Tell Me A Story

Is storytelling theatre? Often aimed at children, and associated with folk music and informal gatherings, it is excluded from the high art aspirations of theatre. Yet, from Johhny's Big Gay Musical through Live Art monologues to many National Theatre productions, storytelling is influencing performance even as it evolves itself. Between 23 October and November 1, international and Scottish storytellers line up together in the Scottish International Storytelling Festival. Linked by the inevitable theme of "homecoming", the Scottish Storytelling Centre hosts events ranging from an evening of Celtic tales told to clarsach accompaniment to academic lectures on Scotland's influence on Native American tribes.

Special guest Rangimoana Taylor, a prominent actor in the fusion of western theatre and Maori culture, makes the connection explicit. Both drama and storytelling are reservoirs of cultural capital, drawing on past traditions and protocols to communicate ideas and to entertain. Equally, they respond to modern issues in a way that goes beyond reportage. From a performance perspective, the teaming of Fringe success Sean Cholburra, Jess Smith and Anne E Stewart promises a humorous evening of dance, music and stories: the Filmhouse will be showing the film The Cheviot, The Stag And The Black, Black Oil, John McGrath's political drama from 1974 that drew on the Scottish ceilidh. Aside from the intrinsic theatricality of a storyteller in full flight, these are signs that telling tales is no longer the preserve of school-children and this folk tradition is ready to take its natural place alongside the script and choreography.