True Stories Live is an intimate storytelling event with a simple premise, ordinary people tell their own anecdotal stories to a warm and friendly audience, relating to a different theme each time. Unscripted and unpolished, heartwarming, revealing, funny, occasionally shocking or sad. For some it’s their first time ever on stage; others are used to performing, but what they have in common is that they are telling their own personal stories about their own experiences. Recent ‘guest’ storytellers have included Sara Pascoe and Shôn Dale-Jones.    .
 
Following a year of sell-out events at Norwich Arts Centre and special appearances at literary festivals around the country including the 2017 Edinburgh International Book Festival, True Stories Live comes to London for the first time with the theme of ‘Lost & Found’.    
 
Compere, poet and scriptwriter Molly Naylor will introduce a line up of storytellers that will feature a handpicked selection of experienced performers alongside others onstage for the first time. Amongst the contributors will be Kinky Boots scriptwriter Geoff Deane, comedians Athena Kugblenu (pictured) and Angus Dunican, novelist/theatremaker Amy Mason and Guardian/Times/Telegraph journalist Helen Nianias.    
 
One audience member described the event as ‘like eavesdropping into people’s stories in the pub – and here I’m allowed to!’ A first-time performer said ‘I was absolutely petrified before I went on but I feel amazing now, the audience was really receptive. I had so much fun… everybody should do it’.
  
True Stories Live is the brainchild of producer Lucy Farrant. She teamed up with Radio 4/Sky TV writer, poet and performer Molly Naylor who is compére and host. 

 
Lucy said, ‘The idea came from an American organisation called The Moth, which has been the subject of BBC Radio 4 programmes. We believed that British people have many funny, sad, heart-warming, inspiring and downright awesome tales to tell too and, over the past year, we have been proved absolutely right. www.truestorieslive.co.uk 

Molly Naylor is a scriptwriter, poet and performer. She is the co-writer and creator of Sky One sitcom After Hours, wrote and performed the autobiographical show Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think Of You, which toured internationally and was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and recently directed her first short film, Callback.

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