Tall Tales at Their Best (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Tall Tales at Their Best

IT'S storytelling, but not as you know it.

The Midnight Storytellers are set to stimulate audiences with two hot-off-the-tongue shows in the next two weeks.

Rising stars of performance storytelling Karen-Eve and Chloe share the spotlight with festival star choir Naked Voices in Verbal Jazz at Westonbirt Arboretum, near Tetbury, on Sunday, May 2 at 7pm.

They promise a unique concert of power pop, Beatles ballads and slinky Bond themes with stories to match, amid superb Cotswold countryside.

Naked Voices wowed the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with their a cappella sound which ranges from hot gospel to big band, and simple choreography which adds to their visual appeal.

Based in Bristol, the 26-strong choir performs throughout the UK and beyond.

The Midnight Storytellers are high energy performers.

Chloe's style blends Maureen Lipman with Joyce Grenfell; her speaking voice was recently described as being "like chocolate melting over a bonfire," while American-born Karen-Eve beguiles with a southern belle accent and thought provoking themes.

In the same week as their Westonbirt appearance, the Midnight Storytellers make their debut at Cheltenham's Everyman Theatre with the ultimate feel-good show, Tales of Lust and Chocolate, from Thursday to Saturday, May 6-8.

In the chocolate-scented intimacy of The Other Space studio, audiences will be treated to a sumptuous selection of traditional stories, plus dramatic tales of here and now.

Spicy adventure, forbidden pleasure, pure greed; from Caribbean romance to the blazing passions of Cold Mountain country, these lovely ladies promise to enhance your mood with the warmth, wit and wisdom of many cultures.

The show is not suitable for children under 12 years old.

Tickets for Verbal Jazz from 01666 880220. Call 01242 572573 for Tales of Lust and Chocolate.

The Midnight Storytellers can be contacted on 01451 861185.