THE BODIES ON THE BEACH with Ben Haggarty and Steph Brittain

Step into a maelstrom of myth as irrepressible storyteller Ben Haggarty is joined by electrifying new voice Steph Brittain. Centred on the legendary hero Fionn MacCumhail, his children and his life-long struggles with Donn, Lord of Death and King of the World, this tragic tale traces a long and powerful journey through generations of love, enchantment and war. Combining fragments of 15th-century manuscripts, archaeology and farmers' folklore, The Bodies on the Beach resurrects of a forgotten epic – a Celtic Iliad.

Join Ben and Steph — fresh from the windswept battlefields of the Dingle Peninsula — as they test this ancient myth in modern form.

Raw, lyrical, and unforgettable. This is not just a wild myth retold. It’s an exploration of what it means to live, to regret, to sacrifice, and to endure in a relentless world.
What will survive the tide?

This is a scratch performance and will be followed by an opportunity for post-show feedback and discussion. It is part of a Research and Development project funded by the Arts Council of England.

CONTENT ADVICE: This performance includes references to and descriptions of bereavement, death, sex, war, violence, cannibalism, incest, suicide, infanticide and decapitation contextualised within a paradigm of mythic narrative, archetype and metaphor.

Ben Haggarty has been a pioneer of the British and European storytelling revival for more than 40 years. He co-founded, with Hugh Lupton and Pomme Clayton, The Company of Storytellers, the first touring company of professional storytellers in Britain. He founded the Beyond the Border International Festival of Storytelling and Epic Singing and founded and directs the Crick Crack Club to this day. He has studied epic performance traditions in Central Asia and Central India.

Steph Brittain grew up in the West Midlands and is a Drama therapist and storyteller. She trained at Central School of Speech and Drama and studied Kathak dance in India. She has been a key member of epic storytelling group, Pandvani 108, since 2022, working alongside Ben Haggarty and Emily Hennessey.

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Host or Publisher South London Storytelling