Bilingual storytelling initiative to invest in storytelling communities and raise awareness of night skies pollution

Cysur y Sêr (the consoling stars) is a Welsh-led and bilingual project that is about  developing stories in Welsh, environmental respect and leaving an impactful legacy for future generations, leading up to performances of Stars and their Consolations tour across Wales in March- April 2026.

Adverse Camber has been working with Welsh and Wales based storytellers for over fifteen years, helping them to produce and tour work across the UK and internationally. In 2023, Adverse Camber worked with storytellers Daniel Morden, Hugh Lupton and Welsh composer Sarah Lianne Lewis to develop Stars and their Consolations, following its premiere performance in west Wales in 2021. 

While working on this R&D and speaking to Welsh storytellers, partners and audiences, the team realised there is a danger that stories inspired by the night sky might be lost due to increasing light pollution and less people sharing stories of the stars in daily life. 

The team were also excited to realise the exciting possibility of developing and discovering Welsh myths of star patterns with audiences and communities and finding out what happens when Greek myths of the stars are told in Welsh.

“For centuries, cultures and communities across the world have used the night sky to help make sense of constellation patterns in ways which connect us to our deep and recent past, and which orientate us, in geography, time, the seasonal year and culture. Stories are one of our most adaptable and reliable ways of passing on knowledge between generations. We are celebrating Wales’s distinct and diverse identity as a nation protecting its Dark Skies and culture, embracing stories in many languages and different heritages,” said Producer Naomi Wilds, Adverse Camber.

Cysur y Sêr includes a residential training session at Ty Newydd led by Welsh storytellers Tamar Eluned Williams and Mair Tomos Ifans and the project is now supported by Theatrau Sir Gâr, Arts Council Wales, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Colwinston Charitable Trust, The Darkley Trust, Welsh Government, Prosiect Nos Partnership and People Speak Up.

Adverse Camber, Tamar and Mair will be working with communities across Wales, including 10 venues involved in the tour, and collaborating with experienced and emerging storytellers to explore themes and ways of working together in ways which are accessible and climate conscious.

Cysur y Sêr has three main focuses;
1.    Supporting and developing Welsh language storytelling.
Storytelling is centred in Welsh language and culture and as part of developing night sky stories, Adverse Camber will be recruiting 8 bilingual and Welsh language artists to develop their star stories repertoire, bilingually and in Cymraeg, and eventually leading three days of community projects in their communities based on their learnings. The project will commission Welsh language versions of Greek myths relating to the night sky, which will be recorded and submitted to the People’s Collection Wales, securing these stories for the future. This will strengthen our capacity to pass on stories to future generations through oral storytelling. The call out details for storytellers will be announced at the end of July.

“Excitingly, the Stars project will enable lots of professional and creative development for storytellers in Wales, in particular those using Welsh in their practice. There's a growing interest in the art form, as well as in the repertoire of myths, legends, and folktales that we work with, and this project will allow us to explore and develop a new repertoire of stories in connection with the constellations and dark skies. We can also strengthen our creative networks, skill share, and continue developing a sustainable storytelling practice across Wales.” Tamar Eluned Williams lead Welsh Storyteller on Cysur y Sêr project.

Welsh lead storyteller on Cysur y Sêr, Mair Tomos Ifans also recalled sharing,
"If I were a star smiling bright in the night
I'd shine upon the darkest paths ... "

I sang that at Sunday school many moons ago. A child wishes to be a star in order to light dark paths. And there are so many paths through life's journey. Some are dark and difficult, others light and shiny. Stories can be an aid or a manual whilst traversing our paths. We may all see the sky - the sun, the stars and the moon, space - but they are not part of our world. They are above us. Beyond our world. Just like the world of the Tylwyth Teg. The Other World where other beings and creatures exist. And these worlds surround us, physically, abstractly, culturally and I'm really looking forward to listening and learning, wandering and wondering, researching and sharing and being enlightened by the Consolation of Stars.”

2.    Fusing stories and the night sky together, supporting climate consciousness
Adverse Camber and Dark Skies project have a mutual understanding how light pollution is impacting on climate culture and society and health. During the project, there will be a series of Online Forums inviting astronomers, heritage partners, storytellers, community members to connect with us and get involved. These sessions will share knowledge and stimulate learning around constellation stories in the Northern Hemisphere, focusing on Welsh knowledge and identifying gaps and areas of potential. Online Forum dates will be released over the next few months. 

“The Prosiect Nos Dark Skies Partnership, headed by Eryri National Park, has been leading work across Wales to reduce light pollution to safeguard the cultural treasure that is our night sky. With 98% of the UK population now living under light polluted skies, this cultural and natural resource has been lost to many. As light pollution has grown, it’s eroded a part of our identity, the Cymry have a long heritage of storytelling and using the stars in their everyday lives. This way of life has now been lost, forgotten not to the mists of time, but the glow of artificial lights. We hope the project will bring this issue to new communities, to whom light pollution will be something completely unheard of, raising awareness about how important it is to act on light pollution, and to protect our dark skies for future generations,” Dani Robertson, Prosiect Nos Dark Skies Partnership.

3.    Using creativity to help local communities, knowledge, health and wellbeing
Adverse Camber will be using stories and connection to help support young people and diverse communities to hear, learn about, enjoy and retell stories of Night Sky Constellations in the language of their choosing and celebrate Wales’s rich cultural heritage. Adverse Camber has partnered with People Speak Up and theatre partners, Theatrau Sir Gâr to explore how these stories and nature engagement support wellbeing in times of crisis. Storytellers will run a number of events including a takeover storytelling week with PSU, using this process to support mental health with their local groups and participants.

The legacy of the project will also be housed at the People’s Collection at The National Library of Wales, which will be an audio collection of stories created by the communities involved in the project.

Naomi said, “What started out as a passion to remind audiences of the beauty and wonder of the stories in the night sky, has opened up further discussions and drive for change to help us sustain key messages about the importance of the night sky in our culture and society, and how we ensure we continue to share this through generations and languages.”

Following the project, there will be an English led performance of Stars and their Consolations, which will be toured across Wales in March-April 2026.

Further details about the project and tour, can be found at adversecamber.org
Supported by Theatrau Sir Gâr, Arts Council Wales, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Colwinston Foundation, The Darkley Trust, Welsh Government, Prosiect Nos Partnership and People Speak Up.

Stars and their Consolations was originally commissioned for Beyond the Border 2021 and its R&D was supported by Arts Council Wales & Tŷ Cerdd with support from Theatrau Sir Gâr.