The Twisting Field tells how one of Ireland’s greatest heroes, Lugh Lamfhota, came to be born. Balor, King of the Fomorians, hears a prophecy that if his daughter Ethlin has a child, that child will one day kill him. He walls his daughter in a tower on the headland attended only by women with strict orders never to admit any men. But Balor doesn’t count on the cunning of the secretive hag, Birog, or young Cian – keeper of the Grey Kye, greatest of all the cattle in the field. As the story builds towards its dramatic and poignant conclusion, the possibility of a new horizon begins to emerge.

Full of drama, humour and rich textures of story and music, The Twisting Field will stay in your imagination long after you’ve heard it. Join Amy Douglas, Shonaleigh, Nick Hennessey and Simon Heywood for a night of ‘adult storytelling at its best’ (Andy Harrop-Smith, Festival at the Edge)

The Story

The Twisting Field tells the story of Lugh Lamfhota’s birth. Balor, King of the Fomorians, hears a prophecy that if his daughter Ethlin has a child, that child will one day kill him. He walls his daughter, still a young girl, in a tower on the headland attended only by women with strict orders never to admit any men. But Balor doesn’t count on the cunning of the secretive hag, Birog, or young Cian – keeper of the Grey Kye, greatest of all the cattle in the field. As the years turn and the story twists and turns towards a dramatic and poignant conclusion, the possibility of new horizons begin to emerge.

The Twisting Field is based on a cycle of stories from Irish mythology based around the exploits of Lugh Lamfhota. These stories have been told orally for centuries and were recorded by Christian monks in around the 11th Century in a series of manuscripts now housed in various libraries in Ireland and elsewhere. The story of Lugh’s birth is a 19th Century folktale which fills in a gap in the manuscript stories. As a folktale, it exists in various versions with quite radically different perspectives on how Lugh came to be born. In creating The Twisting Field, these four storytellers have drawn from various source stories as well as their own longstanding knowledge of mythology and this story in particular.

Threaded around the story are a sequence of eleven songs which give a different perspective on the characters and their stories. Sung by all four of the storytellers, in solos, duos, trios and quartets, accompanied on harp, guitar and whistle, the songs open up new perspectives on the actions and emotions of this atmospheric story.

The Songs

Balor   (The Prophecy)

I am the end of every line:
I am the end of talk and fever:
I close the lids, and teach the truth
Once and for all, in full, forever.
To waking sick and worried well:
To those who bathe in true love’s blessing:
To those who work and watch alone
I teach at last the one true lesson.
I am the ease of every pain;
In me alone you sleep contented;
And I hold you to your bed of rest
And slide you floorwards when sleep’s ended;
Ah but for me you’d float away;
I keep you this end of your tether;
For ah how your wings would burn like wax
Up in the bright unburdened weather.
I waive all debts, all good and bad:
Terror betimes when bonds are breaking;
and A friend betimes when bonds are broke;
But still I come, no bargains making:
I am beyond all love and pride;
I fear no pain, I seek no pleasure;
For all I am is what must be,
All in due course and subtle measure.
I teach the measure of all things:
The world yawns wide, the grave is narrow:
And look, you fit, and cease to fret,
And know all things, and shrug off sorrow;
I am the lord of all that lives:
I am the host, the guest and waiter;
So walk awhile upon the shore:Goodnight, sweet prince: we shall meet later.

The Grey Kye  (Softly, Softly)

Softly, softly the grey kye is calling;
Softly, softly the dew falls down;
Softly,  softly she stirs the curtains
Of all the houses of all the town.
“Once I was elms and once I was eagles,
I was shoals in the shining sea;
I was wolves and the white stars’ silence;
Now I’m the boast of brash Barbary.
“Once my breast was the white mountain water;
Once my brow was the half-crown moon;
Once my eye was the star of the morning;
Now I starve on the end of a chain.
“Remember, love, when we were children?
Remember, love, when we were nine?
You gave your word in the long white winter;
You took it back in the summer time.”
“Remember, love, when we were children?
Remember, love, when we were ten?
I gave my word in the long white winter;
I’ll give my life in the new spring rain.”
Softly, softly the grey kye is calling;
Softly, softly the dew falls down,
Softly, softly the footsteps measure
The empty road on the edge of town.

The Driving of the Kye

Farewell I call to hearth and hall, farewell to fleet and fire.
Farewell to every friend and fere, for empty stands the byre.
And barren stands the stall, good man, and barren too go I,
And all the world is weeping for the driving of the kye.

And in some ancient springtime stood the kye that breathed so sweet.
The flowers of all the meadowlands grew thick about her feet.
And earth and sea were bread and wine before the world was marred.
All awash with milk and honey-mead lay all of this middle yard.

