Thirty years since its inception, Beyond The Border stands tall as one of Europe’s leading storytelling festivals, and this month Wales’ rich mythology is again celebrated through guests renowned for their talents in telling a ripping yarn. Billy Edwards plucks six of the best from Beyond The Border 2023’s lineup.
N’FAMADY KOUYATÉ
A repeat onstage guest of Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys, Cardiff-based Kouyaté will lead a demonstration of the balafon, a traditional Guinean wooden xylophone. Known for his novel reworkings of folk songs from his homeland with new Welsh lyrics, he will also perform with his full band of West-African musicians, The Successors Of The Mandingue. A djembe drumming workshop will also be offered.
DANIEL MORDEN
Children’s author Morden is bringing stories of a supernatural kind ahead of his forthcoming book Strange Tales. Known for presenting storytelling documentaries on BBC Radio Wales, he’s particularly enlightening on his favourite topic, Ancient Greek mythology. This edition of Beyond The Border will host the sendoff of Morden’s group, The Devil’s Violin – where his spoken word parts are backed by fiddler Oli Wilson-Dickson and Sarah Moody on cello – as they hold their last ever performance anywhere.
STÉPHANIE BÉNÉTEAU & MICHAEL HARVEY
Welsh and Quebecois folklore collide, as this year the festival has joined forces with the Montreal Intercultural Storytelling Festival to deliver The Languages Of Storytelling, a one-off production from two cherished storytellers. It’s the work of Stéphanie Bénéteau – a well-respected Canadian performer with a personal interest in stories about women overcoming adversary – and festival stalwart Michael Harvey, who wears his love for the Celtic oral tradition on his sleeve. Expect a riveting exploration of the barriers and freedoms caused by languages in telling stories.
JOE BAELE
Dubbed the ‘anarchic Musketeer’, Baele brings his crowd-pleasing qualities he forged as a professional clown all the way from Belgium. He endeavours to carry the mantle of the Dutch ‘fabulatori’ – the traveling storytellers of yesteryear – reflected through his authentic 1930s gypsy caravan. A keen ear for his storytelling reveals an enjoyment for the stark contrasts of life: visit Baele’s performance and you are likely to be thrilled by battles over good and evil, fear and passion, and victory and disaster.
TUUP
The Unorthodox, Unprecedented Preacher, a highly respected elder figure of the contemporary storytelling revival in Britain, will be a major draw to the festival due to his exciting new performance, Children Of The Sweet Water. It fuses the medieval legend of half-human, half-fish creature Melusine with an electronic soundtrack performed by members of Transglobal Underground – veteran ethno-techno festival faves and regular collaborators of TUUP’s. A good prospect for those who enjoy an element of science fiction in their fairytales – and what’s more, he will be one-third of a fun retelling of The Three Musketeers, with Hugh Lupton and Joe Baele.
CHRISTINE WATKINS
Priestess storyweaver Christine Watkins presents four volumes of transformative stories exploring the rituals of The Washers. She has effectively elevated the processes by which our belongings are cleaned into a method to develop spiritual renewal. Her pieces include River Wash These Bones, which evokes what can be learned from the salmon’s seasonal return to the rivers they call home, and The Washer At The Ford – an otherworldly storytelling walk in search of Modron, a paranormal washerwoman.
DEBORAH WINTER
With singing cellist Ailsa Mair Fox, Winter will be presenting Secrets And Silences. The pair were both awarded the Esyllt Harker Commission in 2021, which is given to Welsh female performance storytellers that particularly astound audiences. Each winner is tasked with creating a new piece for the next festival, and so their result is a strikingly shamanic affair and a creative testament to Winter’s latest experiments with musical improvisation. Their story promises to be the spookiest of the weekend, as they assume the guise of two sisters divided by a shadowy secret.
Beyond The Border, Dinefwr, Carmarthenshire, Fri 7-Sun 9 July.
Tickets: £154. Info: beyondtheborder.com
words BILLY EDWARDS
