Sleeping Beauty for adults at Galeri, Caernarfon

Feb 18 2009 By Daniel Bissett

AWARD-winning storyteller Daniel Morden has set himself a challenging task – to tell Sleeping Beauty for adults.

Together with top Welsh musicians Dylan Fowler and Oli Wilson-Dickson, he will be performing his show Sleeping Beauty and Alcestis at Galeri in Caernarfon on Thursday, March 12, starting at 8pm.

"Often the very best stories are seen as just for children," said Daniel.

"But not so long ago all of us would have enjoyed them and after all, what are films and soaps but stories?

"Sleeping Beauty is a thrilling tale, but nowadays we only know the anaemic child- friendly adaptation"

Daniel won’t be telling the Disney rendering so beloved of little girls everywhere or recreating the pantomime version.

Forgetting the countless cartoon and panto versions, he will be shedding new light on Sleeping Beauty, making it more powerful and dramatic.

Daniel will also tell two beautiful Greek myths which will change the way the audience subsequently hears Sleeping Beauty.

He appears with two of Wales’ leading musicians: Dylan Fowler, on guitar and Oliver Wilson-Dickson, who plays violin.

They will underscore the tales with brooding and penetrating music, heightening the drama and atmosphere.

Changing the moods and driving the story forward, the Balkan inspired music has been written especially for this performance and will make the story a haunting and charming experience.

This year marks an anniversary for Daniel – it has been 20 years since he began his career as a storyteller.

In this time, he has established himself as one of the leading storytellers in the UK.

He has told tales all over the world, from local primary schools to the National Theatre, from the Arctic to the Pacific to the Caribbean.

Daniel is also the author of five books and his first anthology Weird Tales from the Storyteller was nominated for the Tir Na N’og Welsh Children’s Book Prize.

He has completed residencies at the Royal National Theatre and the Barbican Centre in London and has adapted traditional stories for the theatre, television and radio.

"It has been wonderful, I’ve been places and seen things I never would have experienced otherwise" he said.

"I’ve heard and told stories in Haiti, Hawaii and the Arctic Circle and I’ve been to mud huts and merchant banks, prisons and palaces."

Tickets for Sleeping Beauty and Alcestis are available from Galeri on (01286) 685222 or online www.galericaernarfon.com