BIOGRAPHY
Raised in a Bohemian family, hidden in the folds of suburbia and laced with folklore and music, RRR has taken the journey from too-meek-to-speak imaginative teenager to the frontline of the UK cabaret and spokenword scenes.
She was the youngest headline act invited to perform for Trilby Productions' prestigious West End cabarets and has worked extensively with Paul L Martin who wrote As part of our Cabaret Confidential season...Rachel's performance was astonishing. She took the stage with an easy and ego-less charm and, with the aid of her powerful, intelligent vocals, began to weave a spell amongst the audience, with tales of mermaids, moon-gazing, and following our dreams".
In 2007 she realised that she had been hiding behind newspaper cuttings and book clippings between her songs, so she set herself the challenge of becoming a storyteller, and three months later won the 'UK Young Storyteller of the Year' award for the quality of her performances. Here's a guide in The Times to Rachel's style of storytelling.
Breaking new ground with an ancient art-form, RRR lays the path between the gutter and the stars, boldly taking tales where no storyteller has been before (well, that's what they say but she thinks they just have short memories). Her unique style has brought her acclaim at international festivals and at venues including The Barbican, The London Literary Festival, Latitude, Book Club Boutique and the Soho Theatre, as well as international guest appearances at Burning Man (Nevada), Alden Biesen (Belgium), First Sunday Stories (San Francisco) and Cornelia Street Cafe, 92Y Tribeca (NY).
She has caused a great stir buy taking this artform into venues where people claim never to have heard of storytelling, and caused a mighty rumpus with her debut show at Edinburgh Festival this year.
WORKING WITH YOU
Ah, to be a writer, storyteller or a cabaret artiste can be an isolating experience. I feel that there's so much more to be done with my performance persona, and with the structures therein. All that I have achieved so far has been without creative / directorial input or long-term production assistance from anyone else (mainly due to budget) - pretty good, eh?
But I don't think it can or should carry on this way, for reasons of mental health (!) and creative ambition. I'd really be excited to have a team to develop stronger work, a stronger persona and a great reputation out of all these perceptions of me (Tim Burton-esque, Bat for Lashes, Kate Bush, sweet cyanide!, alchemist, dream-weaver etc etc) to build an audience who connects with my work, and to develop material in collaboration instead of alone.
DAVID: I need to collaborate and play with with a director / practitioner who is used to thinking outside of the boxes in order to draw my storytelling & cabaret selves back into a more ambitious,
more crafted combination, and who can push me beyond any creative boundaries. This is a
performance style that does not fit easily into a category. I can think of no-one I'd rather work with.
PAUL: I am receiving international interest in my work and want to capitalise on this, and develop a global audience who connect with what I do, and understand what it is. This being so, I need more than a booking agent, as the throughline of communication is so important. You often work with these 'outside the box' performers. As such, you are the perfect producer to work with on this and make it blossom.
VIDEO / AUDIO FOOTAGE
FEATURE ON RRR & STORYTELLING ON NPR 2009
LONDON EVENING STANDARD 2009: Rachel Rose Reid...the Miss of Myths...a hit
BBC RADIO 2 ARTS SHOW WITH CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN 2009: One of the smash hits of this year's festival
THE TIMES 2009: (large feature article in main paper):...the performer who has the audience hanging on her every word is no stand-up. Rachel Rose Reid is a professional storyteller...
ALLTHEFESTIVALS 2009: [RRR] fills the genre that Kate Bush and her natural successor Natasha Khan-of Bat for Lashes- occupy in the musical field. And They Lived… is a singular work and one that is a showcase for Reid's talents and undeniable presence. Jackanory was never as ominous and sinister as this. More's the pity.
HAIRLINE 2009: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The Pleasance Courtyard has been harbouring a secret, a wonderful little secret, and her name is Rachel Rose Reid. Young, talented and beautiful, this award winning storyteller for one brief hour takes you far away from the frantic bustle of the Fringe, deep into your imagination, and tells captivating and charming ancient folk tales and songs from all over the world with such energy and vigour that the crowd are powerless to her charms. A funny, touching hour of laughter and darkness
BROADWAY
BABY 2009: ★
★ ★ ★ Rachel
Rose Reid uses classic storytelling techniques to direct the
audience's gaze inwards into their imagination
THE LIST 2009:★ ★ ★ ★ Charismatic and engaging, she will have you...lapping up every word
THE PLEASANCE TIMES 2009:Rachel Rose Reid Sells Out First Performance!
THE GUARDIAN 2009: ...A glimpse of magic (Selected as one of Lyn Gardner's highlights of Latitude Festival)
FRINGE
REVIEW 2009:...she
includes and enthrals, recognising that its in the relationship
between the storyteller and the audience that the story
emerges...
THREE
WEEKS 2009: ★
★ ★ ★ ★ It's
impossible to take your eyes off Rachel Rose Reid: she absolutely
commands the stage. Extraordinarily expressive without ever bordering
on histrionic, Rachel spins yarn and weaves dreams - myths and fairy
tales for adults - not just with her powerful voice but also with her
graceful and flowing gestures. Effortlessly moving between poetic and
colloquial language, comedy and tragedy, innocent and sinister moods,
her stories are so captivating, her invitation to audience
participation so engaging and her delivery so charming, that the
performance could easily last another hour without audience attention
waning. This is storytelling with a unique and modern twist:
contemporary storytelling
at its best.