Woven Bones

Take a step through time and walk in the shoes of the Scottish soldiers who became Durham’s darkest secret.

Laura Lindow has written a powerful and poignant piece which transports the audience back into 17^th century Scotland and brings alive the heart-breaking tale of local lads who were conscripted to fight against Cromwell’s English army and their families they were forced to leave behind.  Based on the archaeological findings at Durham Palace Library, and using the forensic evidence which helped to establish the soldiers’ lifestyle, Woven Bones is clever, witty and captivating.  Taking the audience back from the initial discovery of the remains to the childhood of one of the soldiers, we follow his story as he leaves the Western highlands and walks down the length of the country, finally ending up at the battle of Dunbar.  From here, our soldier is captured and becomes a prisoner of war, marched further south and held captive with thousands others in Durham Cathedral.  Luckily, he was one of very few who survived and ended up leaving these shores for a new life in a New World.

The cast, Greig Adam, Paula Penman and Gemma Stroyan are brilliantly inventive, providing everything from the soundscape of building work right through to becoming archaeologists providing the science behind the soldier’s story.  They very quickly draw you into the world of Scottish families in the mid 1600’s with a blend of humour and pathos.  Director Brad McCormick keeps the intensity high, made all the more claustrophobic by Katie Doherty’s ambient soundtrack, while Anna Reid’s design is impressive in its simplicity.

If you have been to see the Bodies of Evidence exhibition at Durham Palace Library then Cap-a-Pie's Woven Bones is a brilliant companion to the whole story.  Laura Lindow has once again written a piece of theatre which transcends time and cultures and, by ensuring that it’s not just the story of the soldiers but also their families we cannot ignore that each set of bones found represents a life amongst lives.

Woven Bones is on tour in June and July - check out the Cap-a-Pie website for more details:

http://www.cap-a-pie.co.uk/woven-bones/

29th June, The Maltings, Berwick
3rd July. The Customs House, South Shields
5th July, Arts Centre Washington
6th & 7th July, Gala Theatre, Durham

This IS Elvis

It’s hard to think that the legend that is Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and one of the most iconic and recognisable voices ever to have graced the airwaves, could have been so close to quitting music performing for good.  It was after a gruelling run of movie productions in which Elvis’ role was diluted to, as he put it, “Sing a bit, hit the bad guy, get the girl” that Presley, in a stew of insecurity and self doubt, decided that he could no longer perform to his roots of live performing.  He’d been away from chart music for 8 years in which time the British invasion had taken America by storm, hippy and surf music had become the West Coast soundtrack and many were proclaiming Rock ‘n’ Roll was dead.

Persuaded by TV Producer Bob Finkel to make a TV special (developing an original idea by Presley’s manager Colonel Parker that he should make a Christmas show) Elvis began recording over 4 hours of material which would later be distilled down into the 50 minute special and broadcast on December 3^rd.  The impact was worldwide with Presley’s recordings rocketing into the charts and calls for him to perform following long and hard from all corners of the globe.

At this point, Colonel Parker (whose motives were often very selfish in seeing how much he could personally make from Presley) signed Elvis up to 3 seasons at a brand-new hotel The International on the Las Vegas strip.  Once again, Presley’s insecurities resurfaced, especially when he thought of the alumni who performed regularly at the Nevada hotspots but he battled through and thus his Vegas show legend was born.

This show, produced by Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansfield is a replay of these two pivotal shows in the Elvis flightpath to immortality.  Steve Michaels IS Elvis; he isn’t playing Elvis, he isn’t impersonating Elvis, he doesn’t have an uncanny passing resemblance to Elvis – he IS Elvis.  To be convinced of just how good Steve’s performances are, find out the two live shows on YouTube and be prepared to have the hairs on your arms stand up.  The live shows have all of Elvis’ power and style but still show some of his ring rustiness that was later polished from years of Vegas headlining – Michaels' performance, his style, his looks and of course, his voice (not jsut singing but while talking too) captures all of this and makes it, and him, the best EVER Elvis since Elvis.

