This year’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival, Keep It Lit, is its largest programme to date. Though the festival is based at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh, the SISF will alight 240 events across Scotland and online, giving more people the opportunity to delight in this celebration of oral storytelling.
Some of the tales told at the Scottish Storytelling Centre include a performance of age-old Shetland story, The Story of Auslag: A Saga from Unst, on 23rd October by Scots Speaker of the Year, Marjolein Robertson. There’s also Hotel Caledonia, a mash-up of travellers’ tales by storyteller Áine King and musician/composer Eric Linklater on the 29th. SUM/body is one to watch, presented with writer and producer Aisha Josiah and directed by Olivia Songer. The piece discusses whether or not you can imagine the ‘voice’ of Scotland, and if it’s possible to blend all the words, accents, opinions, emotions of Scotland’s inhabitants into one character.
Outside of Edinburgh, the Go Local programme showcases regional events such as Map of Stories Film Ceilidhs, produced Transgressive North (15th October till 6th November). It is a series of multi-media performances that celebrates both Scotland’s current storytelling traditions, and storytellers gone by, such as Perthshire traveller Sheila Stewart OBE, Gaelic bard Norman Maclean and Aberdeenshire traveller Stanley Roberson. After premiering at SISF, each performance will go on tour to its region of focus – Dumfries & Galloway, the Northeast, Perth & Kinross, the Outer Hebrides, and Orkney – and explore the distinctive stories, memories and folklore from the particular community and landscape.
Not to mention SNACK interviewed the wonderful Evie Waddell, whose multi-media performance Fàilte Gu BSL (Welcome to BSL) is being shown as part of the festival. The piece is an exploration of Gaelic, BSL and dance, held on 16th October. To hear more about Evie’s motivations for creating the enchanting Fàilte Gu BSL, read the full interview online here.
To browse the full programme, purchase tickets, and discover more, visit sisf.org.uk.
