WEBVTT

00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:04.099
Dear listeners and dear viewers, during the making

00:00:04.099 --> 00:00:06.820
of this next episode there was an unfortunate

00:00:06.820 --> 00:00:11.820
technical glitch of speaker echo where my input

00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:16.920
on my guest's device kept picking up on their

00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:20.679
mic and then playing back into my device and

00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:25.660
thus when you hear me react or do hedgy sounds

00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:30.339
like mmm and ah and I see and little laughs,

00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:34.820
you will hear that sound twice within a second

00:00:34.820 --> 00:00:38.240
of the original sound being played. I couldn't

00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:41.100
quite edit the small ones out in that case because

00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:45.259
quite often they're so closely interlinked with

00:00:45.259 --> 00:00:49.490
responses from my guests. However, my own statements

00:00:49.490 --> 00:00:52.869
and descriptions and questions, introduction

00:00:52.869 --> 00:00:56.030
and closing statements, I have been able to re

00:00:56.030 --> 00:00:59.710
-record and I have replaced, swapped around the

00:00:59.710 --> 00:01:03.390
re -recordings to the originals in this full

00:01:03.390 --> 00:01:07.689
edited version. So although a lot of the echoing

00:01:07.689 --> 00:01:11.030
has been replaced, you will still hear some through

00:01:11.030 --> 00:01:15.150
most of the just general human and genuine reaction

00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:18.219
to the guests. I do hope you enjoyed this episode

00:01:18.219 --> 00:01:22.040
regardless of the errors. It was unfortunately

00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:25.420
seen on my part and I have learnt my lesson.

00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:32.400
But please do listen, please do watch and enjoy.

00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:35.400
Thank you for watching and listening wherever

00:01:35.400 --> 00:02:10.180
you are. and welcome to the second episode in

00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:13.479
my mini series, The Legends of Yorvik, where

00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:16.580
I get to meet and chat to the many creatives

00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:20.300
and talented folk who put on events, displays,

00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.919
whole talks and theatre shows and lots more for

00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:27.439
the Yorvik Biking Festival. Inspired by so many

00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:30.060
great experiences at the Yorvik Biking Festival

00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:33.060
this year, I'm delighted to say I'm welcoming

00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:35.919
not one but two members of the Time Will Tell

00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.439
Theatre Company, Cathy and Simon. Would you like

00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:43.349
to introduce yourselves? Hello, my name is Cathy

00:02:43.349 --> 00:02:49.210
and I'm one half of Time Will Tell and we've

00:02:49.210 --> 00:02:52.270
been going 13 years and we're a theatre company.

00:02:53.229 --> 00:02:57.370
This year was our second year at Yorvik. My role,

00:02:57.629 --> 00:03:00.750
I suppose, is logistics and administration and

00:03:00.750 --> 00:03:02.849
sourcing all the props and costumes and things

00:03:02.849 --> 00:03:06.389
like that. But the writing is this gentleman

00:03:06.389 --> 00:03:10.650
here. Hello, I'm Simon, Simon Kirk, and yeah,

00:03:10.650 --> 00:03:14.330
I'm the other half of the global empire that

00:03:14.330 --> 00:03:17.270
is Simon Tell Theatre. It's just the two of us.

00:03:18.250 --> 00:03:20.870
Thank you. I'm so glad you could join me on our

00:03:20.870 --> 00:03:26.449
podcast today. Simon Tell Theatre have been performing

00:03:26.449 --> 00:03:29.009
lots of things around the UK to do with lots

00:03:29.009 --> 00:03:31.509
of different areas of history, particularly British

00:03:31.509 --> 00:03:34.879
history. and this year and as well last year

00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:38.020
you performed the finale show for the Yorby Biking

00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:42.479
Festival. Last year was all about Yigdrasil and

00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:46.580
this year was a dramatization of a very Old Norse

00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:50.439
story, The Cursed Sword, Tf 'ing. My first question

00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:56.780
is what inspired or persuaded you to pick this

00:03:56.780 --> 00:03:59.939
particular Old Norse story of a cursed sword

00:03:59.939 --> 00:04:04.509
and its bloodshed? That's actually a really,

00:04:04.509 --> 00:04:07.509
really easy question to answer. And I'd love

00:04:07.509 --> 00:04:10.449
to say that we've studied for many, many years,

00:04:10.530 --> 00:04:12.289
and this is something that we've always wanted

00:04:12.289 --> 00:04:17.250
to do. They tell us what they want us to do.

00:04:18.529 --> 00:04:21.470
Interesting. So this year, they said they wanted

00:04:21.470 --> 00:04:26.149
us to focus on the story of the entire thing.

00:04:26.290 --> 00:04:29.290
And last year, they said we wanted to do something

00:04:29.290 --> 00:04:33.670
about Yggdrasil. In a way, it's really, really

00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:36.129
great when the client says this is what we want.

00:04:36.850 --> 00:04:39.689
It's actually a lot easier than you having to

00:04:39.689 --> 00:04:42.129
sort of go away and go, well, because obviously

00:04:42.129 --> 00:04:46.269
the universe of Norse mythology is so huge. There

00:04:46.269 --> 00:04:50.509
are so many stories. So I think it fits in with

00:04:50.509 --> 00:04:55.009
other stuff that they do at the festival. So

00:04:55.009 --> 00:04:59.939
I guess that was part of it. Interesting. I never

00:04:59.939 --> 00:05:02.139
actually considered whether Jorvik gave you much

00:05:02.139 --> 00:05:05.279
direction. In which case did you then have to

00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:08.060
do a lot of reading and research about the curse

00:05:08.060 --> 00:05:12.540
or tear thing? Well again I'd love to say that

00:05:12.540 --> 00:05:14.920
my background is in osmothology but if I did

00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:17.040
I'd be lying. One of the things about our company

00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:20.579
is that we cover everything from the stone age

00:05:20.579 --> 00:05:23.160
through to the 1960s and all points in between.

