Reviews:

Kate Corkery, May 2008 Click here

Joanne Blake, April 2008  Click here

Fiona Collins, March 2008  Click here

Sef Townsend, February 2008  Click here

Tribute to Duncan Williamson, January 2008  click here

Italian Stories, December 2007  Click here

Ramayana, November 2007  Click here

Inno Sorsy, October 2007  Click here

Rachel Rose Reid, September 2007  Click here

 

Kate Corkery telling stories of the Cailleach, May 2008

 Within the intimate atmosphere of The Old Bakehouse and in the beguiling company of Kate Corkery we made the acquaintance of the Cailleach, a multifaceted, female elemental power; ancient as time, synonymous with the very landscape of Ireland, and the conduit for poetical insight. When old, manifest as the Hag, yet a force for renewal and regeneration, a source of beauty and inspiration.

Kate skilfully, and entertainingly, threaded a path towards an understanding of this elusive figure by sharing with us how she was first drawn to Her, and with stories, song and poems, revealing some of the myriad aspects in which the Cailleach pervades and invades landscape, history, and peoples’ souls.

 Kate and the Cailleach took us to places deep within ourselves. In the story of the Cailleach and Donnacha we faced an ambiguity as to the source or inspiration of the Cailleach’s actions. Was she showing the rewards of the struggle against nature, or the folly of exploiting the land and those who work it?  Whereas the tale of Red Hanrahan explores the Cailleach as Goddess of inspiration. The hedge scholar, seeking to return to his love Mary Lavelle, reveals the danger of lacking the courage to express ourselves and embrace our creativity, thus thwarting our hopes of fulfilment. The poem Ebb Tide was a poignant evocation of old age, but the learning attained through pain and loss hints at the possibility of regeneration.

 We emerged from this evening with Kate, entertained, but also enriched by having been in the presence of tales of great wisdom. Back to menu

 Joanne Blake – A Well Trodden Path: stories of Northamptonshire, April 2008

 Our guest this month was  ‘Young Storyteller of the Year Runner up 2007’ Joanne Blake. A brilliant evening of stories, which was made even better by the accompaniment of fine music played on fiddle and guitar by Guy Fletcher and Gregg Cave. Joanne hails from Northamptonshire and with the increasing interest in the significance of place in storytelling, she has been exploring the stories of her home; searching for the stories which belong to her. She started by paying tribute to her former teacher in retelling ‘The story of the Seamstress and the Green Velvet Dress’. As Tony Aylwin always says “Pass it on!”

 The evening evoked the character of Northampton-shire through the stories of its villages; places where the ordinary folk (or animals) could sometimes get one over on the powers that be. 

There was Rushton wherein lies a tunnel built over the gates of hell. A fiddler at the time was unable to resist a challenge to check out the tunnel in return for gold! He disappeared to the tune of Moll in the Wad  and it cost Lord Cullen dearly!

Another legendary part of Northamptonshire is Fawsley with its three lakes. Local names such as Capability Brown, B.B., John Merrick (‘Elephant Man’), Lord Fawsley, the Knightly-Spencer Estate, Badby Woods, Lamport, Pytchley and Brixworth all helped to set the scene for the Story of the Foxhunt in the area. In spite of the charming names of a pack of ten hounds such as Diamond, Sybil, Rivulet etc they met their doom one by one. Fortunately Mr Fox won the day again!   

Then there was Northampton itself, a Shoemaker’s town with many old factories. Boots worn by soldiers in The Civil War and Second World War with quality stitching of 64 to the inch were made there. Joanne made us aware of the magical qualities of shoes with soles worn on the feet of people with souls! Did you know that an old shoe would traditionally be ‘concealed’ in the walls of a new house to protect the inhabitants from bad spirits? 

There was more footwear in the story of the three day Horse Fair on the Village Green at Boughton, accompanied by Guy and Gregg with a tune in the Cotswold tradition,  as we listened to the misdemeanours of George Catherall – aka Captain Slash - and his highwaymen friends. Unwilling to die at the gallows to the inner refrain of his Mother’s constant harangue “George Catherall you’ll die with your boots on” he quickly slipped his boots off and in 1826 swung barefoot on the gallows. 

Musical accompaniment made Joanne’s final story more poignant. The Granddaughter was on a mission to “find the House of Bones and listen to those stories” as instructed by her Grandmother. During an arduous life of learning new skills and earning pennies - sewing, carving wood, carving stone, raising a family and telling her stories, she never gave up the search for The House of Bones. But when she found herself back at the ruins of her childhood home,  she felt a deep sense of failure. However a glimpse of her reflection, now looking so much like her own Grandmother, brought an awareness that she herself was the house of bones, fleshed out by all that life had given her. 

The second half of the evening was a lively mix of stories from the floor – but I guess you should have been there… Back to Menu

  Companion Tales to the Mabinogion: Stories from Wales retold by Fiona Collins, March 2008

 Land of the Morning Calm: Stories of Korea from Sef Townsend, February 2008  

For the last eight years Sef has specialised in storytelling with refugees, but an opportunity to do research in Korea enabled him to look closely at the phenomenal storytelling style of Pansori, unique to Korea.  A scholarship at The National Centre for Korean Traditional Performing Arts in Seoul gave him the chance to concentrate , once again, on his great interest, the Voice in Storytelling.

