presented by Viktor Wynd

Running time: 7pm to 8.50pm including interval

Suitable for ages 8+

charity. comedy. family. live music. opera. play. poetry. storytelling.

Join master storyteller Viktor Wynd in the heart of the fairytale world of our woodland theatre and listen to him telling tales at bedtime. Be warned these are not the Ladybird or Disney versions and may not be suitable for the most tender ears.

This evening Mr. Wynd will tell some of his favourite tales collected on expeditions around the world, from nasty Germans chopping up people and eating them, to disgusting, macabre and delightful tales from Borneo. Learn of the birth of the leeches, the reason mosquitos are always buzzing around human ears, why it is best not to suckle caterpillars – or indeed strange babies - and something about bedbugs that might give you nightmares.

Giant octopuses, man-eating pigs and a buried moon from Papua New Guinea, or possibly shapeshifting magical creatures from Wales, the Good People of Ireland, the Sea Merrow, a Scottish Selkie, Scandinavian trolls and an illicit love affair with an Ice Bear.

The tales will be accompanied by live music from local legends The Blackshore Collective

Viktor Wynd is proprietor of London’s eponymous (nay infamous) Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History, and Chancellor of the pataphysical Last Tuesday Society.

He has spent the last 25 years telling stories to audiences across the globe. Fascinated by traditional fairy tales, his repertoire includes tales from the Brothers Grimm, Arabian Nights, Scandinavia, Russia, Italy, France, Ireland, Africa, Papua New Guinea and North America – so far.

He is the author of The Cabinet of Wonders (Prestel 2014) and The UnNatural History Museum (Prestel 2020), and his next book Dark Fairy Tales will be published by Prestel/Random House in 2025.

In 2020 he was the subject of a major exhibition, Viktor Wynd's UnNatural History Museum at The National Maritime Museum. When not leading expeditions to New Guinea, West Africa and the Amazon, he lives with his family, ever-growing menagerie, overflowing botanical and other collections just outside Halesworth. www.thelasttuesdaysociety.org

presented by The Silver Darlings and Mike Warner

Running time: 7.30pm to 9.30pm including interval

Suitable for all

charity. comedy. family. live music. opera. play. poetry. storytelling.

The Silver Darlings are an all-female sea shanty crew hailing from Southend-on-Sea in Essex. They sing shanties, songs of the sea and ditties nautical. They love the story-telling aspect to shanty-singing and are passionately committed to ensuring that these songs remain in the public domain and are not lost at sea. Having performed both nationally and internationally, these girls actively encourage audience participation and never fail to bring the shanty party.

Mike Warner is a consultant seafood writer, storyteller and artisan fishmonger. Mike grew up close to Felixstowe Ferry, on the Suffolk Heritage Coast where he developed a profound love of the sea, the fishing industry and a deep-seated passion and affinity for seafood.

In more recent years, Mike has embedded himself in the UK fishing industry, to learn from the coalface and connect the producer to the consumer via ’Net to Plate’ storytelling.

He is an active member of the Guild of Food Writers and his blog ‘A Passion for Seafood’ was twice shortlisted in the Guild’s prestigious yearly awards.

Mike also advises chefs, hospitality, consumers, industry and the media on British seafood sustainability.