BAC Storytelling Season

Having battled the biting wind and rain-splashed pavements to seek protection from the elements, why don’t you pull up a chair, get cosy and enjoy a good yarn at the Battersea Art Centre’s storytelling season.

Kicking off the season I went to see Jimmy Stewart Analyses Love and Happiness in Humans (and Rabbits). And it’s certainly hard to feel more festive when sitting by an open fire with a glass of mulled wine and waiting to hear a story involving the incomparable Mr  Stewart.

The story, written and performed by Tassos Stevens, features Jimmy Stewart as a Martian on a quest to understand love. The audience plays planet Earth, with the location changing each time to include theatres, living rooms, lecture theatres, pubs, and parks – (although thankfully this time we’re firmly indoors). It’s a bizarre tale, involving our narrator holding up autocue cards before he says his next lines. There’s also some audience interaction in the form of asking us to write down what love is like, which sounds cringey but led to some humorous answers (‘Seeing unexpected zebras’, one woman wrote. My answer was simply ‘Aaaaaggghh!’).

Perhaps the combination of the wine and fire tempered my concentration, but I have to confess this wasn’t a storytelling journey I was completely on board with. Nevertheless, a fairly enjoyable bit of Christmas nonsense.

But if that doesn’t take your fancy there are plenty more seasonal highlights at the BAC, with  comedy-poet John Hegley’s Christmas show, John Hegley’s Christmas Crackers (until Dec 31), packed with dogs tails, dads and Daleks, verses about voles, and an attempt at some unicorn noises. There’s also a story about the man who thought his television was a pet. Hegley mixes poetry, songs and screwball stories to lead you on a surreal Christmas journey with dancing, too. More dates have also just been added to the critically acclaimed The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley, Chris Goode’s touching story about two unlikely friends – a boy with a girl’s name and an unconventional superhero and their misadventures, showing until Dec 30. The BAC has also transformed Town Hall Road (next to the theatre) into a lively and buzzing Christmas Market – great for buying last-minute presents!

And if that’s not enough, to conclude the festivities Norman Jay is hosting his Good Times New Year’s Eve Party to end the year in style. Continuously switching venues and changing line-up’s to move with the times, Jay’s party genre sweeps across London, landing this year at the Battersea Arts Centre. It includes three rooms of music and even more entertainment.

So no excuse to be bored this winter, then.

Battersea Arts Centre
Lavender Hill
Battersea
London
SW11 5TN

Box Office: 020 7223 2223