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WOSAS : F591 WOSAS/CD211/track5
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Five Lovers, The

Sound recording, story; The Five Lovers a version of a folk tale and trickster tale from the epic cycle known as 1001 Nights, or The Arabian Nights or Sheherazade's Tales, told by TUUP, a member of the West London Storytelling Unit, at the second West London Storytelling Unit Clubnight, at The Last Chance Centre, Hammersmith, London, 19th May 1983

Story told by TUUP. A story about a women who takes a lover whilst her husband is away. When the lover is put into jail for fighting, the women tricks a magistrate, a judge, the prime minister, the King and a carpenter into helping her in return for promises of sex. The lover is released and the other men are locked in a cupboard and humiliated. The story is followed by closing comments from Ben Haggarty.

audience:- adult; contributing storytellers
    recording quality
condition:- fair
completeness:- complete
duration:- 0 hours, 18 minutes, 11 seconds

The West London Storytelling Unit Clubnights or The Storytelling Unit Clubnights were begun by Ben Haggarty, TUUP and Daisy Keable in 1982 shortly after beginning to work together as the West London Storytelling Unit (W.L.S.T.U). They took place on roughly a fortnightly basis during the atumn and winter months, in community centres in Acton, Shepherds Bush and Hammersmith. The clubnights were an opportunity for anyone to come and tell a story, or perform music on the condition that it had a toe-hold in tradition. The performance of original poetry and the reading of original writing was actively discouraged as there were plenty of other fora for 'new writing' elsewhere in London. In 2007 Ben Haggarty explained that the clubnight format was in part inspired by the College of Storytellers, but with the aim of doing something less bourgeois, for a younger audience and which was not dominated by Idries Shah's mission to promote his vision of Sufi storytelling. The clubnights also took inspiration from the anarchy of the London Musicians Collective clubnight events in Camden. The clubnights led Ben Haggarty to inaugurate the First UK International Storytelling Festival at Battersea Arts Centre in London in January 1985. After the 1985 festival a few further clubnights were run, before ending in 1986. The clubnights were superseded by the formation of the Company of Storytellers who pioneered the touring of adult evening shows throughout the UK, and by the formation of the Crick Crack Club in 1987, which focused on the programming and development of professional storytellers, their performance skills and their repertoire for adult audiences.

The West London Storytelling Unit (W.L.S.T.U), was founded in 1981, by members Ben Haggarty, Godfrey Duncan and Daisy Keable and based in an Afro-Caribbean Youth Centre, the Priory in Acton. The members worked together and as solo artists, telling stories mainly in school and community contexts in London. Over time performances for adults also began to be developed. In 1983 W.L.S.T.U became The Storytelling Unit with Marva Cumberbatch, Pomme Clayton, Daisy Keable. In or around 1985 Daisy Keable and Marva Cumberbatch left the Storytelling Unit, at which point Ben Haggarty rejoined and worked with Sally Pomme Clayton for a brief period before the group was disbanded. The increased interest and demand for storytelling performance for adults led to the formation of The Company of Storytellers in 1985.

storytelling:- storyteller; musician; singer: TUUP; Godfrey Duncan
male / British / Guyanese / member of the West London Storytelling Unit

origin:- Middle East
Arab world


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White version of flyer for clubnight 2

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Blue version of flyer for clubnight 2

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Clubnight letter written my members of The West London Storytelling Unit

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Letter written to Time Out listings magazine about listing the clubnight

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administration:- storyteller; promoter: Ben Haggarty
storyteller: Daisy Keable; Georgiana Jerstad; Georgiana Keable
storyteller; musician: TUUP; Godfrey Duncan


storytelling:- Hammersmith, London, England: The Last Chance Centre
19 May 1983
storytelling club: West London Storytelling Unit Clubnight
storytelling club: Clubnight 2


gift from:- storyteller: Ben Haggarty


©  The London Centre for International Storytelling: 2007
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