A Sleepwalk on the Severn in Gloucestershire

Until 10 July – See Alice Oswald’s River Severn-inspired poem depicted live on stage, during the A Sleepwalk on the Severn tour across Gloucestershire.

Gloucestershire arts lovers will be in for a real treat this summer, when the dramatisation of a new poem celebrating the power, beauty and mystery of the River Severn – by renowned poet Alice Oswald – takes to venues across the county.

A Sleepwalk on the Severn has been set to voices and music by Stroud-based theatre group Taurus Voice, in addition to music by Pete Rosser, using five actors to bring the piece to life.

Organisers say the poem is a powerful evocation of the spirit of the moon in its different phases as it rises above the river, and the effect it has on the people living there, both living and dead, and is based on real characters.

The five actors, Eleanor Holliday, Penelope Wildgoose, Phillippa Williams, Jack Robson and Paul Southcott, portray the ever changing gallery of voices, spoken and sung, within the poem.

Audiences meet the narrator in the form of the ‘dream secretary’, the recurring character of a bird watcher who flags up the beginning of each lunar phase, the voices of the drowned, the wind, the trees and the moon in all its guises, from a beautiful young girl to an aged crone.

After watching the dress rehearsal in Stroud, Alice Oswald said: ‘I think it’s brilliant. I was very impressed by the way the rhythms of my words were translated into song whilst remaining faithful to the original text. I was very touched.’

‘This is not a play. This is a poem in several registers, set at night on the Severn Estuary. Its subject is moonrise, which happens five times in five different forms: new moon, half moon, full moon, no moon and moon reborn. Various characters, some living, some dead, all based on real people from the Severn catchment, talk towards the moment of moonrise and are changed by it. The poem aims to record what happens when the moon moves over us – its effect on water and its effect on voices.’

Forming part of the wider Severn Project 2009, A Sleepwalk on the Severn is sure to provide county culture vultures with an unusual fix of live entertainment.

Scheduled Gloucestershire performances are as follows:

Friday 15 May 2009
Under the Edge Arts at 8pm. Tickets available by calling 07791 323869.

Saturday 16 May 2009
Sheepscombe Village Hall near Gloucester at 8pm. Tickets available by calling (01452) 812654.

Friday 22 May 2009
Duntisbourne Abbots Village Hall near Cirencester at 8pm.

Friday 29 May 2009
The Grange, Newnham-on-Severn at 8pm.

Saturday 30 May 2009
Horsley Village Hall, Nailsworth at 8pm. Tickets are available on the door.

Saturday 6 June 2009
Dumbleton Village Hall, Tewkesbury at 8pm. Tickets cost £5 to £7 and available from Dumbleton Hall Hotel, the village shop or on the door.

Friday 19 June 2009
Roses Theatre at 7.30pm. Tickets available by calling (01684) 295074 or visiting rosestheatre.org directly.

Friday 26 June 2009
Taurus Crafts at 5pm and 8pm. Tickets available by calling (01594) 844841.

Thursday 2 July 2009
The Cotswold Playhouse at 7.30pm. Tickets available by calling (01453) 760960.

Friday 3 July 2009
At the Coleford Festival of Words at 8pm. Tickets available by calling 07766 182667.

Friday 10 July 2009
Horsley Village Hall. Tickets available by calling (01453) 762361.

Event: A Sleepwalk on the Severn
Venue: The tour will be taking in numerous venues. See above for more information.
Date: Numerous performances are scheduled to take place from Saturday 16 May to Friday 10 July 2009 in Gloucestershire
Times: Vary per event. See above for more information.
Tickets: Vary per event. Form more information and to book call (01452) 544065.

SoGlos.com
31 May 2009