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Relational story work for a resilient world

Are you looking for a different way to approach complex challenges? Are you struggling to integrate personal concerns with professional demands? Do you need help engaging friends, colleagues or clients with the things that really matter?

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed these days. The crises keep piling up, locally and globally, and it’s tempting just to hide our heads in the sand. But facing up to the future begins at home, in the places we live and work. And it begins with the stories we tell ourselves.

Vesper Hill is a collective of practitioners with expertise in the creative arts and mental health. We use interactive storytelling and facilitated conversation to encourage playful reflection on thorny problems. We help individuals and organisations to find fresh perspectives and identify creative solutions. Because ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option.

Ways to work with us

1. Attend a workshop. We offer a range of participatory sessions (both in-person and online), which help individuals and organisations to think through resilience challenges.

2. Book a performance. Our storytelling pieces can be brought to your workplace or community setting, to help start a conversation with your audience. All performances are followed by talkback discussions or workshops, tailored to context.

3. Consult with us. By working with your organisation in a more sustained way, we can develop participatory activities addressed to your specific needs. We use interviews and research to understand your context and find stories that resonate.

Available Performances

These storytelling pieces are currently available, on request, for one-off performance in theatres, community spaces or office settings. We also offer follow-up workshops that can help unpack the broader issues raised by each piece.

Inundated

or, What Would Noah Do?

You, the audience, are gathered at a meeting of the Business Improvement Network. Perhaps you’re hoping to trade contacts, or seek advice. But the guest speaker at today’s meeting has a troubling story to tell, and an unusual proposal to pitch. So how will you and other network members choose to respond?

Who Ya Gonna Call?

(in event of emergency)

This warm, welcoming, one-man show explores the UK’s current state of preparedness for a changing climate. Opening with memories of the July 2022 heatwave, when the country recorded its first temperatures over 40°C, the performance explores challenging themes with poignancy, humour, and a little help from the audience.

The Boxer’s Guide to Climate Resilience

This modern fairy tale explores the challenges faced by an ordinary coastal town in a time of storms and rising seas. A lowly town planner called Jo, wondering how to keep back the tide, seeks advice from the legendary King Cnut (aka Canute). He responds by teaching her how to box. Cnut’s four lessons explore the stages of resilience planning: Aware, Adapt, Respond, Recover.