Birmingham Storytelling Cafe

Resident Storytellers

Sarah volunteered and performed floor spots at Birmingham Storytelling Cafe before becoming a committee member. She has been telling stories for two years at a variety of venues around the Midlands and is a member of the Storyteller's studio group. Sarah loves to tell a range of stories from the fun and humorous to those with a darker twist.

Hailing from the magic-haunted Isle of Man, Kit Bathgate brings to the Midlands its tales of mystery, danger and strange creatures of land and sea. She was a regular audience member at Storytelling Cafe for several years before first joining in with floor spots and then moving behind the scenes as an organiser. Now she can usually be found taking care of the box office! She also runs Tales and Ales, a monthly club for anyone who wants to share a story.

Catriona is a member of The Birmingham Storytelling Café who has supported the café for more than two years. She lives in Birmingham and tells stories in a wide range of settings: libraries, gardens, community centre, schools and nurseries. She facilitates workshops and has also directed three community festivals. She is currently experimenting with combining storytelling with visual media for Hand to Mouth productions.

Video

More at Giles' YouTube channel

We'd love to hear your feedback so please leave your messages & reviews below!

Praise for A Spell in Time and the November Cafe

What an amazing cultural experience. So many emotions engendered. Thank you so much.

Beautiful and amazing stories. Rich, ritual, magical. Thank you.

Fantastic evening.

Wednesday 15th January

How to Spin Enchantment

Tim Ralphs

Happy New year from Storytelling Cafe! As always we have a wonderful year planned full of stories and storytellers who will delight you with tales from all around the world.

We're starting off 2020 with a magical spark as we welcome Tim Ralphs with “How to spin enchantment”.

Spin and weave the tangled roving into one thread of magic. Snap the scissors shut right before the happily ever after.

17th Century Italian Giambattista Basile travelled from Venice to Naples collecting the most marvellous fairytales. Tim Ralphs rouses them from their inky sleep in a joyful performance that dances from the frivolous to the magical.

This is an array of some of the most lyrical, characterful and hysterical fairytale stories ever offered up for performance. Seven Godmothers, a sleeping Prince, a weeping girl and an enchanted doll that makes its owner crave more stories. MORE STORIES!

As well as enchanting stories that are sure to have you under their spell, you will also be able to sample the delights of Kitchen Garden Cafe. With a wide selection of food, drink and cake you'll be sure to have a magical evening!

Wednesday 19th February

uncaged

Michael Harvey

Book online at https://www.wegottickets.com/event/489593

Sometime in 1871 the great Breton folktale collector François-Marie Luzel sat down in front of a man called Guillaume Garandel in a village called Plouaret, ready to add another story to his bulging collection of traditional tales. Imagine his surprise when the story unravelled in a twisted tale of cross-dressing, attempted seduction and a huge hairy man in a story that defies categories and leaps, hairy and smelly, out of the collective imagination, demanding to be heard.

“...in that hour, it felt as though we travelled leagues, into a different and strange world... He knows how to be theatrical, and in parts you could sense the poetry bursting out... Ah, this was excellent - I spent the night transfixed.” — Caroline Lynch

Book online at https://www.wegottickets.com/event/489594

Wednesday 18th March

Sweet Shop on the Shore

Kate Corkery

When are we old enough to know better? How strong is a piece of string? Is seven really the age of reason when we are supposed to know right from wrong, and true from false?

In a village on the shore of Cork Harbour an only child struggles to make sense of the world. As the River Lee ebbs and flows nearby, regular customers come and go to a small sweet shop that is at the heart of that community. The stories they share linger in her imagination and grow a life of their own.

Sweet Shop on The Shore is an autobiographical storytelling performance by Kate Corkery. Originally commissioned for the 21st Festival at the Edge, it was later awarded ‘Outstanding Storytelling Performance of 2012’ by The British Awards for Storytelling Excellence.

Book online at https://www.wegottickets.com/event/489595

Doors open and food served from 6:30. Performances begin 7:30.

Entrance via Fletchers Bar