I founded Valise Noire in 2011 along with actors Hazel Evans and Alice Flynn. Bringing performance and visual art together turning stories into shows, exhibitions and workshops.
Valise Noire is a storytelling theatre company that creates, tells and interprets stories through oral and visual forms. It is an organisation born from a collaboration to explore the ways in which stories are collected and communicated, exploring cultural and heritage topics. Working with communities, the public and schools, outcomes of projects are workshops, exhibitions and performances, often in outdoor site specific locations.
In 2019 Valise Noire expanded to welcome script writer and director Alice Flynn and are excited about this new collaboration and look forward to creating new pieces of theatre shortly.
WONDERDOMES
An interactive, outdoor activity that invites people of all ages and abilities to explore the world of plants, through play and creativity.
Guided by friendly, knowledgeable hosts, visitors choose their own pathways through an open-ended, botanical treasure hunt that includes story-telling, drawing, painting and nature connection.
Twelve, beautifully crafted, knee-high, display domes are strategically placed throughout a public garden, park or woodland.
CARGO
Bringing to life Poole's maritime heritage of the Great Quay
Watch this immersive show start on the quayside, as the 'The Queen Galadriel' ship sails into port and a crew disembarks celebrating millennia of goods that have travelled the seas.
Unloading their unusual interactive 'cargo', the crew dance, sing, and move in procession sharing stories from above and below the flowing waters, revealing wisdom and heritage of maritime life along the way of people who may not otherwise have opportunities to learn about Poole's local and global heritage
POPPY FIELDS
A reminiscence project about the heritage of the people of Bournemouth and Poole in 1914.
The project includes storytelling, creative writing and performances by Valise Noire inspired by stories uncovered through research.
The project activities lead up to a special concert by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at Lighthouse Poole and a stunning backdrop of poppies for an exhibition was created by children and young people. The project has multiple strands to support
THE GIRL AND THE SHOES
An enchanting children’s fairytale written and produced by Valise Noire
This tale transports the audience from the rural countryside of France to vibrant Paris in a world of glamour and beautiful shoes through a magical story of love, courage and understanding.
A contemporary piece of storytelling for children combined with the visual arts makes this a unique show that will capture imaginations by exploring what happens when you put on magical shoes. An accompanying adult show explores the darker side of this new fantastical tale with humorous twists.
THINGS WE BROKE DURING LOCKDOWN
We found new ways of communicating and relating - often through an unstable internet connection!
We Zoomed like never before and online parties, dance and quizzes became an unexpected part of our lives. Many of us broke out of roles and routines.
We were all thrown out of our comfort zones. Lockdown 1.0 tested us, it was messy and not at all graceful. The effects continue to unfold inside us and around us.
WOMEN OF WORDS, DORSET
When Women Are the Storytellers, What Narratives are Told?
In 2021 we received £10,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for this new project which amplifies women’s voices past and present.
We created this multi-form new writing project working with women who have experienced domestic abuse, to create new work inspired by the heritage of women of Dorset's past and female experiences. The project has multiple strands to support women who’ve experienced male violence.