Never was a tale of more go

Romeo and Juliet – a retelling

Long before iBooks, Penguin and Johannes Gutenberg, we had the unknown storytellers. Bards, minstrels, orators – call them what you will; after-dinner entertainment was their domain, and it was through them that the old tales and sagas survived – strictly through word-of-mouth.

Storytellers today are no longer revered as cultural philanthropists, but at least we know their names, and one of the world’s leading practitioners, Britain’s Debs Newbold, is performing in Copenhagen next week on Vesterbro’s well-established storytelling stage, BestTellers.

Newbold, a double nominee at the 2012 British Awards for Storytelling Excellence, will be retelling Romeo and Juliet. Using a script part-Shakespearean, part-storytelling, the streets of Verona will come alive with hilarity, fervour and poignancy. It promises to be both compelling and enthralling.

As a performer who has commanded stages at Shakespeare’s Globe, London’s Royal Opera House, the Hay Literary Festival and the WORDS spoken word festival at Kronborg Castle, the dependable Newbold, armed with a quick wit and dirty laugh, is one performer you don’t want to miss this December.

BestTellers Scene, Krusågade 25-27, Cph V; Thu (Dec 12) 20:00-22:00; tickets: 100kr, concessions available, www.billetto.dk/romeojuliet; www.besttellers.dk