I Am A Storyteller: Meet the Storytellers

Beccy Dye is a storyteller, podcaster and game-maker. She works with people of
all ages helping them to tell their stories, develop games and to have fun with words.  

Her work has co-creation, empowerment, engagement and playfulness at its heart.  Beccy has created audio-dramas, worked with communities to develop story-walks, written musicals with the elderly, built Alternate Reality Games, and explored magical worlds with hundreds of children!  

She believes that stories build empathy and, ultimately, make us better people.
Beccy cannot wait to build and hear stories with communities across Nottinghamshire!  

Andy Barrett is a Nottingham based community storyteller, playwright, and academic. With Excavate he has worked with thousands of local people to explore their histories, culture, stories, and identity producing site-specific community plays, touring shows, films, and a series of audio walks (including Sherwood Voices with Inspire). 

His plays for radio and stage include Dolly, a cloning meets country and western musical, which the Times selected as one of their top five shows of 2010; Skybus which took place on board a bus to East Midlands Airport and back; Tony’s Last Tape, based on the Benn diaries which was performed in the Houses of Parliament; and Barbeque 67 for Radio Four, which tells the story of an infamous rock festival in Spalding, Lincolnshire and features Geno Washington and Nick Mason (it’s still available on the BBC iPlayer).  

Andy has always been interested in the ways that people can tell and share their own stories, leading him to make work for all kinds of contexts; including a touring play for mental health clinics in Kerala, a community play for a basti in India, and audio stories for the NHS exploring end-of-life care. 

Ling Peng is a storyteller who brings stories to life through sound. As a classically trained Erhu musician, she blends traditional Chinese music with storytelling in a unique and captivating way.  

As a cultural ambassador, Ling has shared her stories and music at venues like Lakeside Arts Nottingham, Cutty Sark London, The Globe London, and the New Art Exchange Nottingham. She has also visited over 200 mainstream and special needs schools, inspiring audiences with her thoughtful and creative performances.  

Ling’s storytelling invites listeners to experience Chinese culture in a new and engaging way, leaving a lasting impression through her unique fusion of music and narrative.  

Nicky Rafferty is an experienced and versatile storyteller who loves the challenge and variety of bringing storytelling to different audiences and contexts. Her recent projects include delivering the outreach element for the ‘Restoration of the Leaves of Southwell Project’ at Southwell Minster and the ‘Reawakening St Mary Magdalene’ in Newark, through storytelling with a variety of community groups, schools and care homes.   

Storytelling is at the heart of everything Nicky does, she believes it is powerful, agile and versatile and can be applied in many different contexts. Nicky works with a range of organisations, creating and delivering bespoke storytelling packages to bring about specific outcomes and says, “Whether the objective is: empowering others to tell stories, improving literacy, speech and language support, mental well-being, memory recall, historical character telling, or simply engaging an audience and having fun - storytelling works.”  

Nicky believes that we’re all storytellers, however some of us lack confidence or practice, or don’t know how to get going, so some years ago she unpicked the process and developed a storytelling skills training course that is fun, accessible, and effective and it has enabled her to leave, not just stories but storytellers, who will continue telling tales when Nicky has moved on from their project. 

Laura Mabbutt is a multidisciplinary artist working with a fusion of traditional craft, digital media, and interactive experiences. Her practice blends handmade techniques with contemporary technology, exploring materials, processes, and participation in creative and accessible ways through interactive experiences.  

Her approach is adaptable and exploratory, encouraging participants and audiences to engage with her work through craft, play, and digital tools.  

She has delivered hands-on, creative experiences, including installations and workshops in diverse settings, from galleries and museums to community centers and education settings, working with a diverse range of audiences.  

For I Am A Storyteller, Laura is excited to expand her participatory practice, incorporating elements of collaborative creativity and storytelling. She is particularly interested in exploring new ways to engage people, leaving a lasting legacy through both physical and digital creative outcomes.  

For further information about this project visit: inspireculture.org.uk/iamacreator