The Storyteller is a local guy called Chris Bostock. He is familiar to most of the children in the Newcastle area due to the fact he regularly performs in workshops for local schools and community groups. The girls and I had been to a storytelling workshop at our county Thinking Day event for Girl Guiding last February which was fabulous and I subsequently booked him up for the joint Rainbow/Brownie Halloween party last October. I’ve seen him a few times now and he’s never once repeated a story! Through stories, song and musical instruments Chris manages to engage the children and keep them engrossed-quite a skill!
Northern Stage-Saturday 2nd April
When we were planning our itinerary for the Easter holidays with our friends The Speeds – Chris, Jaime, Mollie (9) and Emily (8) the storytelling session popped up as a local event. Our Saturday mornings are usually taken up with gymnastics (girls) and work (Alan), but as neither of these things would be happening this week we decided to book up.
Chris performs his storytelling session the first Saturday of every month at 10.30am in the mezzanine of Northern Stage and tickets are priced at £4 per person. He was waiting at the entrance to greet the families and to show us where we needed to be. He also encouraged the kids to go to the toilet – very wise!
The mezzanine is an airy room with large windows which overlooks the cafe area of the Northern stage. Children were encouraged to sit on the carpet and the adults on the chairs. It was a small, intimate venue so everyone could see easily. The atmosphere was relaxed and the children at the session ranged from around 3 to 9 years old.
Let the Stories Begin
I won’t spoil the stories, but it is the skill in a storyteller that I can still recall them over 24 hours later. Between the first two stories, he had the children get up, move around the room and look for photographs of different homes placed around the room. Abigail found a bug hotel and Mollie found Buckingham Palace! Once the homes were ordered into size on a row on the floor Chris began to recall a folk story about being grateful for what you have in life and be happy with your home! Maybe that means I should stop looking at the Right Move app so frequently ha ha!
The third story was an African fable about a beautiful bird and the children were encouraged to make a bird using their hands and sing along to the tune. Parents joined in too! Apologies to the people around me as I’m tone deaf!
Before long the hour storytelling session was up and it was time to say thanks and get a quick photograph with the man himself. We really enjoyed our alternative, relaxed morning and look forward to going back to another storytelling session in the future. Our guests were impressed and Jaime (who is a teaching assistant in a Norfolk school) said he is one of the best storytellers she has seen!
The Storyteller is on the first Saturday of the month at Northern Stage. For more details, visit https://www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/
For More information about Chris Bostock visit www.chrisbostock.co.uk
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