands of this craftsman and inspired me to appreciate the riches of the gallery as a house full of stories.

Following the telling of three wonderful tales, Ben shared some secrets about his craft that are relevant to BiDiNG TiME and anyone who is engaging with the text and source material.

 a): the story is not the words and b) stories, adapt, change, migrate, translocate, gain things, loose things - you can pretty much say whatever you want with a story if you know how to work well with it.

There are some perimeters for the story of Thyme. Disguised as a love story the show is about loss and longing. The unfinished text attempts to entertain, inspire and share insight into a young woman's emotional journey. Her final decisions are about empowerment and not about good overcoming evil. No one in the story is truly bad, just lost. We hope our partners take on the wider aims of the project to play, innovate, act green, encourage and engage. And the aim is to create live events, with live audiences - though there may be some virtual links too.

I am personally curious about how old stories connect to the natural environment and use nature to reflect the moods and fortunes of the characters in the tales. This is especially true of many ancient indigenous stories and often found in Shakespeare's plays. Sadly, the structure of old stories are mostly about wealth, privilege and patriarchy, where women get relegated to a supporting role. They are many morality tales, keeping social structures in place. Perhaps this is why we need to find and tell new stories.

With an inquiring mind and a will to tell a good story, there are many avenues and paths to explore.

Thanks Ben.  http://www.crickcrackclub.com