Shows at The Bureau
MARA
SATURDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER 2023
by Dominic Kelly. Directed by Kersti Ståbi
7.30pm (doors open 7pm)
It’s 1868. Morten is a discharged soldier scraping a living on his croft on the edge of Sweden’s ancient forests. His life is blighted by insomnia and filled with troubles made up largely in his own head.
Suddenly he begins to suffer nightmares. A friend tells him he’s plagued by a Mara - a possessed person who visits another in spirit form as they sleep. To free himself from a Mara, he must discover their identity. But who is it?
Funny, unsettling and moving, this solo storytelling performance is
- a whodunnit
- a deep dive into the dreamscape of Swedish folklore
- a delve into our oldest forests
- a journey through our tortuous relationship with sleep
...and an exploration of what it might mean to be really awake!
You’ll be transported, entertained, immersed… and a walk in the woods might never feel the same again.
Dominic’s warm, witty and powerful storytelling style has captivated audiences around the world. In the UK he has performed at venues including the Barbican, National Theatre, British Museum, and The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival; and in theatres, festivals and schools in 16 countries from India to the Arctic Circle. He also directs storytelling performances, including for Norway’s national Riksscenen.
His acclaimed performance Trickster was described as “Compelling, funny and heartbreaking” by The Times, his show The Hero Light, as “Gripping and satisfying… a rare event” and his most recent, The Big Blind, as, “A mesmerising performance”.
Dominic lived in Sweden for seven years and is a member of Stockholm-based company Fabula Storytelling. He now lives in the Lake District where he grew up and, when not storytelling, still thinks sitting in a tiny tent on a mountain in terrible weather counts as fun.
He is guest lecturer in Storytelling at Sweden’s Royal College of Music, and Linköping University; and has trained theatre, education and heritage professionals in storytelling techniques on three continents. Dominic has also helped thousands of young people find their narrative voice through workshops and arts-in-education projects, working in schools across the UK, Scandinavia, Europe, South America and India.