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The Devils Violin  Daniel Morden & NewFolks

What is the show about?

The performance will present three stories collected from a Romany (Gypsy) family in North Wales in the 1920’s. These stories were part of their aural heritage and the stories had indeed travelled from the Balkans to Wales with the Romany people, being passed down aurally across the generations.

These three stories will be told, interspersed with pieces of gypsy style music on fiddle, accordion and cello. The instrumentalists will also play background music throughout the telling of stories, creating a soundtrack to the narrative and enhancing the mood, emotions and atmosphere of the story.

The stories are described by Daniel Morden as “tremendous tales of enchantment, mystery and danger. The result is very exciting. The stories are being performed in a style that is full of drama and passion. Our firsttwo performances were at Festival at the Edge in July. We got two standing ovations”.

What will the show be like?

The performance is very relaxed and throughout the tales, there is humour and occasional (non-cheesy and non-threatening!) audience participation. The musical interludes are up-beat and lively. The performers will ideally be very close to the audience, so that they feel that they are talking directly to them rather than ’performing’ to them.

Background to the performance

Fifteen years ago Daniel Morden came across a book called Gypsy Folk Tales, published in the 1920s. The stories were collected from the Wood family in North Wales by a Liverpudlian linguist named John Sampson. The Wood family were trilingual - they spoke Welsh, English and a very pure form of Romany that could be traced back to Sanskrit. Whilst he was much enamoured of the gypsy lifestyle, Sampson's principalfocus was on language rather than the content of the stories. Many of the tales began well, but then petered out, or morphed into an entirely different plot.They were transcribed as the tales were told. The language now seems antiquated. Here's an example Daniel gives:

"I go whither I go," quoth Jack. "Do thou remember to come here to these crossroads in a year and a day; and if thou arrive before me wait for me, and ifI arrive before thee,I will wait for thee, if I be alive"

Daniel now tells the stories in his own way, as storytellers always do. This has involved simplifying language,finding equivalent tales from elsewhere and embellishing sections of the original tales when they went into synopsis.

Daniel has now published a book 'Dark Tales from The Woods'which is a rewriting of this original book of collected stories. This will be available for sale at the performances.

What is storytelling?

This is a performance of storytelling with accompanying gypsy/Balkan style music. The story is not acted out in costume and there is no set, unlike a drama. However, the telling is just as passionate as any acting – it is certainly not like reading from a book. The stories are brought vividly to life through descriptions, facial expressions, gestures and tone of voice. The characters and the settings are then created in the imagination of the audience.

Who are the performers?

Daniel Morden is one of Britain’s foremost storytellers and toured many venues in Wales as part of The Sleeping King (December 2005) together with Hugh Lupton and Nick Hennessey. Daniel has been a professional storyteller since 1989 and has travelled to all parts of the world to perform, from the Arctic to the Pacific to the Caribbean.He regularly collaborates with the Education Departments of The Barbican Centre and The National Theatre. He has conceived and presented numerous documentaries on storytelling for BBC Radio Wales. His first book, ‘Weird Tales from the Storyteller’ was nominated for the Tir Na Nog Children's Book Prize. His most recentbook is'Dark Tales from The Woods'which is a rewriting of the original book of collected stories on which The Devil's Violin is based.

Oliver Wilson-Dickson tours internationally with the bands Szapora (which toured many venues in Wales in September 2005), Newfolks, The Tea Hodzic Trio and Mabon. In concert he has supported Bryn Tyrfyl, Jules Holland, Jamie Cullem and others. He has worked with the RSC, The Sherman Theatre and Theatre Iolo. He has recorded for BBC television and radio, S4C, HTV and film. He collaborates regularly with storyteller Daniel Morden and has appeared at The Royal Albert Hall, Buckingham Palace, The Wales Millenium Centre, The Purcell Room, The Barbican, St Davids Hall and other major venues.

Sarah Moody (www.sarahmoody.co.uk) is a musician/Music Director/composer working with theatre companies such as Kneehigh, The Nottingham Playhouse and Travelling Light. She has also co founded a music project with children in Uganda and works as a freelance artist doing educational projects with all ages.

Edward Jay has played with rock bands at Glastonbury and folkies at the Albert Hall! He has toured extensively both nationally and internationally with musicians and theatre companies. Past credits include The London Bubble Theatre Company, The American Drama group (touring Japan, Germany and the Czech Republic) and a major album for EMI. Eddy also leads workshops for TAPS and Live Music Now! and is in demand as a session player.

He has recently toured to Australia, New Zealand and the USA with Kneehigh.

Age Recommendation

Suitable for families with children 10 and over. Schools audiences should be upper primary/ lower secondary and no lower than year 5, preferably year 6 and above. Children slightly younger than 10 may also enjoy the performance, if they are used to attending ‘grown up’ performances, as they will have an adult with them to refer to during complex parts of the plot and console them during scary moments.

The age limit has been recommended solely due to the complexity of the story plots and slightly scary nature of one of the stories. There is no bad language or sexual references within the performance. 

Please note, this is NOT a children’s show or a ‘family’ show. The show is very suitable for an adult audience, with or without accompanying children. There is certainly nothing childish about the performance or presentation, merely that it is also suitable for families with older children.

Running time

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