What a fabulous weekend of story.

I came up to Newcastle to hear Sally Pomme Clayton, guest storyteller, for the December “A Bit Crack”.  My weekend started on Thursday with her performance at Alphabetti Theatre of The Mighty Goddess – stories, spells, songs.  It certainly was electrifying and soulful, as her publicity promises.   There is a warning that the evening is for over 18-year-olds, and there will be sexual explicitness and violence.  And so it was, but with such skill and much laughter that we were transported to the world of goddesses from different part of the world and were entranced and entertained by each one.  From the start Pomme used the senses to draw us into the myths of the goddesses.  As we entered the theatre, she dropped pine essence in our hands and I was transported to a world of pine forests and magic.  She uses musical instruments and singing to bring us to other worlds where the goddesses reside.  She is a very creative and powerful storyteller.

If that wasn’t enough the next evening, Friday, was the monthly A Bit Crack at The Chillingham.  There were some stories from the floor then Pomme again took me on journeys of goddesses, exploits and adventures.  Skilful and engaging, these ancient myths were brought to vivid life and I felt deeply enriched, with a renewed sense of wonder.

Then to cap it all the next day I took part in the workshop.  Most of the people attending were not experienced storytellers but wanted to find their own way in to telling stories.  Pomme led a powerful day where each person, by the end, had the beginning of a story they wanted to tell.  Pomme has developed what she calls the 24 Story Seeds, that are aspects of the craft of storytelling such as Context, Action, Dialogue, Sound, Rhythm and 19 more.  I so enjoyed playing with these and through games and activities we could explore our story from different aspects.  It was a delightful and enjoyable day and I’ll take what she gave us further.

Well done A Bit Crack for booking such a rich and memorable weekend.  I look forward to more.

                                                                                                                                             Ruth Steinberg  December 2025