ONE of the country’s most popular touring theatre companies is at Feckenham village hall this Sunday (October 4) with a hilarious collection of stories in “A Wife or The Gallows…. And other Telling Tales”.
Performed by the versatile Northumberland Theatre Company the title may give the impression that it is a three hour tale of death and drama, but don’t judge a book by its cover.
The curtain opens to reveal proud Will Harden (played by David McCarthy) standing tall and refusing to marry the squire’s daughter (‘Muckle Mouthed Meg’ as she’s known).
He is given a day to decide so, while we wait, the hangman decides to tell a few stories….
And, for a hangman, he has a pretty good sense of humour. His light-hearted tales are full of comical misadventures and are performed with music, song and plenty of swashing and buckling.
The tales include ‘A Snowball in June’, ‘Mideside Maggie’s Bannock’, ‘The Adventures of Launcelot Errington and his Nephew Mark’ and other timeless classics, as well as stories from the working roots of the north – fishing, mining, farming and ship building.
In all it promises to be an evening of delight.
Director Gillian Hambleton said: “These five stories are a collection of tales, history and ballads of the Borders and Northumberland and are loosely based on Wilson’s Tales of the Borders and other traditional folk tales. We have woven them together to bring audiences an evening to delight, enchant and entertain with music, song and plenty of humour.”
The production has been brought to Redditch’s rural outpost by Shindig – the county’s performing arts scheme and the performance is sponsored by Arts Council England, Worcestershire County Council and Redditch Borough Council.
Tickets are £10 from the village shop and The Rose & Crown in Feckenham online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/feckenham or by phone on 0333 666 3366 and it’s curtain up at 7.30pm.
