Testimonials

2010 Toronto Festival of Storytelling

With charming wit and commanding yet selfless ownership of the story, Geoff Mead brings the human condition into focus for his listeners. This masterful storyteller weaves magical tales which take his audiences on enchanted journeys that ultimately awaken understanding of things beyond the surface.

During the 2010 Toronto Festival of Storytelling, Geoff made Toronto audiences feel relaxed and at ease. His skill brought them to a place where they could open the imaginative space within where stories truly come to life. Audiences were invited to experience the tales along with the characters with edge-of-seat engagement to explore what matters most in life. Geoff Mead is a storyteller who deeply respects and evokes the generous and communal spirit of storytelling.

Debra Baptiste
Festival Executive Director

2011 Scottish International Storytelling Festival

Geoff Mead is an assured, sensitive storyteller. He engages warmly with his listeners and focuses on sharing the story rather than distracting attention to himself. Geoff brings you home to the story, and the story home to you.

Donald Smith
Director, Scottish Storytelling Centre

2011 Orkney Storytelling festival

There is something very special about hearing a story that is well told and Geoff Mead is a master of the storytelling art: quick-witted, funny, profound and deeply moving by turn. Myths as old as time are given new wings and set free to fly in our imaginations once again, as in the days of Homer.

Geoff is a spellbinding storyteller with a repertoire of myths and tales from around the world to delight audiences, both young and old.

Tom Muir
Chair, Orkney Storytelling Festival

2012 Frome Festival

Geoff Mead told familiar and lesser-known stories from the Brothers Grimm, plus a story from Norway, to a packed audience in the Round Tower at Black Swan Arts.

This was not just the Grimm we knew as children – he showed us why the prince was turned into a frog, the consequences for those who loved him, and how the enchantment was really broken, by an angrier and more violent princess than the one we may remember. With each story, we could tell that he had spent much time with it, thinking about not just what was happening but why it was happening, what it might mean, what it meant to him.

Geoff was completely inside his stories, and so brought them alive for us – he could clearly see his characters and their actions so vividly that we could see them as well. A father warns his small son to keep away from the well … the growing boy receives the same warning … and one day he is taller than his father … and we see him growing.

Geoff’s relaxed and informal style suited this venue very well. He was not a “performer” standing on a stage before a passive “audience” – we became part of the telling in the best tradition of storytelling, and the audience were entranced as he gently drew us into the story. All in all this was an enjoyable and memorable afternoon of storytelling.

Lesley Hughes
Frome Story Circle