Hello, I’m Thomas Spencer.
I’m a writer and storyteller.
I tell old tales and invent new ones.
I love working with people to create their own stories: in schools, at festivals, in libraries, and in all kinds of unexpected places.
Performances
My performances combine old folk tales with original stories. I reimagine and bring to life traditional tales from around the world, and I make up new, wild adventures: often conjured on-the-spot from audience suggestions.
I draw upon a background in theatre, so my performance style is playful and interactive.
I really enjoy telling stories in intimate environments, but I’m just as happy performing to a hall packed full of hundreds of people. I’ve created performances specifically for adults, as well as for children from pre-school age all the way up to teenagers.
Praise for schools performances:
“Tom's storytelling was captivating: the whole-school assemblies were so engaging the children (and staff) were hanging on every word… inspired a real buzz and enthusiasm for creating worlds with words and that telling stories is for everyone.”
- Deputy Headteacher, Horningsham Primary School, Wiltshire.
"Tom the storyteller was brilliant! All he brought with him was a saucepan, himself and his creative imagination and he had the children's attention from the moment he began. His kind, warm nature made the children feel all their ideas were welcomed... He really inspired the children. It was amazing!"
– Year 5 teacher, ELAN, Weston-super-Mare.
Praise for theatre performances:
“Agile, care-filled brand of storytelling hops lightly between past and present… Beneath the beautifully told narrative, smart thinking underpins each point of the plot.”
- Exeunt“Wistful charm and foot-tapping energy”
- GuardianWinner: Fringe First Award, MTN Award for Innovation, Three Weeks Editors’ Award (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
Workshops
I love working with people to craft their own stories.
I have developed a series of games, exercises and creative challenges that help people - especially young people - to feel confident diving into their imagination.
I often lead one-off workshops in classrooms focused on creating worlds, bringing ideas to life through description, and oracy/performance skills. But I particularly enjoy working with groups over a longer period: offering a range of creative prompts to get people started and then returning to see how their stories develop.
I am happy adjusting my workshop plans to tie-in with specific topics and curriculum elements, as well as ages and interests of a group. With younger children I’ll often use drawing games and ‘story walks’ to develop ideas, whereas with older kids and adults I’ll focus on characters, themes, and conjuring atmospheric environments (real and imagined).
“We have been loving your storytelling sessions! The children have collaborated so happily and taken ownership of their stories with huge enthusiasm. The whole class has entered into the spirit of storytelling, from the children usually least engaged in English lessons to the children who love reading and writing. Everyone has thrown themselves into the sessions and it is the highlight of our Fridays! The behaviour of the children has been fantastic because they are all enjoying themselves and drawn into the stories so well by you.”
- Year 4 teacher, Vallis First School“Tom delivered an outstanding storytelling worship session with our Year 5 children, and the impact has been fantastic. Each class—and their teacher—absolutely loved the workshop. It was engaging, inspiring, and wonderfully accessible for all learners. Our staff found the experience valuable as CPD, and several teachers have already begun weaving Tom’s storytelling techniques into their own lessons with great success.”
- Head of Year 5, Selwood Academy“We were able to discuss how to use their voice to make their reading more interesting and exciting and to help them develop their fluency… It made me think about how I can keep the children engaged through use of my voice and the way I tell a story or even deliver a lesson input. I will also use the story maps and story stones in future English planning.”
- Deputy Headteacher, St John’s First School
