Despite a Dickensian winter, the nine writers who bought their stories to our new venue in the Studio Bar at the Komedia were rewarded with a packed house. With standing room at the back and enthusiastic rattlers at the front, host Lonny Pop led an evening of chilling tales from the future, uplifting stories of home renovation and warnings about the dangers of miscounting your magpies.
Ed Rowe kicked the evening off with his moving story of a man finding a new lease of life as he faced his death, in DIY for the Terminally Ill. Lucy Britner’s cliff-hanger Glenda’s Heel reminded many in the audience of some unwise post-clubbing choices, and Chris Roche closed the first third with The Piano Tuner, which combined thoughts of synesthesia and Ireland’s dichotomies.
Joe Evans led the audience through a child’s efforts at escapism in the enchanting Monster, while Alex Maunder lured listeners into a bleak future tempered by a father’s love in And Just Like Stars They Silenced Us and Katherine Doggrell defied the laws of science and baked beans with The Iron Age.
Tamsin Bishton took the musings of a commuter into fantasy with her story of myths and feminism, Mermaid on the Train, followed by Linda Baker’s The Professor – a conundrum about one scientist’s triumph over time, clutter and colleagues. The night finished with Charlotte Feld’s darkly humorous The Seventh Magpie a tale about what happens when an isolated woman’s search for meaning is undone by her failure to account for a lone magpie.
Lonny Pop kept everyone enthused and engaged and contributed some of her own poems to the night, giving the audience something to ponder as they togged-up to brave the cold for the journey home.
Join us in more clement weather at the Caroline of Brunswick on 14th May at the Brighton Fringe. Check here, on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @RattleTales for submissions details.