South Korea may well be the most 'wired' country on earth but super-computer-literate Koreans are still likely to believe that spirits exist in every part of nature, and see nothing unusual in seeking guidance from stories. From his recent research Sef brings traditional stories, (as Koreans told him they should be) earthy stories of "fun-satire-and instruction"!  Back to Menu

 Scottish Stories - A Tribute to Duncan Williamson, January 2008 

A gathering of Storytellers assembled in the intimate atmosphere of the Old Bakehouse Theatre, Blackheath, to remember and celebrate Duncan Williamson, a Scottish Traveller and traditional storyteller and balladeer, who died in November 2007. 

Their mission was to honour the man who said: “you can never die if you tell a story”, with an evening of anecdotes and reminiscences of Duncan, and a telling of his stories, and other stories “in the style of Duncan”.  Their achievement was to evoke the spirit of this seventh son of a seventh son, by weaving his magic in word and rhyme. 

A skilful mix of song, story and anecdote was blended together.  Duncan was remembered as “at his best in the kitchen” although he could turn a large hall into an intimate parlour.  He was a treasured emblem who, when he visited, was passed around as a trophy, sharing a meal with one and staying with another.  He “conferred his blessing” on those he recognised as in the true tradition, even taxing them with the duty to retell a story of his. 

And what stories these proved to be.  Lazy Jack who bested the Devil through skills honed by his indolence; whilst a traveller woman who disobeyed the terms of His hospitality was turned to stone;  a battle between the Slaugh (spirits of drowned sailors) and Christian souls risen from the churchyard; a Seal hunter who attained redemption by being taken to the Seal Kingdom. And not far behind the Devil, spectres, and the ordinary folk, followed tales of the Sidhe, powerful elemental forces with no love of humankind; whether abducting a mother’s bairn, or pursuing the serving boy who stole their magic cup.  Unlikely heroes vanquished giant worms through acts of daring-do; and a Priest with a holy horse came to an untimely, but wryly humorous, end. 

This rich mix was enhanced by song and fiddle tunes, and unaccompanied ballads in authentic Glaswegian and other dialects that were interwoven with the tales.  We left the Bakehouse knowing a treasured man had inspired these talented performers to give us an evening to treasure.  Back to Menu

 Italian Stories, December 2007

Tony Aylwin and June Peters directed a fine selection of tales from The Facetious Nights of Straparola (1550) and Il Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile (1636). These early collections of tales haven’t suffered the same bowdlerisation and Victorian sentimentalisation as Grimms and later collectors. And so, although similar images occurred: Beauty and the Beast; the wish-granting fish etc, they usually came with an unexpected twist: the Pig Prince ‘Beast’ ate his way through two wives before marrying the right ‘Beauty’, while the magic fish was used not just for personal gain, but to make a mocking Princess pregnant in revenge. 

There was definitely a darker and quirkier side to these tales: the wicked Andrijetto whose last will & testament left his colleagues’ souls to the Devil, and irresistable temptations to his family that would ensure they would also follow him to hell; and the flea who got so fat that his flayed skin covered a wall. Add to that cross-dressing and satyrs, necromancy and shape shifting, jugs of tears and cockerels with hidden gems, and you have an idea of the vivid pictures and edgy stories which made this such an entertaining evening. 

Many thanks to all our tellers: Chris Wise, Tony & Deirdre Joyce, Anne Burman, Claire Bowden-Dan, June Peters, Jac Paschoud, Alma Simpson and Rich Sylvester. Unfortunately we ran out of time, and Debbie Guneratne and Tony Alywin were sadly unable to add their salt to the mix. Back to Menu

 Ramayana, November 2007

Storytelling in Hope and Lotus Arts

The Ramayana is the story associated with the Hindu festival of light – Diwali. I thought I knew this story well, as I have heard it told many times for children’s school Diwali celebrations during my teaching days. But this was a very different version. I thoroughly enjoyed this very adult retelling ! It was really great to hear the familiar voices of club members accompanied by the lovely drumming and dancing of Jayashree Acharaya and Shiv Shankar Ray, all introduced by Anita Verma, from Lotus Arts. Thanks to Debbie and Pennie for organizing this great collaboration, and thanks to everyone for a lovely evening. I enjoyed the sweets and snacks as well. Back to Menu

 Inno Sorsy: King Cotton, October 2007

A story based on the parallel lives of slaves on the cotton plantations of Alabama and a young family in Lancashire who work in the cotton mills, lives which despite enormous differences still had strong parallels. 

Originally conceived as a stage piece with brass band accompaniment, Inno had her work cut out to carry it as a solo piece, a challenge which she brought off with aplomb.

This was the third time I had seen Inno in a 10 day period (Camden Ceilidh and a workshop) and it was the one I enjoyed the most. Back to Menu

 Rachel Rose Reid – A Darkening Harvest, September 2007

We opened our season with a first visit from Rachel Rose Reid with a show which she based on the time of the year, starting with the story of Persephone – but this was after she has invited everyone to close their eyes, in a magical opening sequence perfectly suited to the intimate venue of the Bakehouse. I hope we will see her return in future years. Back to Menu