|
Writing permeates my (once) secret life as a street
performer and musician, especially in my role as one half of The Theatre of the Small. Researching for A Likeness,
I read piles of tudor history, potted and thorough, and crammed as much on the life of Elizabeth's court as I could manage. One
unlikely outcome of my research was the script of 'Off With His Head', a piece of rough theatre on the history
of the tudors which occasionally continues to bemuse audiences at festivals and stately homes today.
Once we discovered that decapitating two-dimensional figures to a score of jolly renaissance music actually got us
paid, The Theatre of the Small pushed out the historical boat and a repetoire of medieval shows followed. Abridging
and retelling folktales and early manuscripts for these has been a great pleasure. A love of words and music combined
when I created a reworking of Gawain & The Green Knight for live reading. I have also adapted tales from
Chaucer for on-street performance and whittled Marlowe's Faust down to three short theatrical monologues. More contemporary experiments have included live literature performances with the ReAuthoring Project, and text installations and a spoken word
piece as part of Upon A Painted Ocean. Getting involved in performing arts and living history led me onto the slippery slope of volunteering. I am
a founder member of community arts and heritage groups Small Beginnings and BASH, and have organised local events from foraging walks to a six week medieval festival. Having discovered a love of the
fine art of oral storytelling, I set up the Winter Tales festival of stories, which lasted for three glorious years before
funding for the arts turned into funding for the Olympics. I still endeavour to sneak the odd bit of performance storytelling
into the local events calendar every now and then.
I teach creative writing to undergraduates and run the occasional public workshop.
In between the above I write poetry and fiction, and experiment with
text...
|
