Story Forge: Make your own Myth

Orginally published 30/4/2024 ​https://www.thereviewshub.com/liverpool-improvisation-festival-story-forge-make-your-own-myth-unity-theatre/#google_vignette

Robin Winters 
5 Stars

Story Forge – Make your own Myth is brought to you by the team who created Rubbish Improvised Shakespeare – The Incomplete works. This is fantastic show which caters perfectly for children and families who love history, myth and legend.
The show is extremely clever and very, very funny. The premise is that two senior academics from the British Museum are travelling across the UK collecting stories from the local population in the historic tradition of the ‘Story Forgers’. In tow and playing the live music is Daniel Bradley the former PhD student who has given up his studies to pursue Professor Dr Lee Hithersay and Dr Professor Robert Bond, both experts in object and place.

There are a tryptic of scenarios which allows the performance company to showcase their considerable improv skills. What takes place over the 80-minutes is phenomenal. The audience are fully engaged throughout either providing suggestions or providing the additional actors or in the case of the final story the ‘Hero’ itself. The playful interaction is handled well, and I was amazed how seamlessly the children were incorporated into the work, the three headed ‘Cerberus’ was one of many visual and verbal highlights.
At the heart of this work is ‘play and imagination’ the company embrace the chaos of the choices made by the children and you can see that both are having lots of fun doing it. The storytelling skills of both Bond and Hithersay is something to behold, both delight in off the cuff humour and they work an audience which would put many a stand-up comedian to shame.
Story Forge – Make your own Myth is highly skilled; this trio of performers are fabulous together. The work is clearly rooted in a genuine love for the stories and cultures of the past. This enthusiasm is palpable, and you love them even more for it. The transitions between stories is made to look effortless and this is enhanced by the stunning lighting by Xenia Bayer and music by Bradley which underscores throughout. The props and costumes by Alice Rowbottom all constructed in cardboard were stunning, these were used to great effect and gave a great aesthetic you seldom see in improvised theatre. The work is multi layered with the two experts’ hierarchy creating tension, this and the running joke throughout in which the two want their own television series elevates the work. If I was TV commissioner, I would snap them up as the work would transfer brilliantly.
Co-conceived and Directed by Mark Smith this co-production between Rubbish Shakespeare Company, Silly History Boys and Wing it Impro is a fantastic example of how children’s and improvised theatre can work together beautifully. It clever, anarchic and very funny Story Forge – Make your own Myth is ‘Horrible Histories’ on steroids.