Singing the old bones – new stories from ancient texts.
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Revisiting older stories can be a masterclass in narrative. Myths, fairystories, epics from Ancient Greek drama and the oral tradition survive as they seem to speak to each age anew. These archetypal characters and narratives inspire and invite constant reinvention, yet the old bones remain true. In this practical workshop we will retell, remake and renew, participants exploring individual perspectives on timeless themes, reshaping ancient tales to illuminate something contemporary. The tutor, Kaite, is a repeat re-teller, creating to date three very different performances on the story of Blodeuwedd from The Mabinogion, and a new version of Aeschylus’s Persians,the oldest verse drama in the Western tradition, which won The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry.
We ask participants to come with a myth, fable, ancient drama or story, which we will use to explore the fundamentals of story making: theme, structure, setting, dialogue and character. Through examples of Kaite’s diverse approaches to reinventing existing texts, we will make our own, sparking a new cycle of telling and retellings, seeding work which could be developed further beyond the masterclass.
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Workshop 2-5pm on 7th September 2019, £25.
Small World Theatre | Theatr Byd Bychan
Cardigan | Aberteifi, SA43 IJYBooking:
Numbers are limited and already almost sold out, but plans are afoot for a further workshop/event in November 2019 at the same venue. Further details will follow.
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After the workshop:
Launch of ‘Persians’ Kaite O’Reilly’s new version of Aeschylus’s classic verse drama. 6pm. Free entry.
Aeschylus was a soldier-playwright involved in the battle of Salamis in 480 BCE, when the vastly out-numbered Greeks defeated the might of the marauding Persian Empire. This exploration of the pity of war from the point of the view of the defeated is an extraordinary feat of compassion, and the oldest existing text in the Western theatrical canon. Kaite wrote her new version for Mike Pearson’s site-specific production on Ministry of defence land in the Brecon Beacons for National Theatre Wales’s inaugural year. Revised and reinvented, it won The Ted Hughes Award for New Works in Poetry and is published by Fairacre Press.
Kaite will read from the verse drama and speak about the historical and contemporary contexts of this extraordinary text. There will be a book signing after the reading and launch.
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“In her version of Europe’s oldest dramatic poem, a requiem to a nation’s dead in a reckless, fruitless war, Kaite O’Reilly chooses the iambic drumbeat of English blank verse, and a long-lined lyricism that befits an epic lament. The language is modern, the word-music timeless… In this powerful translation, the three voices of the Chorus tell the tragic story in a breathless song of mourning that insists on being heard….” Gillian Clarke.
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I will be making a ‘reveal’ of the cover and details of this publication after Easter… have a restful and creative time.
kaiteoreilly 