And oft as I lay dreaming I heard horns upon the hill,
Cascading down over heath and stone like white rains in the ghyll.
They rang out across the darkened earth and sounded through the sky,
But all I heard at morning was the lowing of the kye.

So hands and feet grow weary now and eyes grow weak and dim,
And strength be brought to ruin now, if courage but stay in.
And let the world still call me fool, no higher name will I,
If I but stand amongst them at the driving of the kye.

Farewell I call to hearth and hall, farewell to fleet and fire.
Farewell to every friend and fere, for empty stands the byre.
And barren stands the stall, good man, and barren too go I,
And all the world is weeping for the driving of the kye.

Walking all Night

Walking all night, till the early morning light,
Walking around on my own,
Walking all day till my feet are worn away
And I’m walking on the ankle of my bone.

Your good word never did me any good,
Your bad won’t do me any harm,
Just give me a job and a white wage of money
Just to keep my poor body fed and warm.

And I’m tired, and I’m tired, and I’m tired and I’m weary,
I would tell you for why,
For fools go to glory past the graves and the gutters
Where the good men and women lie.

Your good word never did me any good
Your bad won’t do me any harm,
Just give me a job and a white wage of money
Just to keep my poor body fed and warm.

But strange things happen in the watches of the night,
You never know who might send.
And the man you mock in the broad daylight
Well he might come looking for a friend.

© Simon Heywood 2001

The Artists

Click here to see an interview with Simon Heywood,
originator of The Twisting Field

Shonaleigh is a Drut’syla, a storyteller from the Yiddish tradition. She is from a Dutch-Jewish family with a strong tradition of storytelling and one of the foremost tellers of stories on the British scene. ‘Once you’ve heard your aged Jewish grandmother who survived the Holocaust – tell a tale that can make you believe there’s still magic, there’s no going back’.  Shonaleigh trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama followed by eight years as a professional actress and vocalist working in television, film, mainstream and fringe theatre. The influences that drew her back to storytelling were diverse, from the memory of her grandmother’s stories, to her desire to no longer be a dancing tomato on stage! Shonaleigh has been a professional storyteller since 1996 and has a repertoire of over three thousand stories which can be included or adapted as appropriate for any theme or audience with whom she is working.

In 1999, Shonaleigh put together the group Tashbain, because 'nobody was doing anything like it, putting music and story together. They’ve gone together in the synagogue and Yiddish theatre for a long time’.  Since then she has continued to involve musicians in her storytelling, right up to her latest piece, Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto, which was premiered at the Hay on Wye Literature Festival in 2006 and features clarinet, violin and percussion alongside a dramatic blend of real life and traditional stories set in the Warsaw Ghetto.  Shonaleigh is also a member of Cavelation, a storytelling and music duo with Simon Heywood which made it’s premiere at the Cardiff Millennium Centre in September 2006

www.shonaleigh.co.uk

Nick Hennessey is a harper and wordsmith particularly drawn to the stories, ballads and music of Northern Europe.  As a child he was inspired by a love of music and the stories of Alderley Edge, the sleeping king and a mysterious guide who leads the way through Iron Gates deep into the heart of the hill. In the mid-90s these passions combined and as a powerful performer, Nick forges and twists together the song, the poem, the note and the spoken word into a bridge broad enough for all. As both a singer and storyteller his interest is to bring out the song in the story and the story in the song, something that has taken him to West Russia to research epic songs of the Finno-Ugric people and to Finland where he won the 2000 World Championships in Kalevala epic-singing, the only international entrant ever to do so.

Nick’s latest CD release is A Rare Hunger, featuring songs he has written himself, some which are traditional and three written by others, including one from The Twisting Field. His latest solo story is ‘The Ruined House of Skin’ premiered at the Leek Arts Festival and subsequently performed at the Barbican Festival. Amongst his repertoire of stories is The Kalevala, epic mythology comprised of stories up to 5,000 years old, stories of creation, the birth of song, origin of fire, all unfolding in an ancient world rich in spirits of forest, sea and sky.

www.nickhennessey.co.uk

Amy Douglas had a passion for traditional stories and storytelling from an early age, delving deep into the folklore of Britain, particularly that of her home, Shropshire, revelling in tales of the strange and macabre; memories of magic and otherworlds; proud recollections of folk history; stories to make you  smile, sigh or shiver.  At 14, she became a founder member of ‘Tales at the Edge’, one of the first modern-day storytelling clubs in England.  At 16 she was part of the team that launched ‘Festival at the Edge’, the first English storytelling festival of its kind.  At 19, she was chosen as the first West Midland Arts storytelling apprentice and spent a year studying storytelling with professional storytellers throughout Britain and in the US.  During this year she first worked with Scottish traveller and storytelling legend, Duncan Williamson, the beginning of a much longer apprenticeship and friendship!

