You are on an island. And it is sinking. It is not a metaphor, nor is it a dream. It is the end. But how can you drown, when you haven’t a place to lay your bones? And when you don’t know where it is, how can anyone bring you home?

Created and performed by folk/spoken word duo Isobel and Anna Hughes, A Place To Fall To Pieces is a search for roots, a love letter to the places we have been but never been from. With original composition, spoken word, storytelling and song, Anna and Isobel take you on a lyrical journey, through memory and magic and earth, to seek the indelible mark our country leaves on us and where the permanence of Home truly lies.

“Isobel and Anna Hughes are absolutely magnetic: Isobel as sage storyteller and Anna as seraphic singer and musician… a feat of great skill and talent, beautiful and poetic.” - The Reviews Hub

"There is definitely magic here, and often beauty too" - Lyn Gardner

Approx running time 1 hour 10

All tickets include a £1 admin charge

The Company

Isobel trained as an actor. Anna as a musician. They have come together to create a new form of musical storytelling: a merging of folk music and tales, spoken word, original composition and text, in an attempt to bring back the magic they used to be certain of.

Inspired by current folk revival and conservation movements, their own form of rewilding comes from digging up forgotten stories and using them to spin adjacent worlds where music and language are interchangeable, where they share a wide-open space with an audience that are moved to remember the communal power of storytelling.

Their first project together, A Great Fear of Shallow Living, a storytelling and live music show in collaboration with In Tandem Theatre Company, premiered at the Zoo Southside in 2017, where it was the winner of the Infallibles Award. It has since been revived for the Fireside Festival and a run at Draper Hall in London.

 ‘A Place To Fall To Pieces’ has been in development since 2019, with support from Sage, Gateshead Summer Studios and Mahogany Opera Company. It had its live-stream premiere at The Space in February 2021, and was part of Cvenues digital programme at the Edinburgh Fringe 2021. A track from the show 'Mr Fox' has been shortlisted for the Bread and Roses 'Voices from a Pandemic Award'.

All purchases for show at the Alma now have a suggested donation to the theatre and inhouse company of £2.00

You can remove this donation by changing the amount to £0.00, but please do consider offering your generosity to help us continue to offer great theatre at affordable prices.

The Alma Theatre has been serving the community for 25 years and has never been the recipient of ACE or other funding. Our theatre manager started maternity leave as the pandemic hit and as a result we missed all opportunities for additional arts council support. We have been offering reduced rates, preferential box office splits and extended promo support to aid the recovery from the past year and a half. Your help will enable us to continue bringing fantastic stories to your local theatre. 50% of your donation will go to the Alma Theatre, and 50% to our inhouse company, Schoolhouse Productions.