Headfirst Editor's Pick
"Sell out warning! Storytellers Ben Haggarty and Steph Brittain stir an unfinished myth, summoning the Irish legend of Fionn MacCumhail from the manuscript margins into this rough-cut ritual. You, the audience, must become part of the divination, and help determine which fragments of the old story remain."
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A event on Friday 5th December. The event starts at 19:30.
The Crick Crack Club presents
THE BODIES ON THE BEACH (a rough cut performance)
Performance storytelling by Steph Brittain & Ben Haggarty
Step into a maelstrom of myth as irrepressible storyteller Ben Haggarty is joined by electrifying new voice Steph Brittain in a raw rough cut performance of a bold new interpretation of a magical battle that shook the farthest shores of Ireland over two thousand years ago.
Centred on the legendary hero Fionn MacCumhail, his children and his life-long struggles with Donn, Lord of Death and King of the World, this tragic tale traces a long and powerful journey through generations of love, war, sacrifice, enchantment and survival. Combining fragments of 15th-century manuscripts, archaeology and folklore held by farmers, Bodies on the Beach is a resurrection of a forgotten epic – an unknown Celtic Iliad.
We need audiences to help shape how such passionate and unnerving material is reimagined for contemporary audiences. Join Ben and Steph — fresh from the windswept battlefields of the Dingle Peninsula — as they test the edge of ancient myth in modern form.
Raw, lyrical, and unforgettable. What will survive the tide?
RUNNING TIME: 70+50+ interval. FOLLOWED BY DISCUSSION
SUITABLE FOR: adults 18+
CONTENT: This performance includes references to and descriptions of bereavement, death, sex, war, violence, cannibalism, incest, suicide, infanticide, contextualised within a paradigm of mythic narrative, archetype and metaphor.
N.B: The material in this show also forms the basis of The Beholder's share event on the 28th Nov. The completed show will come to the Cube in Bristol in 2026.
Entry requirements: 18+
THE BODIES ON THE BEACH (a rough cut performance)
Performance storytelling by Steph Brittain & Ben Haggarty
Step into a maelstrom of myth as irrepressible storyteller Ben Haggarty is joined by electrifying new voice Steph Brittain in a raw rough cut performance of a bold new interpretation of a magical battle that shook the farthest shores of Ireland over two thousand years ago.
Centred on the legendary hero Fionn MacCumhail, his children and his life-long struggles with Donn, Lord of Death and King of the World, this tragic tale traces a long and powerful journey through generations of love, war, sacrifice, enchantment and survival. Combining fragments of 15th-century manuscripts, archaeology and folklore held by farmers, Bodies on the Beach is a resurrection of a forgotten epic – an unknown Celtic Iliad.
We need audiences to help shape how such passionate and unnerving material is reimagined for contemporary audiences. Join Ben and Steph — fresh from the windswept battlefields of the Dingle Peninsula — as they test the edge of ancient myth in modern form.
Raw, lyrical, and unforgettable. What will survive the tide?
RUNNING TIME: 70+50+ interval. FOLLOWED BY DISCUSSION
SUITABLE FOR: adults 18+
CONTENT: This performance includes references to and descriptions of bereavement, death, sex, war, violence, cannibalism, incest, suicide, infanticide, contextualised within a paradigm of mythic narrative, archetype and metaphor.
N.B: The material in this show also forms the basis of The Beholder's share event on the 28th Nov. The completed show will come to the Cube in Bristol in 2026.
Entry requirements: 18+