Storytelling for grown-ups in Matlock

An adult-only audience will listen to The Bear’s Son at the town’s Imperial Rooms on Friday, June 1.

Beyond nine green forests, in the borderlands between the wild and the civilised, lies a world of man-bears, deer-women and dog-headed people. Fate and fortune twist and turn as a wife runs wild, a hero searches for his true nature, and the great Baba Marta transforms the landscape from winter into spring.

The Bear’s Son harkens back to a time when people turned from hunting to farming but still walked in the way of the animal powers. It’s a magical and

sometimes savage tale of transformation that comes from the heart of Bulgarian myth and folklore.

Interweaving storytelling, ritual and evocative music, Bulgarian storytelling company A Spell In Time conjures the half-remembered world of the dreamtime when humans and animals shared the same pathways but began to take a different journey home.

The storytellers are bringing the power and magic of Bulgaria’s myths and folk tales to UK audiences for the first time. They were due to bring their performance to Matlock in March but heavy snow put paid to that.

Friday’s performance starts at 7.30pm. For more details, visit www.matlockstorytellingcafe.co.uk