0

	Upstairs at Three and Ten (venue website) Literature 5-7 May, 1:00pm-2:00pm
Suitable for age 15+ only.  2-for-1 tickets for Friends of the Fringe members.

Despite the bookish Hendricks Gin programme becoming a fixture, Brighton feels a little light on literary events this year – which is why we were delighted to spot Matthew Bellwood in the Fringe brochure.  In 2011, our reviewer Mathilda Gregory was enchanted by Bellwood’s whimsical yarns, in his show Be Prepared and Other Stories.  The title story in particular was a delightful tale of challenging homophobia… through the medium of a stuffed eagle.

Overall, Bellwood spun last year’s tales around life’s frustrations – and his own regrets about times when the fear of the unknown had forced him into compromise.  He successfully took the small and personal, and made it big and universal.

But this year’s show is very different.  Now, Bellwood isn’t a writer, but a storyteller performing other people’s tales.  We’re promised three ghost stories, by spooky staples like MR James, and he hasn’t set himself an easy task: a lunchtime show in springtime is not the natural home of terror.

Perhaps Bellwood’s own themes of fear of the unknown are coming into play again, one way or another.   In any case – while we love Bellwood’s own writing – we’re just as fascinated to see how he spins these scary fireside yarns in such a springlike festival.