Tales of Whatever at Gullivers
Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
It’s been compared to The Moth in NYC. It’s had column inches in the national press. It’s seen some amazing performers grace its stage. It’s taken its wares on tour to festivals the length and breadth of the country. It’s outgrown its venue and moved from The Castle over the road to Gullivers. It’s put in a six-year stint, blazing a trail and helping pump up the live-literature-stroke-spoken-word scene in the Rainy City from “burgeoning” to “UNESCO”.
It’s packing sandwiches and heading over the hills to set up shop in Sheffield starting in 2018. Yep, this will be Tales of Whatever’s last regular monthly show in Manchester for the foreseeable, with just pop-up specials in Manchester hereon in. So treat yourself to an early Christmas present and grab a seat in the audience.
Fear not, Mark Powell’s brainchild won’t be bowing out with a whimper – lining up “a smashing double-header for December” featuring ”instinctively funny” seasoned comedian and Literary Death Match judge Harriet Dyer with a 30-minute headline slot plus ToW veteran and “teller of broken-biscuit stories” Conor A, described as “exceptional” by poet-cum-theatre-maker Jackie Hagan.
Tales told are true stories, based on first-hand experience and shared on mic without notes. Expect weird and wonderful. Expect laughs, tears, a real human connection and, we’re told, puppets.