This is not a journey show, it doesn’t have much dialogue outside of setting up the two performances, nor does it chart Elvis’ life at this time save for his initial reluctance to play such high profile shows with no warm up tour but for any fan of Elvis Presley there is no better show to see.  Steve Michaels is able to bring the intimate, fun loving Elvis seen on the ‘68 TV special and then explode into the Vegas show king, complete with brilliant set, band and backing singers.  Personal favourites are Burning Love and the hypnotic Suspicious Minds, guaranteed to get everyone up dancing and singing.

This is Elvis is on at Darlington Hippodrome until Saturday 30th June and is a brilliant way to grab a break from the heat (and the football).

Bodies of Evidence @ Durham Palace Green

Have you ever watched Time Team on TV and wondered just what happens after they’ve made a discovery ?  Have you ever watched Bones and been puzzled about the science behind the show ?  Have you ever wanted to know what has made Durham City such a rich and diverse place in the country’s history ?  Well, there’s a new exhibition on at the Durham Cathedral Palace Library that will not only answer a lot of those questions, but will inform, entertain and leave you in awe of the science and history behind an amazing discovery.

Bodies of Evidence is the stunning new experience which charts the history of a group of Scottish soldiers, captured by Oliver Cromwell and marched from Dunbar in the Scottish borders all the way to Durham Cathedral.   Not only are we taken through the timeline of their march, what they ate, where their slept, how many actually made it alive, but perhaps even more fascinating we are also shown what happened to some of them afterwards and where they ended up.

Split into 3 main areas, the exhibition is a walkthrough experience taking in Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Science and uses exhibits, video, interaction and hands on activities to immerse visitors into a period of history that is rooted in the Civil War.  Drawing on world leading experts and using ground breaking techniques, the story of the soldiers comes alive, not just a few pages in a history book but people with families, beliefs, passions, troubles and hopes.

First is the story of how the soldiers were discovered.  From the initial uncovering of the remains (which were exposed during work to renovate the café), an archaeological investigation was set up to establish exactly who they were and to tie them into known history.  These Scottish soldiers were captured at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 and, after a period of incarceration, marched down the 110 miles to Durham where they were held in the Cathedral.   Most of these soldiers were taken from small farmsteads in Scotland by generals loyal to King Charles and forced to fight Cromwell’s armies all across the borders.  Many were the younger sons (the older ones being kept on the farm to continue working the land) and as such there were often ‘Sliding Door’ moments separating families simply by letting one son leave and one stay.  Professor Chris Gerrard, Durham University Department of Archaeology has led this fascinating exploration and brought to life their stories.

The next part investigates what happened to those soldiers who survived the march and imprisonment – soldiers were sent to work in linen factories on Tyneside, down to Lincolnshire to dig clearing ditches for the Fens, over to France to support English troops and, perhaps most amazing, over to the East Coast of the US to clear forests and work the land for the early settlers.  Bearing in mind that this was the late 1600’s, this would have been an amazing wrench for the young Scottish men and yet they didn’t just survive, they thrived.  It is estimated that there are now over 500,000 people in Eastern US who are descendants of the initial Scottish soldiers and here visitors are treated to videos from some of the families who have been traced.

The 3^rd part takes visitors through the science behind understanding the anthropology of the remains, who they were, what they ate, how they lived as well as an amazing facial reconstruction of one of the soldiers.  Created and reconstructed by Prof Charlotte Roberts, one of the world’s leading palaeopathologists, bioarchaeologist and an expert in understanding people’s interactions with their environment, this is no dry science lesson;  Charlotte’s displays bring to life the painstaking steps taken to providing understanding of our ancestors, our evolution and how lifestyle and environment change how we develop, our health and ultimately our demise. 

Bodies of Evidence - How Science unearthed Durham's Dark Secret, is a wonderful walk through the history and science and is perfect for the casual visitor as well as the passionate history buff and will definitely leave you wanting to learn more.  It will be revered throughout the UK and beyond as a pivotal display of how to blend 3 branches of human science and create a seamless understanding of cause and effect.

For more information go to https://www.dur.ac.uk/palace.green/whatson/events/

For specific information on some of the family events, please go to

https://www.dur.ac.uk/palace.green/whatson/details/?id=38395

https://www.dur.ac.uk/palace.green/whatson/details/?id=38398