Apr 10 2009
Theatre Company Teaches Children English Folklore
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While celebrating the Winter Solstice with The Anderidia Gorsedd we were lucky enough to chat to a very talented lady called Alison Williams-Bailey. Alison runs the Sussex based Root and Branch Theater Company, who aim to teach children aged 5-11 about English Folklore. |
Alison says:
Through performing plays and holding workshops, we will increase understanding both of English folk arts and of local heritage and folklore, keeping folklore stories alive in the community.
We use storytelling, drama, song, legend and folklore to present themes from local history.
Our plays focus on local history to tell folkloric stories that have been forgotten by all but a few.
Walkabouts: Meet and greet Flash the Dragon accompanied by the bold and fearless slayers: St Leonard and Uther Pendragon Junior. Follow them on a quest to the Underworld. Slay the dragon and discover the secrets hidden in the treasure hoard.
We use workshops to enable oral learning of
• traditional songs which are of a local source
• storytelling, with learners making up and enacting their own stories
• English drama, including basic Mummers play technique and guising
Root and Branch Theatre Company’s latest play is: “Dragon Tails or Tales of Dragons and Woodland Wyrms” by Alison Williams-Bailey.
The year is 1614 at the White Horse Inn in Southwarke we invite you all to the trial of Young Nic aka Flash the dragon. Take a journey from the timeless epic of Beowulf and the Death Dragon through the folklore of Sussex to discover the truth behind the myth of dragonlore. Is he guilty is he not? You decide
The play covers aspects of the national curriculum key Stage 2 on History Saxons and citizenship. It involves full audience participation as the audience become the dragon and slayers in a finale dragon slaying scene re-enactment of the Lyminster Knucker pudding story, make a Web of Wyrd with Beowulf and perform in our child dragon costumes. This play includes storytelling, mummer’s plays, physical theatre, clowning, circus, animal guising, dance, and folk song.
Root and Branch Theatre Company Dragonlore workshops 2008/2009
The workshops are in dragon guising with our tourney dragon and two child size dragon costumes. We teach about dragon folklore and folk drama traditions; we explain what these meant to our ancestors. How these stories and traditions were significant to the lives of our Anglo –Saxon ancestors.
The children learn how to act in the costumes; we play games to enable this and learn to act out dragon movements. The children act out the Lyminster Knucker Story (Sussex dragon legend) as a mummer’s play. We tell other dragon stories; act out Faygate Dragon, tell the Horsham St Leonard’s story and can act others. Children also learn a folk song and we all perform this.
The scenes from the play are “Beowulf and the Death Dragon” which is told in storytelling form. The children are able to act out the story as it is told. The group also make a big web of wyrd or Spiders web. This explores the ideas behind dragonlore and what it meant to our Saxon ancestors who believed that all in things in life were interconnected in a big web; like a spider’s web. This belief is expressed in the telling of Beowulf; best translation to express this is Michael Alexander (Penguin).
Scene 2. Is the Lyminster Knucker (Dragon or worm) poisoned by a pie or pudding made by local slayer Jim Puttock also known as Jim Pulk. This is acted out by the whole group of children and led by the workshop leaders. We perform this in a circle dance, then half the group are selected to play the dragon in a spiral dance and conga. The other half becomes the slayers. The dragon is slain to a chant based on a children’s rhyme in a dance theatre enactment of the slaying. The Tourney dragon (see our webpage www.rootandbranchtheatre.co.uk on the page “our work”) will lead this and there will be two children dragon costumes or guisers who can also lead; selected from participants. We will learn a dragon folk song as part of this.
We think this is a wonderful way to for children to learn and be involved in ancient stories and have fun at the same time. It would be super to see more schools and childrens groups involved in this kind of living folklore.
Alison has very kindly offered to come along and record Beowulf and the Death Dragon for a special children’s episode we are planning later in the year.
Alison and the Roots and Branches Theater Company will be touring schools and performing at local arts centers through out this year.
To contact Alison and The Roots and Branch Theater Company please visit http://www.rootandbranchtheatre.co.uk/
