WOSAS : F602
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WOSAS/CD213/track4
R644.wav
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a Conference of the Birds story
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Sound recording, story; a section of Persian
and Sufi narrative, The Conference of the Birds, told by Ben
Haggarty, a member of The West London Storytelling Unit, at the
fourth West London Storytelling Unit Clubnight, at Common
StockTheatre, Hammersmith, London, 16th October 1983
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Story told by Ben Haggarty. A short story from
the Conference of the Birds about attention and concentration, in
which the birds fly to a wise man and hear his story of how he
has spent ten long years contemplating the link between eating
aubergines and the death of his son.
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The Conference of the Birds is a book of
Persian Sufi poetry by Farid ud-DIn Attar. The narrative is of a
group of 30 birds, led by the hoopoe, who travel in search of the
great Simorgh. In the 1970s the poem was adapted into a play by
Peter Brook and John Carriere, which toured in Africa, and was
also performed in New York and Paris.
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audience:-
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adult; contributing storytellers
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recording quality
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condition:-
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fair
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completeness:-
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complete
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duration:-
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0 hours, 4 minutes, 13 seconds
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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.
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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.
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storytelling:-
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storyteller: Ben Haggarty
male / British / born 30.11.1958 / member of the West London
Storytelling Unit
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origin:-
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poet: Farid Attar du-Din
Persia
Sufi
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Images of clubnight events at Common Stock Theatre
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Flyer for clubnight 4
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Flyer for clubnight 4 and clubnight 5
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Flyer for clubnight 4 and clubnight 5
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Flyer for clubnight 4 and clubnight 5
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Flyer for clubnight 4 and clubnight 5
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Flyer for clubnight 4 and clubnight 5
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Flyer for clubnight 4 and clubnight 5
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Click to enlarge images
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administration:-
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storyteller; promoter: Ben Haggarty
storyteller: Daisy Keable; Georgiana Jerstad; Georgiana Keable
storyteller; musician: TUUP; Godfrey Duncan
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storytelling:-
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Hammersmith, London, England: Common Stock Theatre
16 Oct 1983
storytelling club: West London Storytelling Unit Clubnight
storytelling club: Clubnight 4
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gift from:-
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storyteller: Ben Haggarty
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© The London Centre for International Storytelling:
2007