1 week to go!

"If you want to increase narrative tension," goes the creative writing manual, "put a clock on it."  The same is true for the whirl of organisational tension just before a tour.  As the days and hours tick down towards the moment when the van arrives, the artists fly into the airport, the instruments and gear are unloaded into the first venue, the audience start to come through the door... adrenaline really starts to kick in and time takes on a different dimension, until that moment when the lights stay up (we are talking about storytelling, after all), artists and audiences meet and the show begins.

This time next week, Fire in the North Sky will be well underway in in the Guildhall Theatre as part of a packed opening night at Derby Folk Festival.  If you already have your Folk Festival ticket, make sure you get there early to be sure of a seat!

Then we're off to Wales and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, a new venue for us, thanks to our co-commissioners Beyond the Border Wales International Storytelling Festival on Saturday (dodging the hoards of rugby enthusiasts) and then Wiltshire Music Centre on Sunday - where Adverse Camber producer Naomi Wilds and storyteller Nick Hennessey will give a free pre-concert talk about the background to the show. Come along, we love to meet and chat to audiences! This week, as well as getting ready for the shows to come, we've also been working with the amazing Xanthe Gresham-Knight and Arash Moradi on The Shahnameh: The Epic Book of Kings. Two performances at Wirksworth Festival received hearty applause and a even a few misty eyes this morning as children from Wirksworth Junior school proved to be completely up for the challenge of bringing the Simorgh story vividly to life. Well done to everyone who took part! Hope to see you at one of the forthcoming shows - some venues don't have many tickets left so get booking as soon as you can!  Come and say hello at the Adverse Camber table and get those taste buds ready for those super salty liquorice treats!