Spark London

Well, it's been a long time. So, let's get this blog back on the road.

A few weeks ago I went to a show that relied on an intriguing concept. The audience pays their hard-earned cash... enters... sits down... then gets up on the stage and entertains themselves.

It was Spark London. It's a story telling event, where regular people get up on a stage and tell true stories to an audience. They tell tales that are based on a theme. Since it was during the same week as Valentine's Day, on the night that I went the theme was inevitably... love stories.

There were a rich range of stories. Roughly half of them were stories on romantic love, with rest being about familial love, friendship and lust. Some were told with a with a rehearsed professional slickness, though the best were those that were volunteered on the spur of the moment and regaled with a degree of heartfelt amateurism.

I brought my Tascam recorder along, grabbed a few interviews and made a report for Radiohouse Radio's 'RoundUp'. The whole  show can be heard at http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/explore/radio/roundup). Here is the Spark London report:


The first few stories were told by those that arrived early and signed up to tell their tales. But those were only three stories, so within less than 20 minutes there was a break. It was really quite fascinating as the host had to franticly search the audience for stories. The audience members shyly shifted around in their seats as the host asked them "Are you going to tell a story tonight? It's far less scary once you're up there on the stage".

This is the most exciting aspect of the night, as you become slightly apprehensive about whether the night will abruptly come to an end. The challenge of finding enough stories and the spontaneous nature of the evening adds to the thrill of it.

Spark London founder, Joanna Yates

The amazing thing is that the set-up works. People do suddenly decide to tell stories to the audience, and fantastic stories at that. I heard touching adventures about old lost relationships that never were and humourous incidents involving bizarre sexual mishaps. It's very much an ongoing a process, as the stories the audience hear prompts them to share their own experiences.

What makes the night special is that there is a communal feel to the place. It is not a night to passively absorb a performance, rather it feels like a little society that you can choose to observe or participate in. The night is quite social, as after the stories people mingle and chat with the tellers about the stories they told.

I spoke with the founder, Joanna Yates, after the night. She summed the feel up quite nicely when she said that it "doesn't feel like that separation, with these are the people performing, and the great ones, and we're all the mortals listening. It's all very much like everyone's in it together". Below is a longer edit of the interview I had with her:

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When the night ends the story tellers get on stage to an applauding crowd. It feels all rather triumphant, with this feel that they all pulled it off together.

Another thing that is really quite lovely is that everything is recorded at Spark. So not only could they use your story in their weekly podcast (though only with your permission), they will send you a copy of your story to keep for posterity.

You can hear the past stories and find out when the next night is at http://www.sparklondon.com/.