While the Workshops and Pop-Up Cinema were completely free and open events, the evening’s entertainment always requires a little additional funding (for things like beer and marine flares!) to make it run smoothly. But in the words of Frank Zappa: “If we can’t be free at least we can be cheap!”
With this in mind we charged a measly £2 on the door… and just look what the price of a Findus Stable Pie (its like a Cottage Pie only with horse instead of cow) got you this time around…
Once again the evening took place in the shadow of Phlegm‘s mural. And once again it was MC’d by the incredibly talented Mr Tim Ralphs...
…with the amazing Mr Fox in charge of fire, light and magic…
Once Mr Fox had lit the fire-pit…
…which bathed the surrounding art-works in a warm, but eerie glow (sculpture by Adam Ogden)…
…and with the bar fully stocked (nice one Joie!)…
…we were joined by a strange, sheep-like, zombie creature…
…which seemed to scare Tim a bit…
Thankfully it turned out to be none other than Phil Sheppard…
…who enthralled us with his Zombie Sheep Apocalypse stories…
…and his Bi-Polar Bear song!
Next up we had an old favourite from part one of The Telling, Mr Tim Lee…
Who burnt a selection of personal documents (bank statements, job centre letters, etc) in defiance of the mediocrity of modern life and our enslavement to the money economy…
…before wooing us with his song.
Then it was the turn of a woman who can only be described as the nucleus of the Donny art scene, the utterly ‘salt of the earth’ Miss Rachel Horne…
And then the Foxes drummed again…
…before introducing the incredible storytelling talent of Shonaleigh…
…who took us to the darkest depths of the Cinderella story.
Our good friend Ian Walker also performed a set, which was sadly shorter than originally intended due to a sore throat (hope you’re feeling better Ian x).
Somewhere around this time, its hard to remember exactly when, we were treated to the creation of metal!..
Barney Harris finished his workshop in incredible style by producing a 2lb chunk of iron…
We were completely in awe of the process (geddit, ore?.. ‘awe’ sounds like ‘ore’, iron ore… oh forget it). Anyway, back to the Foxes…
After performing again Mr Fox introduced another amazingly talented storyteller, this time in the form of Simon Heywood…
And again the Foxes dance…
And again Tim Ralphs guided us through the night…
And we were utterly charmed…
…as Allegra Hawksmoor read for us…
And Sharron Kraus haunted us with tales sung from The Mabinogion.
Afterwards Allegra, this time joined by her partner from Vagrants Among Ruins Dylan Fox, treated us to readings from the fantastic ‘Journeys in the Winterlands’.
Then it was the turn of the incredible Luther King & Sonique Smith to captivate us with their drumming…
…before the Foxes danced again…
…and introduced the multi-award winning Mr Jon Boden…
…who not only treated us with tracks from his Dark Mountain-esqe ‘Songs from the Floodplain’ album, but proved his point about popular repertoire by getting people to join in with the chorus of his version of the Whitney Houston classic ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ (which alone was worth the £2 entrance fee!)…
Another old friend of The Telling, the Gypsy Princess herself Violet Cannon Jnr then braved the cold to captivate us all with another modern Gypsy tale…
The evening finished with a stunning performance from the Isle of Axholme’s finest, the magnificent Rita Payne (who I’m gutted not to have any photos of 😦 so if anyone’s got any please pass them on… and don’t forget to like their FaceBook page cuz they is really very good!) and another spectacular grand finale from Mr Fox…
Photo credits: Rod Jackson, John Fuller, Martin Pick, Steve Bates and Roger Lee.
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The Telling will return in April… in Sheffield!
(See below if you’d like to get involved with the next event.)
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The Telling was dreamed by Warren Draper after being enchanted by Tom Hirons, Rima Staines and Dougie Strang. Part Two was cobbled together by Warren Draper, Rachel Horne, Jon Nielsen, Abi Nielsen, Tim Ralphs, Iona Hine, Sarah Eykyn, John Briggs, Jack Richardson, Kala Shaplin, Cal Johnson, Steve Bates, Ben Russel, Ian Walker, Joie Rachel Caruthers, Tim Lee, Ben Pritchard, Mr Fox, The New Fringe, Doncaster Central Development Trust, Say Yes To Arts, PermaFuture, PixieWorks and the Dark Mountain Project.
The Telling is a grassroots, DIY, Open Source Arts creation, which means that we’d like you to help shape the next one. If you want to get involved please contact Warren Draper via email – warrendraper[at]gmail[dot]com – or Twitter – @warrendraper – or join The Telling group on the Dark Mountain uncivilisation ning for further information.
The Telling would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the artists who generously donated their time to make the second The Telling another wonderful event. Big hugs to visual artists – Phlegm, Abi Nielsen, Allie K Stewart, Daniele Othieno, Iona Hine and Rachel Horne. Slap-on-the-back hugs to the Pop-Up Cinema crew – Cal Johnson, Kala Shaplin and Warren Draper. Squeezey bear hugs too to our foodies – Joie Rachel Caruthers and Allegra Hawksmoor and to the bar staff Rachel Horne, Joie Rachel Caruthers and Sophie Bolton. Manly man hugs to the stage-setters & fire builders – ManClan (Jack Richardson, John Briggs, Steve Bates, Cal Johnson and Warren Draper) and Mearcstapa (Jack Richardson, Allie K Stewart, Daniele Othieno and Warren Draper). Cosy cuddles to our workshop hosts – Barney Harris, Abi Nielsen, Iona Hine, Simon Heywood, Jon Penney and Ben Pritchard – and of course to out performers – Phil Sheppard, Tim Ralphs, Rachel Horne, Shonaleigh, Simon Heywood, Jon Boden, Sharron Kraus, Ian Walker, Allegra Hawksmoor, Dylan Fox, Tim Lee, Violet Cannon Jnr, Luther King & Sonique Smith, Rita Payne and last but definitely not least the very incredible Mr Fox. Big love to all x
And an extra big hug to the Mearcstapa Stag… whoever you may be! 😉
for 'The Telling'... 