Su Squire telling at Tales from The Undercroft, Norwich
Once upon a time...
A girl called Su (who later became Tilly) discovered that she was in love with stories. Stories of all shapes and sizes. Stories of her homeland and those of far flung places. Stories of people’s lives – their struggles and their triumphs. As a child, Tilly was taken to the local theatre to see a pantomime. It was here, sitting enchanted on a red velvet seat in a darkened auditorium that something jumped up and down inside her shouting ‘Eureka!’ She had discovered the key that would lead her into a wider, wilder world of stories.
The years that followed found Tilly exploring her discovery through performance, writing, directing, storytelling, acting the fool, facilitating and producing work, though work seemed a strange word for it when it was so much fun. On her mission to let others in on the secret of how much fun all these theatricalities can be she worked with as many people as would open their door to her: children and young people of all ages and attitudes, adults who wanted to remember more about how it felt to have fun and be free, people who found this crazy world a tough place to live and needed some help to conquer old patterns of behaviour and remember who they really were and of course anyone who just wanted to meet others like themselves.
Whilst working with the Blue Moon Theatre Company and as Tilly the Talespinner, she found that she especially enjoyed the discoveries that she was making in the world of storytelling, finding particular delight in the retelling of old stories in new styles thus making them come alive for new audiences. During this time she also discovered the hidden treasure that lies in the very heart of these timeless tales, their ability to help us all make sense of the world in which we live, to heal old wounds and provide ways in which we can tell the tales that have shaped our own lives.
Alongside the tale telling, Tilly also began to explore the particular enjoyment that can be found on the streets by getting together with other creative types, dressing up in strange clothes and surprising strangers. Affairs of the heart took Tilly away from her homeland of Somerset to the county of Norfolk at the beginning of 2007. Since that time her story has taken some very unexpected twists and turns which, were she to describe them to you, you would hardly believe and consider them to be fantasies in themselves but then, life is a story (they don’t call it his-story or her-story for nothing).
So on to the next chapter of the story…
Who knows?...
Anything is possible!
As Tilly the Tale Spinner Su has spun her tales far and wide throughout the British Isles in schools, theatres, village halls, drop-in centres, festivals and community events. She has also worked extensively in the primary school environment, at community events and children’s festivals as a storyteller, children’s theatre performer and workshop facilitator. As both Su and Tilly she has a growing repertoire of stories relating to the natural environment and she believes that more than ever, it is vital that we find ways of developing a respectful relationship with nature by listening to the wisdom of our ancestors.
She also offers workshops in storytelling for people of all ages in which particpants explore theme, style, narrative and technique using a number of different creative and enjoyable techniques.
For more info on Su check out her website: http://www.tillythetalespinner.moonfruit.com/
Or contact her at tillythetalespinner@yahoo.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment