The Storyteller – Nick Hennessey – storyteller, musician & more

About

Nick Hennessey is an internationally acclaimed storyteller, playwright, folk singer, song writer and musician. He has told stories for more than 20 years, performing at venues such as the South Bank Centre and Royal Albert Hall. He is particularly drawn to North European cultural traditions and has been awarded high honours in Finland for his work on their National Epic, Kalevala.

He is a sought after artistic collaborator, working with top of the field musicians and storytellers. He has broadcast documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and his musical work has featured on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction. With a deep appreciation for the key role that stories play in how we learn about and express ourselves and the world, whether in businesses or schools, he works extensively in helping draw out our natural storytelling skills.

culture, community & identity

He came to storytelling whilst undertaking field research for a PhD in Cultural Geography. At this time he became a professional singer, songwriter and storyteller with a particular interest in the relationship between landscape, communities and stories and the re-invention of tradition. As an artist he has continued to do research and perform internationally. In 2000 he won the World Championship in epic-singing performing the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic in Espoo, near Helsinki. He regularly returns to perform Kalevala in English for Finnish audiences. In 2009 he presented a program on BBC Radio 4 on the relationship between Kalevala and modern Finnish national identity.

commissions & collaborations

commissions & collaborations Nick Hennessey has devised and produced many new works, notably “Barbed Wire for Kisses” with Hugh Lupton, a piece set in an imagined rural Lincolnshire village between 1914 and 1918, using actual letters and diary entries from the Lincoln archive facilities.

Along with Jonny Dyer and Vicki Swan he devised and wrote “The Whispering Road”, a storytelling and musical performance based on Swedish folktales, which has toured extensively in rural touring venues throughout the country.

He has been commissioned a number times by Rosa Productions and the Oxford Story Museum to create and deliver performances for outdoor events in Lincoln, and was commissioned in 2007 by the Plymouth Theatre Royal to write “The Crossroads” a short play based on the ballad Tam Lin for the celebrated Playhouse Festival. The play has subsequently been performed at Plymouth, York Theatre Royal, and Polka Children’s Theatre in London.

a true performer

Nick has performed at venues from the South Bank and the Albert Hall to rural village halls, and extensively at folk, storytelling, and literature festivals throughout the UK and internationally (Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Canada and two national tours of Japan).

He has produced three solo albums of his music the most recent of which, “A Rare Hunger” released on Harbourtown Records, received critical acclaim with airtime plays on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction and numerous stations in the US.

Interested?

For commissions, performances, interview requests and more, get in touch.

About

culture, community & identity

commissions & collaborations

a true performer

Interested?

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