The Flanagan Collective to Present 'FABLE'

A chance encounter over whisky in a tiny Scottish village with no through road has led a talented young theatre group to the Vault Festival in London later this month (from January 27) and on to the Adelaide Fringe in Australia later this year, thanks to a partnership with Greenwich Theatre.

The Flanagan Collective's Fable - co-produced with the theatre in South London - is the show that had its seed of an idea in Ardfern on the west coast of Scotland.

Alex Wright, the company's Creative Director and writer of Fable, explains: "Back in autumn, 2014, we were touring our show Beulah in the Scottish Highlands and arrived at this tiny village on a single track road that led to a broken pier and into the sea. "We did the show there and went to the pub afterwards. As I ordered a whisky, this man in a windbreaker and a beanie started spouting Rabbie Burns at me. The man's first name was Blair and he was the local tree surgeon and poet who was about to leave for the Arctic to build log cabins where trees fell, which wasn't allowed in Scotland. "I got back to our B&B blurry-eyed at about half three in the morning and wrote down a lot of what he'd said, and now Blair is one of the characters in Fable," said Alex.

The Flanagan Collective - named after Alex's mother's maiden name - played their show Babylon at the Greenwich Tavern at the beginning of 2014. Then they were booked again to bring Beulah to the theatre.

"We have a really nice relationship with Greenwich," said Alex, "and we co-produced Fable with them when we went to New York last year. So it's really nice to work with them again at The Vaults and then take it to Adelaide. "We first went to Australia in 2012 with two small shows. We went a bit on a wing and prayer and learned a lot. Then we met up with James Haddrell, Greenwich Theatre's Artistic and Executive Director, at Edinburgh with Joanne, who's a producer in Adelaide, and now we're taking three shows there - Fable, a new version of Babylon and our version of Sherlock Holmes." The Flanagan Collective work out of an old converted water mill in north Yorkshire and describe themselves as a "rolling, strolling rag tag bunch of writers, musicians and performers" that is nonetheless an associate company at the York Theatre Royal. James Haddrell said: "Fable is very much in the style of a lot of The Flanagan Collective's work, combining story-telling, music and performance. It's the best kind of magical realism, a charming story about a girl who has a weak heart but dreams of being an astronaut. It's a simple but very beautiful show. "It comes to Greenwich in April. We are always keen for shows to tour before they come to our main stage, so that they are at their absolute best when they come to Greenwich."

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