A new climate crisis storytelling sound world experience has been made into a special limited-edition Box Set by Welsh singer-songwriter and storyteller Gwilym Morus-Baird and Derbyshire-based, Adverse Camber productions, directed by Bethan Dear.
4 Tales to Save the World brings the work of four exciting new writers from Wales vividly to life, imagining a world living with climate crisis.
Short Story Writers Commisioned For Project
Four of Wales’ leading short story writers were specially commissioned by Gwilym Morus-Baird and Adverse Camber for this project – Kate Hamer (shortlisted for The Costa First Novel Prize for The Girl in the Red Coat), João Morais (Described as “a great slice of comic Cardiff urban realism written by a Welsh Irvine Welsh’ – Independent on Sunday); Bethan Dear and Mary-Ann Constantine. Mary-Ann Constantine’s He Lives Upstairs will be recorded partly in Welsh.
The four tales transport listeners into four different futures, where climate crisis, inequality, mass extinction, identity politics, genetics and artificial intelligence have all left their mark on humanity. Gwilym Morus-Baird has created four unique soundscapes for each tale, with music spanning the traditional to the digital and by turns soulful, moving, powerful, playful and life-affirming. Each tale takes listeners on a different journey to the future, either finding hope, despair, or the simple humanity of people.
Immersive Experience Box Set
4 Tales to Save the World was originally conceived as a live performance featuring all four newly commissioned stories. The events of 2020 inspired the production to go online, however with further lockdown restrictions in late autumn, the company used the opportunity to evolve and create an immersive audio experience Box Set.
Naomi Wilds said, “Immersing in these stories and sound worlds from the comfort of home, or out on a walk, is a really vivid and involving experience. Like so many, we’ve had to adapt our live touring plans, and focusing in on sound worlds has brought exciting new depth to the project. Gwilym’s creative passion helps us think about possible futures from different perspectives. We can’t wait to hear audiences’ responses and come together for the online Q&A event in March .”
4 Tales to Save the World Live Online Q&A
Orders of the limited edition 4 Tales to Save the World Box Set will be sent directly to homes containing an exclusively designed series of postcards, plus download codes for four x 20 minute studio recordings of the four stories with original music to enjoy at home.
Along with the Box Set there is an invitation to a live online Q&A event hosted by Gwilym with the four short story writers, featuring live music and a chance to hear more from the artists and ask questions.
4 Tales to Save the World: a sound world experience is a moving, immersive and personal experience with the opportunity for everyone to come together on Saturday 13 March to talk about the stories, climate change and anything else sparked by the material.
New Perspective On Climate Crisis
Gwilym Morus-Baird said: “One of the things that’s motivated this project is not so much the need to tell people about the climate crisis, but to see if we can find a new perspective on it.
“I think most people accept that we are at the beginning of something; the effects become more obvious every year. But I also know that it’s easy to get used to it, to grow numb to it. I see in myself how this thing called climate change, one of the greatest threats humanity has ever faced, has become background noise in my life. So I felt I needed to turn the volume up on it again.
“I’ve always known that as a performer the very least I can do is offer a space for people to look at the climate crisis, to explore how they feel about it. Now, with the help of some brilliant authors, Adverse Camber and the Welsh Arts Council, I can do that.”
How To Purchase 4 Tales to Save the World Box Set
4 Tales to Save the World: a sound world experience Box Set is £15 (plus booking fee) and includes studio recordings of all four tales with original music (20 mins each), a ticket to the live Zoom Q&A event on Saturday 13 March, 8pm, plus limited-edition box set of designed postcards. Spaces are limited for the live event.
Orders for the Box Set must be purchased by 4 March to ensure delivery ahead of the live Q&A event.
- For more information and to buy the Box Set, go to www.adversecamber.org