Fairytales for Grown Ups: Solomon and Sheba

The Crick Crack Club presents:
Provoking, seductive, and a virgin, the Queen of Sheba visits King Solomon to test his wisdom. Riddles, tricks, lust and foolishness ensue, as they unravel each others' histories.

Sheba has a bird's claw and hairy legs and Solomon falls passionately in love with her. As his attempts to seduce her get increasingly desperate, he loses his wisdom and his throne, before the secret of Sheba's virginity is finally revealed. Sally Pomme Clayton snips and clips stories of this royal duo from Sumerian Hebrew, Christian, and Islamic traditions, tracing Sheba's ancestry back through Medieval folklore to Adam's first wife, Lilith, and forward to nursery tales of Mother Goose. This is a rare gem - by turn sacred, profane, poetic and comedic.

'She delights in subverting her audiences expectations' The Independent
'She is a dream-weaver, a spell-binder' Londonist

Sally Pomme Clayton is a writer and performance storyteller whose work combines poetic language, startling imagery and playful humour. She has performed across the UK, in 40 Winks Hotel; The Barbican; The Soho Theatre; Northern Stage; The National Theatre; Cheltenham Music Festival; Bristol Old Vic; and 11 Downing Street. She has been a featured artist in many European Storytelling Festivals and toured with The British Council to Spain, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Sweden and Portugal. Sally Pomme has published several books, collaborating regularly with illustrator Sophie Herxheimer.