Debs Newbold

She is luminous on stage -  Nell Phoenix, Storynight

Shimmering...pure atmosphere – Elizabeth Mahoney, The Guardian

Unique, contemporary storytelling voice Debs Newbold is a performer, researcher and writer of stories, with a growing national reputation.

She has performed stories for, among others: BBC Radio, The Royal Festival Hall, Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Opera House, the Hay Festival, the V&A Museum, Sidmouth Folk Festival, The British Library, The English Folk Dance & Song Society and in countless clubs and school halls countrywide.

Brought up in the industrial Midlands, with a strong Anglo-Irish heritage to draw upon, Debs is “a dynamic and unforgettable performer” (Lawrence Heath).  With one foot in the tradtions and the other pointed firmly at the horizon, her repertoire stretches from Shakespeare and medieval folk tales to urban myths and encounters with 21st century barstool philosophers.   Armed with a quick wit and a way with an audience, she can tell the epic, the tragic, the funny and the sentimental - and she can do bawdy with the best of 'em. 

Before becoming a professional storyteller, she gained a First Class Degree in Drama and English Literature at Manchester University and a Masters degree in Performance at Goldsmiths College, where she was awarded a Distinction.

Debs has most recently worked at  The Southbank Centre Festival of Britain, The Rose Theatre Kingston and earlier this year was the Storyteller and writer with the groundbreaking and acclaimed Morris production Must Come Down, directed by Laurel Swift.  This year she also completed a second commission for the prestigious Hay Literary Festival, creating and performing a solo storytelling version of Macbeth.  She is also currently the UK artist for a European storytelling project commissioned by the EU Directorate for Education and Culture.

Debs Newbold is an Associate Artist of the English Folk Dance & Song Society.