In April of this year my fantastic children took me to see a One Track Minds show. After one storyteller had been on stage I said to Jessica – “It’ll never happen but if I ever got the opportunity to do this I know what my story would be.”
Lo and behold last Friday night I had that opportunity – three workshops and a cameo appearance at the “Bitesize Festival” at the Riverside theatre in Hammersmith later. I shared a stage with award winners in their field, a poet, author, screenwriter and a rapper – who were fantastic people.
My story was about my family and the power of the Braids pulling together at a time of shock and crisis. But it was also about the power of music and its ability to evoke memories. The track of music I chose was “Skyliner” by Charlie Barnet and his Orchestra. It took my mother, aka The Chief, back to Friday nights in Fleetwood when she used to forget about her hard life in the 1940’s to go dancing at the Marine Hall. Check it out on your Spotify.
I will always be grateful to Kristian and Adam of OneTrackMinds for giving me this opportunity, it meant so much. There were many people in the audience who came because I was a storyteller. Many of these family and friends have been with me on all or part of my journey. It was humbling to know they had given up an evening to be there, some coming from afar. It was a privilege to share my story with you all.
Thank you for coming.
Take and give care.
Ian