Yamanba (Or, She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain)

About the show

The Cardiff Storytelling Circle presents a night of two halves from two exceptional stortellers. Join us for darkness and light, for stories from near and afar...

Laura Sampson will be sharing 'Yamanba (or, She'll be Coming Round the Mountain)'.

A tree floats down a river from the mountain and becomes a sacred statue: compassion personified. At the river?s source squats an old, old lady whose fury can eat you alive, or keep you as safe as if you yourself were the mountain.

People call her a demon - but once she was a goddess. Maybe. Who is she really? And in a time when youth, beauty and granted wishes are all that matters, who even cares?

For years, the figure of Yamanba has led Laura a merry dance round the mountain to the myths, legends and parables of East Asia - plus the outer reaches of her own unenlightened mind - chasing the echo of a being that can still, if she wants to, raise holy hell.

Laura Sampson is a British-Trinidadian storyteller, author and Japanese noh practitioner based in London. She tells stories of big emotions, surreal situations, and misunderstood old ladies - from all over the world.

In the first half, Stacey Blythe will be singing and storytelling bilingually in Welsh and English. Stacey and her harp and accordion are always inside the telling, weaving music and magic through each story. You're invited to listen and to sing together in these stories.