Amy became a full-time professional storyteller in 1999.  Since then she has performed in Britain, Europe, the U.S. and Canada at venues including schools, libraries, arts centers, museums, pubs, clubs and storytelling, literature and folk festivals.  She is a founder member of Ellesmere storytelling club and served two years on the board of directors for the National Society for Storytelling in England and Wales. Amy was the first artist in residence for the National Trust in the West Midlands.  She now works extensively with the Countryside Service on site specific projects, celebrating local communities, their stories and recollections and that magical connection between the land, story and the people who live there.

www.amydouglas.com

Simon Heywood was first bitten by the folk bug in his teens, playing floor spots at Market Deeping Folk Club and sitting in with the Waggonload of Monkeys Ceilidh Band.  He played with numerous bands leading up to and during completing his PhD on contemporary storytelling at Sheffield University’s National Centre for English Cultural Tradition in 2001. He currently lectures in folklore, storytelling and creative writing at Derby University, while also performing as a solo storyteller and musician. His songs and tunes have been recorded by a growing number of bands and storytellers as well as being shouted raucously during ant-war protests and on national No-Shop Day.

Simon wrote the music and lyrics for The Twisting Field in 2001 and it was premiered at Festival at the Edge that year to much acclaim. The piece was conceived as part one in a trilogy of song cycles about Lugh, ‘Light of the Long Hand’ and he is planning to work with Nick Hennessey on the second piece in the trilogy, The Middle Yard, in 2007.

The Pictures

Photographs: Robert Day
Taken at the VoiceBox, Derby, UK
www.voiceboxuk.com

The Team

The following people have worked with the storytellers to help prepare this national tour of The Twisting Field.

Director: Rebecca Gould

Rebecca is Associate Director at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth. For them she has recently directed the Ghanaian play ‘The Marriage of Anansewa’. For the British Council in Kolkata, India she also recently directed a young people’s New Writing Festival. As an Education Associate at the National Theatre, she recently directed ‘The Wonderful Life and Miserable Death of Renowned Magician Doctor Faustus’ for children at the Cottesloe. Previously Rebecca was Associate Director at Made in Wales Stage Company, Cardiff, Education Director at the English Shakespeare Company and director of a cabaret company ‘The International Festival of Lilliput’. A longterm storytelling fan she was lucky for a short time to produce the Storytelling Festival at the National Theatre. Currently Rebecca is developing a new musical for Made in Wales and a new adaptation of the Rabrindranath Tagore play ‘The Post Office’.

Music Adviser: David Lawrence

David Lawrence is one of the UK's most versatile choral conductors and currently holds the posts of Choir Leader of the City of Birmingham Young Voices, Musical Director of the Northern Sinfonia's Quay Voices, Associate Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, and is a regular guest chorusmaster of the Netherlands Radio Choir. He has particular experience in the world of contemporary music, having prepared and conducted first performances of works by a host of composers, including Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Graham Fitkin, James Wood, Bob Chilcott and Stanley Glasser. His work has taken him to India, Canada, Australia, South America and twelve European countries. David is a popular leader of choral workshops with the UK’s choral organisations and has adjudicated at international choral festivals as well as for the BBC Choir of the Year competition. He conducts live broadcasts for both BBC and ITV. As Principal Conductor of Young Voices David directs massed voices in an annual series of rock concerts, with some choirs incorporating over 8,000 singers, and consequently holds the Guinness World Record for conducting the UK's largest choir.

Designer: Carl Davies

Carl Davies graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2004 and has since worked extensively throughout England and Wales. He was a finalist in the Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design 2005. Carl is currently working with Living Theatre Company on an adaptation of Hansel and Gretel which will tour Wales and Dubai. Carl’s recent design credits include the WNO’s Candide at the Wales Millennium Centre, The Marriage of Anansewa with Theatre Royal Plymouth (Ghana Tour), Richard III and Canterbury Tales with Mappa Mundi Theatre Company, Alice in Wonderland, The Borrowers, Kes and Stig of the Dump with the Courtyard Theatre, Hereford, Beyond Words, Halt Who Goes There and Action to the Word with Theatr na-nO’g. Up coming projects include Beyond Words 2, The Bankrupt Bride and Big Bad Wolf with Theatr na-nO’g, Moll Flanders with Mappa Mundi Theatre Company. Carl occasionally likes to run away with the circus, designing and making costume for No Fit State on their recent European Tour of Immortal.

