Small World Theatre Trail

Work with young people at Denmark Farm Ceredigion August 2008 3days workshops one day performance

 

Celtic bull 1 metre. Natural colours in Blackcurrant and blackberry mix pink Peat bog Dark brown, and terra cotta clay light brown, The off white is the natural cloth colour showing through

We were asked by The Shared Earth trust to come to Denmark Farm in Ceredigion and run a workshop for young people. The Idea was to create a some work so that the participants would improve skills in working together , communicating, leaning about aspects of nature and the environment through arts and performance. We used the nature trail, woodland and newly built roundhouse as stimuli to enable us to make a story environment that traveled through the board walk and into the woodland..

These two green man images were coloured with fresh fern leaves, peat and water mix as well as a bit of crushed bonfire charcoal. A giant bear was constructed out of logs and branches next to the Roundhouse near the end of our story trail. This used thinning's from the woodland and was the culminating focus for wild drumming as it was beaten with sticks every one of the 4 performances on the Sunday . An arch was similarly constructed and string spiders webs added. Later it was dressed with leaves and a huge cow bell hung on it. This was placed at the end of the board walk and marked the portal into a strange world of the past only glimpsed and heard whilst walking on the safety of the boardwalk.

Beyond here is a world of strange beings half human half animal

So on to meet the long fox the tribal half people and Herne the Hunter and the hunted. The audience enter the roundhouse to hear the tale of woe that only they can fix by beating a rhythm of the bear and freeing the trapped spirits. Coedewydd our walking story teller this woman of the trees a veritable Dryad leads them on to their " merciful task" and on back to the path into the now time..

4 times that day the participants joined Small World Theatre to create this fantasy walk in the woods for increasing large audiences of visitors to Denmark Farm's open day.

 

The Duck/fish Pictish symbol could be described as the British Ying Yang image

Two pots : the top one with Tregaron Peat and the Bottom one with blackcurrants and blackberries.

The colouring of the cloth was an eperiment in using natural elkements that were to hand and staining the cloth. We did not expect these hangings to survive in any weater and fully expext them to degarade without any mordents or fixative. They may even ferment or go moldy who knows they may not, lets see .

The group: Three of whom heroically joined us on the day