About this event
A tree floats down a river from the mountain and becomes an eleven-headed sacred statue: compassion personified. At the river’s source squats an old, old lady whose fury can eat you alive, or keep you as safe as if you yourself were the mountain. People call her a demon, a witch, a crone – but once she was a goddess. Maybe. Who is she really? And in a time when youth, beauty and 'having it all' are all that matters, who even cares?
Since their first meeting in a Japanese noh play, the figure of Yamanba has led storyteller, writer and noh practitioner Laura Sampson a merry dance round the mountain – plus the outer reaches of her own unenlightened mind. Now she brings these myths, legends and Buddhist parables of East Asia to the Ropetackle Storytellers – chasing the echo of a being that can still, if she wants to, raise holy hell.
Laura Sampson is a London-based storyteller, writer and noh performer, whose mixed heritage and myth studies have taken her on many adventures. She revivifies stories of surreal situations, big emotions and underestimated old ladies, from various parts of the world.
Ropetackle Storytellers is Shoreham's local storytelling club, hosting talented tellers from across the UK and beyond in a celebration of myths, legends, fairy tales for grown ups, and the best in spoken word.
(Please note the price in our printed brochure is incorrectly set as £7, which was the spring 2024 price. The correct price is £8)
