Would you mind giving us insight into your art/event/performance?
Our performance for the Scottish International Storytelling Festival is called ‘The Battle of the Birds – A Darker Tale”, it is a complete re-imagining of the traditional folktale with an esoteric slant on the tale and a live soundscape reflecting that quality by sound artist Gordon Cameron. The performance stays true to the structure of the original tale but with elements inspired by the arcane and traditional folktales. It will be all the more fitting that it is being performed on Samhain (Halloween) night. In a light way the story explores the theme of the spiritual seeker and of delving deeper into consciousness.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved in producing your performance?
The creative team is myself, the storyteller, along with my friend the sound artist Gordon Cameron. We have had plenty of support and some funding from the Scottish Storytelling Centre, especially encouragement from Daniel Abercrombie.
With the launch of this year’s programme, Birds and Beasts, how does it feel to be involved in the Festival?
It feels great to be involved in the festival, if a little nerve-wracking. I have recently moved to Edinburgh from north Fife and I am grateful to have the festival on my doorstep and it is good to know that I’ll be a part of it and to be contributing a story and performance that feel quite unique and personal.
With shows from all over the world, is there anything in the production/team’s backgrounds and identity that influences the show?
This is the sort of performance I have been wanting to do for a long time, weaving together elements and influences that have long been in my life but I have not expressed as much through my storytelling. Both Gordon and I are inspired by and appreciate music, in very varied forms, that comes from the fringes and have their roots in the traditional, esoteric and magical. As well I love stories that are weird but still have a purpose of some sort, you will see this theme in our performance.
Storytelling in Scotland is a treasured, if often unsung, craft within the media. For those who may be unfamiliar with a live performance, what can audiences expect?
This performance will be somewhat unusual in the storytelling realm as we are using a blend and balance of storytelling and soundscape, the soundscape being created by both instruments and electronic manipulation. We are looking to create an immersive performance that uses qualities of traditional performance as well as something new and experimental, but with a solid basis in the form of traditional storytelling.
With one foot in tradition and another in the present, what do you hope for Storytelling’s future, either as a performance or as a community?
Our performance really encapsulates this stance, and I am hoping will be an approach I develop more in the future. I believe there is a need to continue the form of storytelling as a tradition and with traditional qualities, this is a large part of my storytelling practice. But I think there is scope for storytelling to really push boundaries and become something that expresses unique and challenging ideas, as broad as other art forms and music, be it political ideas, questions of identity, or the deeper aspects of consciousness.
Battle of the Birds: A Darker Tale runs at The Scottish Storytelling Centre as a part of The Scottish International Storytelling Festival on 31st October
Running time – One hour without interval
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