Review: Whispers of the Winter Hearth: Tales for the Longest Night at Theatre by the Lake

“…lovely…endearing…no better time for tales around the fireside…”

Whispers of the Winter Hearth: Tales for the Longest Night by Jo Mills, Theatre by the Lake

By Ken Powell

The drive was dark, wet and – at times – suitably foggy as we headed to Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake for a night of wintry stories. It couldn’t have been a better setting.

Rather than set on one of the stages at the theatre, Jo Mills – our storyteller – set up a quiet corner of one of the theatre’s various rooms where candles were decked out to give us the campfire glow and she opened the window blinds to reveal a marvellously huge old tree outside the theatre that made us feel almost as though we were out in the cold listening to the village storyteller. The blanket provided on every chair was a brilliant and most welcome touch that I certainly made use of to snuggle up and enjoy the stories.

And wonderful they were too. Stories of Jack Frost, of Winter losing her daughter and of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, among others, kept us entertained and gently spooked throughout the evening. Jo Mills, barefoot, whispering, singing and dancing her way through these tales, did a very good job of keeping us focused and entertained through both halves of the evening. It is no wonder that storytelling seems to be making a comeback. I felt like we were leaning into something so very natural to our ancient selves.

The only imperfection was that the room was just a little too close to the main stage where The Wizard of Oz was still making its presence known despite the heavy soundproofing of the walls. It was small, but enough of a distraction for an ADHD-head like me to notice.

The whole evening though was simply lovely. It was my first storytelling event – of any sort – and I was so delighted with the experience that it most certainly won’t be the last. The stories were gently told, were endearing and they reminded the small audience that there is much pleasure to be gained from humans gathering together to tell tales and that there is much about our world and about nature we still don’t understand – so always treat it with respect and reverence! The stories reminded me that there is a great deal of beauty and soul in the wintertime. Just as well, with the nights having drawn in and the temperatures heading swiftly towards zero. There is no better time for tales around the fireside and the comfort of our fellow travellers.

Whispers of the Winter Hearth: Tales for the Longest Night plays at Theatre by the Lake until Saturday 20 December. Tickets are available here.

Ken Powell is chief editor for Northern Arts Review and is also a bestselling author and writer for various publications around the world. A former school teacher, he continues to write educational books along with fiction and travelogues. You can find all his books and various websites here including his popular TEDx talk about the Global Village. He lives with his family in a wonderfully isolated village in West Cumbria where he enjoys drinking tea, chatting with the birds and winding up his dog. You can support his work (or just buy him a coffee) here.