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National Tour 2006 - 2007

The Artists

Click here to see an interview with Simon Heywood,
originator of The Twisting Field

Shonaleigh is a Drut’syla, a storyteller from the Yiddish tradition. She is from a Dutch-Jewish family with a strong tradition of storytelling and one of the foremost tellers of stories on the British scene. ‘Once you’ve heard your aged Jewish grandmother who survived the Holocaust – tell a tale that can make you believe there’s still magic, there’s no going back’.  Shonaleigh trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama followed by eight years as a professional actress and vocalist working in television, film, mainstream and fringe theatre. The influences that drew her back to storytelling were diverse, from the memory of her grandmother’s stories, to her desire to no longer be a dancing tomato on stage! Shonaleigh has been a professional storyteller since 1996 and has a repertoire of over three thousand stories which can be included or adapted as appropriate for any theme or audience with whom she is working.

In 1999, Shonaleigh put together the group Tashbain, because 'nobody was doing anything like it, putting music and story together. They’ve gone together in the synagogue and Yiddish theatre for a long time’.  Since then she has continued to involve musicians in her storytelling, right up to her latest piece, Fool of the Warsaw Ghetto, which was premiered at the Hay on Wye Literature Festival in 2006 and features clarinet, violin and percussion alongside a dramatic blend of real life and traditional stories set in the Warsaw Ghetto.  Shonaleigh is also a member of Cavelation, a storytelling and music duo with Simon Heywood which made it’s premiere at the Cardiff Millennium Centre in September 2006

www.shonaleigh.co.uk

Nick Hennessey is a harper and wordsmith particularly drawn to the stories, ballads and music of Northern Europe.  As a child he was inspired by a love of music and the stories of Alderley Edge, the sleeping king and a mysterious guide who leads the way through Iron Gates deep into the heart of the hill. In the mid-90s these passions combined and as a powerful performer, Nick forges and twists together the song, the poem, the note and the spoken word into a bridge broad enough for all. As both a singer and storyteller his interest is to bring out the song in the story and the story in the song, something that has taken him to West Russia to research epic songs of the Finno-Ugric people and to Finland where he won the 2000 World Championships in Kalevala epic-singing, the only international entrant ever to do so. 

Nick’s latest CD release is A Rare Hunger, featuring songs he has written himself, some which are traditional and three written by others, including one from The Twisting Field. His latest solo story is ‘The Ruined House of Skin’ premiered at the Leek Arts Festival and subsequently performed at the Barbican Festival. Amongst his repertoire of stories is The Kalevala, epic mythology comprised of stories up to 5,000 years old, stories of creation, the birth of song, origin of fire, all unfolding in an ancient world rich in spirits of forest, sea and sky.

www.nickhennessey.co.uk
 

Amy Douglas had a passion for traditional stories and storytelling from an early age, delving deep into the folklore of Britain, particularly that of her home, Shropshire, revelling in tales of the strange and macabre; memories of magic and otherworlds; proud recollections of folk history; stories to make you  smile, sigh or shiver.  At 14, she became a founder member of ‘Tales at the Edge’, one of the first modern-day storytelling clubs in England.  At 16 she was part of the team that launched ‘Festival at the Edge’, the first English storytelling festival of its kind.  At 19, she was chosen as the first West Midland Arts storytelling apprentice and spent a year studying storytelling with professional storytellers throughout Britain and in the US.  During this year she first worked with Scottish traveller and storytelling legend, Duncan Williamson, the beginning of a much longer apprenticeship and friendship!

Amy became a full-time professional storyteller in 1999.  Since then she has performed in Britain, Europe, the U.S. and Canada at venues including schools, libraries, arts centers, museums, pubs, clubs and storytelling, literature and folk festivals.  She is a founder member of Ellesmere storytelling club and served two years on the board of directors for the National Society for Storytelling in England and Wales. Amy was the first artist in residence for the National Trust in the West Midlands.  She now works extensively with the Countryside Service on site specific projects, celebrating local communities, their stories and recollections and that magical connection between the land, story and the people who live there. 

www.amydouglas.com

Simon Heywood was first bitten by the folk bug in his teens, playing floor spots at Market Deeping Folk Club and sitting in with the Waggonload of Monkeys Ceilidh Band.  He played with numerous bands leading up to and during completing his PhD on contemporary storytelling at Sheffield University’s National Centre for English Cultural Tradition in 2001. He currently lectures in folklore, storytelling and creative writing at Derby University, while also performing as a solo storyteller and musician. His songs and tunes have been recorded by a growing number of bands and storytellers as well as being shouted raucously during ant-war protests and on national No-Shop Day. 

Simon wrote the music and lyrics for The Twisting Field in 2001 and it was premiered at Festival at the Edge that year to much acclaim. The piece was conceived as part one in a trilogy of song cycles about Lugh, ‘Light of the Long Hand’ and he is planning to work with Nick Hennessey on the second piece in the trilogy, The Middle Yard, in 2007.