On the shoulders
of Odin, God of the North, perch the ravens, Thought
and Memory, who tell him the stories they see and hear
as they fly through the nine worlds. In other cultures
Raven is Creator, Trickster and Tribal Totem, as well
as Storyteller.
about
us | how
we work | site
specific work & appearances
about us
Michael Dacre has been at various times a graduate in English, a second-hand bookseller, an oral historian and playwright.
He was storyteller in residence at Beaford Arts Centre, has been telling full time since 1988, and has won the dubious Hodja Cup for Lying.
His book of Devonshire Folktales published in 2010 reflects his love of rural Devon where he and Wendy have lived since 1977.
Wendy Dacre studied music at Dartington, is a trained teacher, and has always made all manner of things - huge tents and delicate paper, two-headed dragons and glittering story cloths, as well as singing.
She looks after a network of storytellers and runs yearly 'confabs'. Her family of Giants keeps growing.
Together we love telling and making stories with special needs groups, particularly those with learning difficulties and we continue to work extensively in Camphill Communities.
about
us | how
we work | site
specific work & appearances
how we work
Our hoard of stories - currently around 500 - is predominantly British and European with other gems lifted from around the world.
We also seek to breathe life into ancient literatures once oral, and present them in new forms. Our repetoire of shows is constantly expanding to embrace new, strange and compelling stories, including commissioned pieces, often with weird and powerful music; to this end we work occasionally with other musicians, including the guitarist Stephen Yates.
Our work is known for being entertaining, well researched and embracing a love of language and strong narrative.
Performances are always powerful - sometimes scary, often hilarious and usually both.
We also design all sorts of workshops to complement the stories, and help groups towards performances of their own.
We travel anywhere and everywhere and have even designed our shadow theatre so we can use buses, trains and ferries whenever we can.
On the News page there are accounts in from the writing desk of some of our most exciting projects, including a storytelling trip to Iceland.
about
us | how
we work | site
specific work & appearances
site specific work and regular appearances
We love linking the stories to the place or setting, and do a lot of research to make this possible.
We have worked in strange and exciting venues from the edge of a sacrificial bog in Denmark to deep down inside the Roman sewers under Exeter, from Cadbury Camp in Somerset (site of Camelot) in the snow to a Swindon park at dawn on Mayday, from an art gallery on the shores of the Indian Ocean in Fremantle to a cruise ship sailing around Iceland.
Storywalks and Tales in a Landscape are a speciality.
You can find us in schools, storyclubs and arts centres; at international storytelling festivals, at arts and literary festivals, at English Heritage and National Trust sites, in country parks, village halls and iron-age roundhouses.
To catch up with us, join our mailing list or look for news of public events.
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