The Bodies on the Beach by Ben Haggarty & Steph Brittain

About

A rough cut performance of a brand new show by Steph Brittain & Ben Haggarty.

Step into a maelstrom of myth as irrepressible storyteller Ben Haggarty is joined by electrifying new voice Steph Brittain in a raw rough cut performance of a bold new interpretation of a magical battle that shook the farthest shores of Ireland over two thousand years ago.

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, war, sacrifice, enchantment and survival.  Combining fragments of 15th-century manuscripts, archaeology and folklore held by farmers, Bodies on the Beach is a resurrection of a forgotten epic – an unknown Celtic Iliad.

We need audiences to help shape how such passionate and unnerving material is reimagined for contemporary audiences.  Join Ben and Steph — fresh from the windswept battlefields of the Dingle Peninsula — as they test the edge of ancient myth in modern form.

Raw, lyrical, and unforgettable. What will survive the tide?

Running time: 70+50+ interval.  Followed by discussion.  Suitable for: adults 16+

Content: This performance includes references to and descriptions of bereavement, death, sex, war, violence, cannibalism, incest, suicide, infanticide, 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.  Since 2022, she has been a key member of epic storytelling group, Pandvani 108, working alongside Ben Haggarty and Emily Hennessey.