The real fairy story of Hay-on-Wye.

Thank you for taking the time to read this brief introduction to our project.

The Castle and the Witch's Gold is a poetry and puppetry presentation of a real life fairy story, set in a town called Hay-on-Wye.

Please understand that we are absolutely passionate about this production.
We have designed and produced it especially to give children and adults and insight into the magic that this town holds within its walls and a taste of the inspiration that a place like Hay and its people can hold and how much that inpiration can change the lives of those who choose to see it.
The Poet and The Puppeteer became so inspired by the town that they gave up their whole lives in the big city, quit their jobs, sold their homes and came to live in the Castle to create a production that could tell the story of this town to children around the world.

“If you can’t see magic you need to get your eyes tested…”

It is our belief that although the history of Hay is presented very well to intellects of all walks of life and represented well in Historical reference books, children have been somewhat forgotten and have not as yet been presented with a story that will inspire them to love Hay and places like it, as we do.

We have found that many local people are very keen on this project and we are excited to present some of story of Hay to local children, as well as children nationally and internationally.

We will be taking the production to schools and children internationally including Brazil, France and Spain.

The Castle and The Witch's Gold follows the story of the towns Castle and its characters.

This is a unique production as the book is about the show and the show is about the book.

We have created and produced everything in conjunction with each others skills. Normally a puppet show is about a book, or a book is about a puppet show. We believe this is the first production of its type as both have been created together.

As you are an adult you may find that you are no longer able to see magic. We, as storytellers will try our very best to remedy this, however, when you read the book or see the show, you will find out facts such as;

Your brain has shrunk – therefore children can see magic better than you.
Witches still exist and can be seen on a daily basis worldwide. Fairies can be spotted easily, but they don’t always have wings.

Hay Castle is a real fairy land and within its books and honesty bookshop, all of the worlds fairy stories and fairy characters are trapped. It is our responsibility to free them by opening the books and showing the show.

If your darling little Jack has ever,
Told you that he thinks he’s clever
Then wastes his life watching television
Panic not! We’ve made it our life mission
To ensure that all kids agree
That books are better than TV
That magic still exists and they can get,
More magic from life, than the internet.

If little Jane worries more about her looks
Than reading intellectual books
Or little Mike is just the same
In that he prefers computer games,
Then we’ll do our best to change their minds,
And you never know, you may find
That as we weave our story telling spell,
You decide to change as well!

We know that kids are clever folks
And only laugh at clever jokes
We will never tell them a fairy story
That is not at the very least foul and gory!
We have found that how kids engage,
(And by that we mean “kids” of any age)
Is by being made to laugh a lot,
Or by putting witches in a pot.
As listening to stories that expand their brains
Is much more fun than computer games!

The Castle and the Witch's Gold

As storytellers we are producing and creating an original show and story to encourage children to read, create and enjoy. The Castle and The Witch's Gold provides a range of human and environmental issues, presented to children (and adults!) in an easily digestible and fun way. We are committed to producing high quality puppets and poetry, which engage the audience and readers, all based around a real place with real characters. It is our belief that children will respond much better to a fairy story where they can then go and see the Castle, its grounds and some of its characters for real afterwards!

To find there’s no Cinders or Goldie locks
Really must be quite a shock
So we’re trying to encourage creativity
By showing fairy stories as reality
So we’ve produced a show and a narration
To fire up childrens imagination
As we have found that really clever tots,
Don’t appreciate being lied to an awful lot
And we’ve found much the same of you,
As you’ve said “It’s much more fun if tales are true!”

We may not always give names or faces,
But our fairy tales come from real places
Places you can go and stay
On your next little trip away
So when you’re with your kids on your hols
They'll be busy spotting trolls
And if they say; “It’s boring here.”
You can reply – “Look! The witch my dear!”
We’ve written a book and made a show
Then if you choose then you can go,
And explore a real Fairy Land
And spot all the characters if you can.

Through the production and the story book we hope to achieve the following:

• Entertainment and lots of laughs!
• Encourage children to read
• Encourage creativity
• Encourage the love of history and bring magic back to life
• Present the audience with a high quality production – we don’t believe in shaking fluffy animals at children and hoping for a laugh! We respect the audience, whatever age they may be and treat them as intellectuals who wish to be entertained.
• Approach issues such as bullying, environment, pollution, culture…….
• Show traditional storytelling and puppetry with a modern twist
• Encourage children to think for themselves about issues such as independence, friendship and kindess.
• Provide unique and original material based on a town which is full of real fairy tales!

Coming soon!