Performer

Tricksters, deities, strange childhoods, complicated marriages and cosmic crises collide in the hands of the ever-exuberant Pandvani108 ensemble! Raoul Neumann (Trans Siberian March Band), Sheema Mukherjee and Rav Neiyyar (Transglobal Underground) deliver stunning soundtracks for stories performed by the fabulous Ben Haggarty, Emily Hennessey and Steph Brittain.

Expect high comedy, wild drama, punked pop, divine deception, and all things bloody beautiful as this popular troupe summon the ancient gods and monsters of Greece, Ireland, India, Japan, Iceland and more – mashing-up myth to ask what it is that we really, really want…

‘playful, powerful, dynamic…a highlight of this year’s festival’
BEYOND THE BORDER FESTIVAL

‘Stellar!’
SMUGGLERS FESTIVAL

‘Phenomenal’
WONDERFUL BEAST

The fairytales collected by the Brothers Grimm are like half remembered rituals – full of vitality, meaning and inklings, the importance of which remain tantalisingly out of reach. Gothic, stark and beguiling – Ben Haggarty ventures into the wild side of fairytale to haul four lesser-known Grimm tales out of the nursery and back into the dark and full-blooded realm of fairytales for grown-ups.

This performance is brimful of forbidden doors, magical transformations, betrayal, comeuppance, and talking skulls.

‘This is the fresh dose of magic you need in your life’
EVERYTHING THEATRE

‘Truly captivating’
BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

Renowned for reading between the lines of Greek Mythology, Ben Haggarty brings to the stage a fierce tale of a remarkable virgin hunter and devotee of Artemis who sure as hell doesn’t want to have anything to do with men. Spend a moonlit night in the company of wild women, cocksure warriors and gods unleashed.

This is Greek Myth how it should be – dark, magical, provocative and contemporary.

‘a tour-de-force of storytelling’
Remote Goat

Via freak-show and moonshine bar, Ben Haggarty takes an alarming journey through the ambivalent mythology of the Sandman and creates a world where imagination, dream, nightmare and reality all meet.

This Fringe First Award winning performance flirts with Americana, draws on urban legend, fairytale, myth and folklore, and pays oblique homage to Heinrich Von Kleist, ETA Hoffman, Hans Andersen and Nick Cave.

Dark, unsettling and intensely magical.

‘Often beautiful, sometimes frightening…2 hours of storytelling genius’
Fringe Review

‘intense and alarming…screw up your courage and go’
The Times

Over 3,500 years after this ancient Sumerian epic was first etched into clay tablets, world renowned storyteller Ben Haggarty, and multi-instrumentalist Jonah Brody, bring Gilgamesh to the stage in an extraordinary, contemporary and psychedelic performance of one of the oldest stories in the world. The result is a powerful, passionate, fast paced epic, laced with quick-witted humour.

‘VIVID, RICH AND IMPOSINGLY EPIC’
Dominic Maxwell, The Times

‘I WAS SPELLBOUND – I DON’T USE THE WORD LIGHTLY’
Erica Wagner, The Times

Allow Ben Haggarty to lure you into a full-blooded fairytale for grown-ups. Dark, beautiful and startling by turn, this is a story of dreams, initiations and the repayment of debts, complete with epic journeys, bizarre marriages & strange companions. Fierce, fast paced, and unashamedly magical. (other shows in this series are also available)

‘The doyen of Storytellers’
REMOTE GOAT

‘Captivating! Everything a fairytale should be’
EVERYTHING THEATRE