7 Sisters at Guesthouse
Tuesday 13 May 7.30pm-9.30pm at The Hillcrest Centre, BN9 9LH
Tistou of the Green Thumbs –
Performance Storytelling by Ashley Ramsden 16 +
Tistou of the Green Thumbs was penned by the French statesman Maurice Druon in the 1960’s. It has been hailed as a classic ever since, much in the vein of St Exupery’s Little Prince.
Tistou is born into a wealthy family in France. His father runs a gun factory and hopes that his son will follow in his footsteps. Incapable of learning at school, his parents try homeschooling. First lesson, gardening with some unexpected consequences!
Ashley Ramsden is the founder of the School of Storytelling at Emerson College, East Sussex, the longest running centre of its kind. For the last 40 years he has brought his acclaimed performances and workshops to audiences all over the world.
Vivid and highly engaging. The Independent
A tale for our time
Tuesday 10 June 7.30pm-9.30pm at The Hillcrest Centre, BN9 9LH
Tales from Iran – by Sahand Sahebdivani 16 +
After the Iranian Revolution, at the age of three Sahebdivani fled with his parents from Iran to the Netherlands. They were on their way to Canada, but missed their transfer in Amsterdam, ending up in the Netherlands. In his twenties Sahand, by chance got the opportunity to become storyteller at the Tropenmuseum, when another Iranian storyteller noticed his hat in the tram. He continued his parents’ Iranian tradition of storytelling and music making, founding the cultural Centre, Mezrab in 2004. It started as a monthly gathering in a small teahouse, but within ten years grew into an established cultural centre with a multidisciplinary programme for five days per week
As his cultural centre grew, so did Sahand’s career as an artist. Together with various storytellers, actors and musicians he performs at theatres and festivals across the Netherlands and internationally. In 2014 he was chosen as the Netherlands’ Best Storyteller of the Year. In 2017 together with storyteller Raphael Rodan he won the Amsterdam Fringe Gold Award for their play My Father Held a Gun. In 2020 Sahebdivani’s cultural center won the Amsterdamprijs voor de Kunst (Amsterdam Prize for the Arts) for Best Achievements.
Tuesday 8 July 7.30pm at The Hillcrest Centre, BN9 9LH
Queens of Albion – Stephe Harrop
Buy tickets online here, £10/£12.
In the days before Britain had been named, they were the first to set foot on the island. Sisters. Refugees. Shipwrecked and storm-weary. On the hunt for a home of their own. A land where they could live free. So how come we’ve forgotten the story of our first (and fiercest) mythic mothers? Queens of Albion sets the record straight – as well as spilling the beans on how a giant made me miss my ninth birthday party. (60 minute performance, contains some adult material)