I'm absolutely delighted to feature in this article by Maria-Teresa Rivera-Schreiber for Neun Magazine, and extremely grateful for the chance to talk about Shadow Road Productions, all the work we do, and - perhaps most importantly of all - why we choose to do it... 🎭✨💖
If you’re a performer, storyteller, theatre-maker, or creative of any kind who loves myths, legends, folklore, or classic tales, this is your chance to be part of something special. The festival will take place in and around Barnes Pond, SW13, on 23rd & 24th May 2026, with a special launch event the weekend before on Saturday 16th May.
We’re looking for bold, imaginative work that celebrates the power of story - no big budgets or tech wizardry required, just creativity, connection, and heart.
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The pack includes all the details about venues, registration, ticketing, and how to apply. We can’t wait to see what stories you’ll bring to Barnes next spring!
And to all our generous supporters and donors - a huge thank you, once again. 🙏 Your contributions are helping us turn this dream into reality and I'm so very grateful that our fundraising total continues to rise, with another extremely kind donation of £30 this very morning!
If you’d like to take part in the festival – as a performer, a volunteer, a sponsor, or in any other way – please get in touch via shadowroadproductions@gmx.com. We’d love to hear from you!
In the meantime, do stay tuned for more updates, as we continue building the festival and reaching out to performers, partners, and sponsors. This particular story is just beginning…✨
We had a full house for the first of our exclusive author events presented in association with Fairacre Freddie Events: an intimate literary afternoon with acclaimed novelist, broadcaster, photographer, and travel writer Sandra Howard, who discussed her powerful World War II novel Love at War.
Based on a true story, this sweeping tale is set in 1940, and follows Laura’s perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Uganda and beyond in pursuit of love, courage, and survival. It is a moving portrayal of one exceptional young woman’s resilience in the face of war.
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Following all the fabulous feedback we received after this first literary event, we were then delighted to welcome ticketholders to join us for our second one in early October: Tea with Sandra Hempel, who spoke about her own newly-published book Controlling Women: The Untold Story of Britain's First Female Police Force.
Sandra Hempel, a former Times journalist, has also written for The Guardian, the Daily Mail and other national media. Following her award-winning The Medical Detective, and BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, The Inheritor’s Powder, her latest work looks at the fascinating story of the first Women Police Volunteers...
As the First World War began, a group of British campaigners founded the Women Police Volunteers, hoping to protect the vulnerable both from crime and from patriarchal policing and justice. The movement’s pioneers included a militant suffragette who’d spent time behind bars, a moral purity activist, a blue-blooded radical, and a court reporter born in the workhouse to a single mother. Author Sandra Hempel follows their astonishing journey, through all of its troubling twists and turns.
Sandra, too, engaged in an animated conversation with Jeremy, and then answered questions from the audience, before signing books supplied by the fabulous (and independent!) Barnes Bookshop.
Huge thanks to both Sandras, to Jeremy, to Carolyn, to Sarah from Barnes Bookshop, and to my Dad, David King-Farlow, for running the refreshment stall so well! We're already looking forward to the next event...
After two wonderful summers performing at the Edinburgh Fringe, my small but perfectly formed theatre company, Shadow Road, has decided to stay closer to home next year - and create something magical of our own.
Introducing 'The Fireside Folktales Fringe': a brand-new, independent mini festival of storytelling and theatre, taking place in Barnes, South West London, on 23rd & 24th May 2026!
We're aiming for:
It’s inspired by our own 'Fireside Folktales' series: a collection of small but mighty shows that bring powerful myths, legends, and classic tales to life in a wide variety of venues, with no fancy tech - just four actors, live sound and music, simple props and costumes, and a whole lot of imagination.
This time, we’re throwing open the doors and inviting other wonderful artists in too. And that’s where you come in.
We’ve just (this very hour!) launched our Crowdfunder campaign to make the festival a reality and we’d love your help in spreading the word.
Would you like to take part, as a performer or production company? Do you know someone who'd be interested in sponsoring a venue, or an individual show? Whether you donate, share the link, or just loudly cheer us on, you’ll be helping us create something really special from the ground up, and we would be so grateful.
Our campaign is taking part in the 'Built by Her, Backed by Us' initiative - a brilliant programme supporting female-led projects. If we raise a minimum total of £1,000 from at least 25 different backers, by 31st July, we’ll be eligible to enter their competition and be in with the chance of winning extra match funding and other opportunities that could totally transform the future of the festival. Whether you can give £5 or £50, your donation gets us one step closer - and sharing the campaign helps more than you know!
We'd absolutely love you to help us build a festival that puts people and stories first, concentrating on the simple, shared experience. No headsets. No holograms. No horrific overpricing, or awesome, spaceship-worthy technology. Just theatre, the way it began - and the way it still moves us most...
Thank you SO much for any help you feel able to give! 🙏❤️🥰
