Join Simon Callow as he reads excerpts from his exciting new book, Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World. Simon says: “When you find a writer that you love it’s like finding a best friend. Dickens never ceases to delight me. There’s something in him which chimes with me: the energy; the scope; the generosity; the endless inventiveness of it. There is in Dickens the spirit of the medieval carnival that just deeply turns me on. That sense of the world as one big body and a celebration and embrace of all its grotesqueness, the ugliness, the smell, the sweat.”

This promises to be an extraordinary evening, celebrating a great novelist.

The tale of a lad who wins a box of records from John Peel’s Shed in a competition on the John Peel show and how it affects his life.

An ode to radio, a box of Peel’s records and anyone who’s ever sought solace in wireless. Adapted from acclaimed book Radio Head.

“I could have listened for hours” ***** The Independent

“Beautifully-written, funny and poignant… Just as John Peel’s records changed his life this lovely, simple, beautifully executed show has enriched ours” ***** The Scotsman

“One of the Top Ten Theatre Highlights of the Edinburgh Festival… Funny, perceptive and charming” **** The Telegraph

“One of the loveliest things you’ll see all year” **** The Herald

Running Time: 1 hour (no interval)

The Iliad and The Odyssey are classic tales with a cast of characters who have fascinated audiences for three thousand years: Helen, cursed by her beauty; Achilles, the archetypal flawed hero; Odysseus, the quick-witted survivor against the odds; and towering over them, the omnipotent Olympian Gods and Goddesses.

In this first performance, these leading exponents of the art of storytelling recount the tale of that great quarrel that inspired Western literature.

“They have spearheaded the revival of storytelling in this country, helping to transform it into a vigorous and contemporary form of entertainment.” The Independent

The Iliad and The Odyssey are classic tales with a cast of characters who have fascinated audiences for three thousand years: Helen, cursed by her beauty; Achilles, the archetypal flawed hero; Odysseus, the quick-witted survivor against the odds; and towering over them, the omnipotent Olympian Gods and Goddesses.

This second evening of storytelling follows Odysseus on his treacherous ten-year journey to get back home.

“They have spearheaded the revival of storytelling in this country, helping to transform it into a vigorous and contemporary form of entertainment.” The Independent