Tour Dates

Friday 27 October 2006, 7.30pm
Off the Shelf Literature Festival, Sheffield
The Lantern Theatre, Kenwood Park, S7 1DN
Tickets £5 (£4 concessions)
From Sheffield Theatres Box Office 0114 249 6000

Saturday 4 November 2006, 8.00pm
Word of Mouth Storytelling at the RNCM
Royal Northern College of Music, Oxford Road, Manchester
Tickets £8 (£5 concessions)
From RNCM Box Office only: 0161 907 5555
box.office@rncm.ac.uk

Wednesday 15 November 2006, 7.30pm
Lincolnshire Rural and Community Touring
Wickenby Broadbent Theatre,LN3 5AW
Tickets £6 (£4.50 concessions)
Tel: 01673 885500
box.office@broadbent.org
www.broadbent.org

Thursday 16 November 2006, 7.30pm
Centre Stage Rural Touring, Leicestershire
Coalville Century Theatre
Snibston Discovery Park, Ashby Road, Coalville
Tickets £5 (£4 concessions)
Tel: 01530 411767/278444

Friday 17 November 2006, 7.30pm
Lincolnshire Rural and Community Touring
West Ashby All Saints Church, LN9 5PT
All Tickets £6
Tel: 01507 523550

Saturday 18 November 2006 , 8.00pm
Lincolnshire Rural and Community Touring
Castle Bytham Village Hall, NG33 4RZ
Tel: 01780 410421

Friday 24 November 2006, 8.00pm
Shaggy Dog Storytellers present Tales from the Wharf
Stubbing Wharf Pub, King Street, Hebden Bridge
Tickets £5.00 waged £4.00 unwaged (discount of £1 for members.)
Available on the Door only

Saturday 2 December 2006, 8.00pm
Hay Festival Winter Weekend
Drill Hall, Lion Street, Hay
Tickets £6
From 0870 990 1299
Or online at www.hayfestival.com

Wednesday 24 January 2007, 8.00pm
mac (Midlands Arts Centre)
Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham
Tickets £7 full, £5 concessions
from 0121 440 3838
Website

Thursday 25 January 2007, 7.30pm
SpArC Centre, Bishops Castle
Tickets £5 in advance (£3 concessions), £6 on the door
from 01588 630243

Thursday 15 February 2007, 7.30pm
Armathwaite Old School Hall
Armathwaite, Cumbria
Tickets £6
from 016974 72383

Friday 16 February 2007, 7.30pm
Whorlton Village Hall
Barnard Castle, County Durham
Tickets £5
from 01833 627419

Saturday 17 February 2007, 7.30pm
St John’s Chapel Town Hall
Bishop Auckland, County Durham
Tickets £5 full price, £3.50 concessions
from 01388 537680

Saturday 10 March, 2007, 7:30pm
National Centre for Early Music
Part of York Literature Festival
Supported by Read Write York
St Margaret's Church, Walmgate, York
YO1 9TL
Tickets: £6 adults £4 concessions
Ticket Office:01904 658338
Email boxoffice@ncem.co.uk

Span Arts presents
Thursday 26 April, 7.30pm
The Queens Hall, High Street, Narberth
Pembrokeshire
Tickets £9 (£7 concessions)
From Span Arts: 01834 869323
www.span-arts.org.uk

Saturday 28 April, 8pm
Voodoo Lounge
Exeter Phoenix
Bradninch Place, Gandy St, EX4 3LS
Tickets: £8 (£6 concessions)
Box Office - 01392 667080
www.exeterphoenix.org.uk

Thursday 3 May, 8pm
The Sage Gateshead
St Mary's Square, Gateshead Quays
Tickets: £7 (£5 seniors, £3.50 concs)
Ticket Office 0191 443 4661
Or visit www.thesagegateshead.org

Wednesday 16 May, 8pm
Cambridge Storytellers
St Andrew’s Hall, Cambridge
St Andrew’s Road, Chesterton, CB4 1DH
Tickets: £5 (£3 concessions)
Box Office – 01223 510756

Thurs 17 May, 2pm – 4pm
Richard Attenborough Centre
‘Telling a Story’ workshop, with Shonaleigh
Box Office 0116 252 2455

Thurs 17 May, 7.30pm
Richard Attenborough Centre
University of Leicester
Lancaster Road, LE1 9HN
Tickets £7 (£5 concessions)
Box Office 0116 252 2455
Minicom 0116 223 1520
Email: racentre@le.ac.uk

Friday 18 May, 7.30pm
Otley Courthouse
Courthouse St, Otley, LS21 3AN
Tickets £8/£6 in advance
Or £9/£7 on the door
Box Office Tel: 01943 467466
Box Office is open 10am – 4pm Tues to Sat
www.courthouseproject.org.uk

Saturday 19 May, 10am – 12noon
Storytelling Workshop for the Family, with Amy Douglas
Otley Courthouse, Courthouse Street
Tickets £5 or £4 if bought in combination with Twisting Field tickets
Box Office Tel: 01943 467466

Sunday 20 May, 7.30pm
Cartmel Village Hall