"Beowulf - A Thousand Years of Baggage", Bristol & Brighton, U.K.
May 17th - 19th
MayFest, Bristol, U.K.
Trinity Centre, Old Market
7:30 pm, Sat 2:00 pm
70 mins
+44 (0)117 987 7877
Joyfully raucous and silly… brings out the power and the colour of the legend.
- The New Yorker
- New York Times
A clever, funny and thoroughly exhilarating
take on the much-studied Old English poem, New York-based company,
Banana Bag and Bodice reclaim Beowulf from years of academic analysis
and return it to the raw and rousing style of Anglo-Saxon storytelling.
The tale of Beowulf and his battles with the monster Grendel and
Grendel’s vengeful mother is brought brilliantly up to date, with an
explosive seven-piece band whose musical language veers from Romantic
lieder, Weill-esque cabaret and 1940s jazz to punk and electronica.
Part lecture, part mead-hall romp, Beowulf – A Thousand Years of Baggage is an award-winning mix of reverence, provocation and satire that creates sharp, visceral and jubilant entertainment. It is a unique, beer-soaked celebration of monsters, heroes, battles and great music-making.
A SongPlay by Banana Bag & BodiceText and lyrics by Jason Craig
Music by Dave Malloy
Co-directors Rod Hipskind, Mallory Catlett
Lighting Design Miranda Hardy
Music Director Rick Burkhardt
Sound Design Charles Shell
Choreography Shaye Troha, Anna Ishida
Costume Design SF Bufoons and Enver Chakartash
Production Stage Manager Kelly Shaffer-Allen
Dramaturgy Mallory Catlett
Assistant Lighting Design Eileen Goddard
Light Board Operator Justin Paice
Additional Sound Crew Jesse Vengrove
Trombone Jen Baker, Andy Strain
Grendel/Academic 1 Jeremy Beck
Academic 3 Lisa Clair
Beowulf Jason Craig
Warrior Vocals Anna Ishida, Shaye Troha
Academic 2 Jessica Jelliffe
Guitar Sam Kulik
Clarinet/Bass Clarinet Mario Maggio
King Hrothgar/Piano Rick Burkhardt
Bass Blake Newman
Drums Peter Wise
Extra Information & Links
BBB’s website