Islington-based children’s theatre company Tall Stories helped to raise funds for a dozen UK theatres with their first virtual tour of The Snail and The Whale

Islington-based children’s theatre company Tall Stories has helped to raise funds for shuttered theatres with their first virtual tour of the UK.

Fifteen charity performances of Julia Donaldson’s The Snail and the Whale were beamed from their studio at Islington Central Library with a portion of ticket sales going to a dozen regional ‘host’ theatres from Dundee to Plymouth, Cardiff to Hull.

Founded more than 20 years ago, the north London company scored an early success with an adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s The Gruffalo. Based for a time at Jacksons Lane in Highgate, they recently moved into a brand new studio at the library off Holloway Road.

The partnership with live streaming company TicketCoTV allowed them to market and sell tickets and live stream the show over October half-term with each show tailored to the venue.

Tall Stories co-founder Toby Mitchell said it was a much-needed cash and morale boost to regional UK theatres.

“It’s been a year like no other for the entertainment sector, and theatre has been hit extremely hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. While theatres across the country have not been able to open their doors, it’s been very difficult for them to reach out and maintain their audiences’ interest. The feedback we received was very moving, with families sending in photos of their children watching the show and engaging with their friends during the performance via the live chat facility.

“It’s impossible to fully recreate live theatre on screen, but we achieved the next best thing.”

www.tallstories.org.uk