GIANTS is an oral storytelling project which explores human scale through traditional folktales, myths and legends about giants.
Giants is an oral storytelling performance project created and performed by Alice Fernbank (Scotland) and Svend Engh (Denmark), with live performances, storytelling workshops and a visual arts exhibition.
We are two very tall storytellers on a quest to find out what it is to be gigantic through the myths and legends that tell the stories of giants. Our performance will be collection of traditional world folktales, and Celtic and Nordic myths, woven together with accompaniment from musicians who are local to every performance.
Rehearsals begin mid April and the first performance will take place at Tradfest, at The Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh on 30th April 2017 where we will perform alongside musician Nicky Haire. Following this we will develop the show further and travel with it to festivals and schools around Scotland and beyond.
We've had invitations to perform at Taproot Festival on the Isle of Lismore, and Oban Bookends Festival. We've also been invited to take the project to Denmark and India.
Our intention is to host post-performance Storytelling Workshops which explore what it is to be different in the world, to take up space, and become a giant. Giant stories will be used to explore issues of being outcast, different and isolated, and work towards developing compassion, empathy, and self empowerment.
We will be working with International Storyteller Jan Blake who will be our mentor as we craft the piece. After our initial performance at Tradfest we will also be working with folk musician Mairi Campbell, with whom we'll explore the musical potential of the piece.
During the creation of the project Alice will make 7 paintings that reflect the research, conversations, insights gained, creating a pictorial record of the development process. These paintings will be exhibited at The Scottish Storytelling Centre in 2018.
This project successfully funded on 17th April 2017