images by Alex Leat and Sean Hurlock
Introducing Cornwall’s best loved team of tale-telling troubadours, they cut quite a dash dressed in their Sunday best, brandishing suitcases and performing poems. This summer they are ready to wow audiences with songs, stories and delightful pop-up poetry.
Skilled in commanding audiences in all kinds of spaces, they have performed on ferries, in fields and at festivals as well as beaches, harbours and stately homes and castles.
Their repertoire includes new Cornish stories and poems inspired by Looe, Polperro, Liskeard and Redruth, as well as the Clay villages and St Just. These are intermingled with poems by Charles Causley of grumbling kings, fighting pasties and the sisterly competition for a Cornishman! The Story Republic will rouse you with shanties, delight with stories and charm you with wit and fun.
Directed by Connie Crosby, The Story Republic make an excellent addition to any festival or event, find out how to book them here!
Listen to The Story Republic perform Jenny Mopas by Claire Ingleheart at The Writers’ Block Opening Day 2023
Watch our film to find out about the ideas behind The Story Republic
Digital Storytelling
During 2020-21 lockdowns, when festivals and events were on hold, our writers and performers created a series of story films.
1: Distance by Keith Sparrow
2: Plenty More Fish by Penny Gunter
3. Lucy Wild Hair by Annamaria Murphy
4. The Lobster Catcher by Olivia Lowry
5. Window by Jo Lumber
Thirteen Jolliffs and Other Stories, funded by Feast
A project creating stories about Liskeard, Looe and Polperro, inspired by real and imagined happenings. They were designed into posters and postcards which were spread around the towns and sent out with local community groups.
Rock Bottom – a Winter Audio Drama
Written by Sarah Connors, directed by Anna Murphy and starring Keith Sparrow , Nina Hills and Connie Crosby , with sound by Phil Innes, Rock Bottom is an audio drama written, performed and produced as part of The Story Republic’s digital programme. A story about love, family loyalty and community, Rock Bottom is an audio drama for adults about a small Cornish community readjusting to life after Lockdown 1.
Kneehigh Theatre’s Random Acts of Art project 2021
These audio stories were written by The Writers’ Block writers and performed by The Story Republic. They are based on real stories collected in Roche for Kneehigh Theatre’s Random Acts of Art project.
We also created a film from our story ‘Hope in a Jam Jar’ written by Olivia Lowry, filmed by Neal Megaw and starring Olivia Lowry, Jon Turner and Richard Trethewey, told by Connie Crosby.