Tall Stories

Interview: Toby Mitchell of children's theatre company Tall Stories

Co-founder on show Brilliant Books for Kids at Edinburgh Fringe

10 Aug 2011

What was your favourite story book as a child? I had many favourites, but there are two that stick out: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is like a modern-day Alice in Wonderland, full of clever word-play and ways of seeing the world in entirely…

Mr Benn

Tall Stories bring iconic 70s children's animation to Edinburgh festival

5 Aug 2011

It’s 40 years since David McKee first turned his series of picture books into a TV series. In an instant, shop dressing rooms became the doorway to potential adventure, where anything could happen. For an entire generation, Mr Benn signified the…

Mr Benn brings 1970s TV classic to Edinburgh Festival stage

Kids show from makers of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom

29 Jul 2011

Anyone who has seen The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom or any of the other wonderful shows Tall Stories has staged over the years, will know that the company is no stranger to adaptation. This time, however, they’ve moved away from children’s picture books…

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011 - Kids highlights

Mr Benn, Bagpuss, Hairy Maclary and more coming to Edinburgh

8 Jul 2011

Mr Benn: The Extraordinary Adventures of an Ordinary Man. The wonderful Tall Stories (Gruffalo, Room on the Broom) is back with its new version of the TV programme. Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance, 556 6550, 4–18 Aug (not 6), 11.30am, £8.50 (£7.50).

Tall Stories bring Mr Benn to life

The team behind The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom take on the bowler-hatted dresser-upper

14 Apr 2011

It may only be 40 years since Mr Benn captivated a nation of young TV viewers, but by today’s standards the animation looks positively prehistoric. That is, of course, exactly what we love about it. David McKee’s bowler hat-wearing hero has stood the…

Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival promises a quality homegrown line-up alongside the usual groundbreaking international work

13 Apr 2011

The Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival has always featured quality children’s theatre from both home and abroad. But while international talent has never been in short supply, Scottish-based companies worthy of inclusion were initially thin on the…

Tall Stories' Twinkle Twonkle secretly teaching kids

Mixing nursery rhymes and adventure with astronomy and science

29 Jul 2010

Known for their respectful and highly entertaining adaptations of popular picture books The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom, sometimes Tall Stories just like to do their own thing. And, as shows like The Snow Dragon and Them with Tails demonstrated…

30 top shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2010

The List's pick of the Edinburgh Festival programme

23 Jul 2010

From Turner Prize-winning Martin Creed and New York theatre experimentalists The Wooster Group to former wild child Storm Large and promising newcomer Jonny Sweet, this is The List's pick of August’s entertainment.

Twinkle Twonkle makes children's theatre from nursery rhymes

Tall Stories return to Fringe after success of The Gruffalo

16 Jul 2010

Though they’ll always be best known for their charming adaptation of The Gruffalo, there’s a whole lot more to Tall Stories than a pair of terrible teeth. Regular visitors to the Fringe for over a decade, the company is known for its winning combination…

Room on the Broom

Musical storybook adaptation hits the right note

9 Aug 2009

The coming together of Tall Stories theatre company and children’s author Julia Donaldson has already proved itself to be a winning formula, with the hugely popular Gruffalo and Gruffalo’s Child. There’s no obvious route for taking Donaldson’s enjoyable…

Room on the Broom

30 Jul 2009

If it’s innovative storytelling, great characterisation and witty dialogue you’re after, then Tall Stories theatre company should tick all your requisite boxes. The same could easily be said of children’s writer, Julia Donaldson – so it’s great to see…

Tall Stories - Room on the Broom

Dramatisation of Julia Donaldson's tale of an overloaded broomstick

13 Jul 2009

No matter how many books she writes, Julia Donaldson will always be synonymous with one thing: The Gruffalo. Similarly, regardless of their many innovative productions, Tall Stories will remain eternally linked with one show: The Gruffalo. But there’s…

How The Giraffe Got Its Neck

Evolutionary tales

7 Aug 2008

Full of questions about the animal kingdom, two explorers set off on a journey down-river. Along the way, they impart stories about how the leopard got his spots, the elephant got his trunk and finally, how the giraffe ended up with such an elongated…

Monster Hits & Does a Monster Live Next Door?,

Kelly Apter

9 Aug 2007

To celebrate the company’s tenth anniversary, Tall Stories has brought two monster shows to Edinburgh – and they couldn’t be more different. Best known for their adaptation of The Gruffalo, Tall Stories has a reputation for creating innovative…