Shows

It's hard to say what constitutes a show and what doesn't. Here are a few words about one recent show, The Castle of Melvales at Dartington, and the flyers for a few of the storytellings we did back in the days before the truck, before Hedgespoken existed...

The Castle of Melvales

The Castle of Melvales by Rima Staines
The Castle of Melvales by Rima

I could tell you about the king’s sons – Valentine, Oliver and Jack, or about the king’s strange illness. I could tell you about the peculiar and hideous old men we encounter along the way. I could tell you about the Castle itself, and the ominous denizens of that strange and powerful place. Of course, I could tell you about the Golden Apples, I could tell you about bears and beheadings and adventures and queens and gypsies and all manner of excitements and curiosities…

The Castle of Melvales is based on a Welsh Gypsy story that I first came across a few years ago in a 19th century collection by Frances Groome, and then found again in Alan Garner’s (very fine) Book of British Fairy Tales. It is a peculiar tale, ringing with echoes of Parzival and wreathed with old magic.

It’s the journey of a young man who begins the tale as something of an idiot and ends it… Well, he ends it in style, with dancing – this much I can tell you without giving too much away. It’s gruesome in parts and defiantly transgressive in others. It’s suitable for all, so long as they don’t mind stampeding skeletal horses or a little bit of murder.

Old posters

Here are a few posters from older shows.

Poster for our show, Ivashko Medvedko (Little Ivan, Bear-Child) at the GalGael in Glasgow, 2012
Ivashko Medvedko (Little Ivan, Bear-Child) at the GalGael in Glasgow, 2012
 

Poster for our show, The Sun Princess and the Thirtieth Door, a Lithuanian folk-tale, in 2013

The Sun Princess and the Thirtieth Door, a Lithuanian folk-tale, 2013
 

poster for our show, Tales from the Wagon Steps, Devon, 2012

Tales from the Wagon Steps, Devon, 2012
 
A Feast of Fools - a Winter celebration in 2012
A Feast of Fools, Devon, 2012

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Praise for Hedgespoken

“A magical inspiration on wheels”

“Absolutely brilliant performance last evening.....storytelling at its very best!”

“Thank you for bringing a place like this into the world, a place for stories and music and pictures and magic and wonder. It brings joy to my heart knowing you’re here.”

“Absolutely amazing – thank you!”

“Utterly enchanting – I loved every minute.”

“My grandson will remember the magic of this night for the rest of his life.”

“Magic of a real, old, golden kind.”

“Oh! What suspense, what laughs, what horrors! Hedgespoken wove a tale of adventure and wonder tonight and we're full of it, can't stop talking about it.”