Cornish Secret Stories
Scary Little Girls is a vibrant, hard-working production hub run by Artistic Director Rebecca Mordan, whose commitment and passion for theatrical and artistic storytelling is borne out by the variety of scary little work they have created and the support from their scary little artists and audiences.
Throughout Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, there is a rich seam of folklore, community anecdotes, tall tales and cultural experiences that has not yet been mined. The Cornish Secret Stories project will bring this rich material and the amazing bodies and individuals who are at the forefront of gathering these treasures – spoken, written and musical – to the surface and help to keep those stories alive.
This is a multi-faceted project running from 2023-2025, bringing together multiple elements in celebration of the heritage of Cornish culture, community, heritage and mythology..
Meet the story gatherers
Running workshops to uncover and record the little-known details of Cornish life and history in each area and/or create new local folk tales or folk songs that represent the spirit of the communities.
New Theatre Commission
Creating a new show for Cornwall, using one of the stories discovered or created through our workshops.
Digital Storytelling Response
To be launched in 2024, the online digital response will feature a map, augmented reality and audio content locating the stories uncovered and will be written and voiced by local talent. They will work with Cornwall 365 to promote public arts events and cultural projects that are happening across Cornwall.
Supported by live performance
Mayven Festival – a festival of storytelling, theatre, and music coming in November 2023, with further events to follow – plays a key role in telling the stories. This event is bold and joyous, and has the potential to become one of Cornwall’s flagship off-season festivals.
They will also tour their Cornish-themed live show, Duffy Beats The Devil and a new menopause cabaret Queenagers at cultural and community venues across the county.
The project will create new jobs, provide inspiring new volunteering opportunities within the cultural sector and amplify the voices of women.
Serving the people of the region and visitors to our beautiful peninsula and its islands, Cornish Secret Stories will put even the smallest communities in our county—the hidden honeypots—in the spotlight, and the cumulative effect will be to make Cornwall and IoS shine brightly and irresistibly on both the national and international stage.
For more information on Cornish Secret Stories: www.scarylittlegirls.co.uk