00:05:24.300 --> 00:05:26.319
Jorvik has become a particular favourite of us.

00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:30.290
We've done Viking events before we've done Grimsby

00:05:30.290 --> 00:05:35.769
Falfest where we told the story of Havelock the

00:05:35.769 --> 00:05:43.009
Dane. So it's got an alien area to us. I've read

00:05:43.009 --> 00:05:46.610
as much as I could, which is always a pleasure

00:05:46.610 --> 00:05:51.029
to me. I love reading about history and theatre

00:05:51.029 --> 00:05:56.029
since I was about five or six years old. So The

00:05:56.029 --> 00:05:58.850
first thing I did was I read all the different

00:05:58.850 --> 00:06:01.050
versions of the story that I could find, little

00:06:01.050 --> 00:06:05.250
bits that go off it. And essentially what you're

00:06:05.250 --> 00:06:10.589
looking for is we have certain parameters that

00:06:10.589 --> 00:06:14.949
exist because of the nature of the work. So it

00:06:14.949 --> 00:06:20.230
has to last for an hour. We know how many actors

00:06:20.230 --> 00:06:24.120
we're allowed. and we know the space that we're

00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:28.279
going to perform in. So taking in those parameters,

00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:31.660
I then look at the story and go, what can I do

00:06:31.660 --> 00:06:36.560
with this? And the difficulty with the story,

00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:40.180
it's not a difficulty, it's interesting. I think

00:06:40.180 --> 00:06:41.720
bearing in mind that these stories are all designed

00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:46.040
to be told by somebody live to a audience who

00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:48.259
might be familiar with bits of it, is there's

00:06:48.259 --> 00:06:53.339
a lot of repetition. which is great if you're

00:06:53.339 --> 00:06:55.980
telling a story in a mead hall, not so great

00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:59.459
if you're doing a piece of theater. So the story

00:06:59.459 --> 00:07:02.560
of the Cursed Sword, as you know, is a story

00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:07.779
of a king who's out hunting one day and nothing

00:07:07.779 --> 00:07:10.459
much is going on. He spots a couple of dwarves

00:07:10.459 --> 00:07:13.139
and he manages to get between them and their

00:07:13.139 --> 00:07:17.579
home, basically traps them. This is the only

00:07:17.579 --> 00:07:21.790
way you can get back. to your home is if you

00:07:21.790 --> 00:07:24.829
make me a sword and they they have to agree so

00:07:24.829 --> 00:07:26.589
they make him a sword and he sort of says this

00:07:26.589 --> 00:07:28.069
is what I want the sword to be this is what I

00:07:28.069 --> 00:07:29.769
want the sword to be like and they go yeah yeah

00:07:29.769 --> 00:07:33.250
we can do that and at the same time they also

00:07:33.250 --> 00:07:34.889
put a curse on the sword saying this is what

00:07:34.889 --> 00:07:38.589
it's going to really do and from that you kind

00:07:38.589 --> 00:07:43.250
of that's where the story sort of begins so from

00:07:43.250 --> 00:07:47.389
that it then goes through a series of three Curses,

00:07:47.589 --> 00:07:50.810
which is the the usual number in most most stories

00:07:50.810 --> 00:07:52.910
question. How are you going to do that? How are

00:07:52.910 --> 00:07:55.069
you going to make each of these very violent

00:07:55.069 --> 00:07:56.810
stories just a little bit different from the

00:07:56.810 --> 00:08:02.160
last violent story? I think this year helped

00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:04.379
because we'd already established some of those

00:08:04.379 --> 00:08:07.639
parameters. We already knew that they liked to

00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:09.699
have eight actors, that eight actors was the

00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:13.220
ideal number for that space. We knew the space

00:08:13.220 --> 00:08:15.879
and what it was like to work in it. And it also

00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:18.699
helped because the lighting company that they

00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:21.300
use and the pyrotechnics that they use, all of

00:08:21.300 --> 00:08:23.720
that kind of stuff, the sound, they're phenomenal.

00:08:24.180 --> 00:08:26.779
And so this was our second time of working with

00:08:26.779 --> 00:08:28.839
them. So last year we were a little bit more

00:08:29.180 --> 00:08:33.419
It was newer. We'd not done it before. We didn't

00:08:33.419 --> 00:08:36.580
know whether it would work. And so this year,

00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:39.480
it was easier. Because it is a challenging story

00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:42.960
in that it's mostly just fighting. And an element

00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:45.120
of that is after the second, you're all a bit

00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:47.500
like, OK, do we have to go through this again?

00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:50.860
So I'm bringing in all those elements that you

00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:54.799
mentioned, the humanity of it. So Simon has found

00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:57.440
lots of different bits that you've glued onto

00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:03.000
it. um to make it the story arc there yeah what

00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:06.700
i always look for with something that lasts for

00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:08.419
an hour it's outdoors you don't know what the

00:09:08.419 --> 00:09:11.580
weather's going to do yeah yeah so you're trying

00:09:11.580 --> 00:09:13.980
to hold onto people's attention so the first

00:09:13.980 --> 00:09:16.059
thing i do is i break it down into sections and

00:09:16.059 --> 00:09:20.480
i like each each section to end with a phrase

00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:24.139
basically the phrase was and so it goes And I

00:09:24.139 --> 00:09:26.039
love that because that's what happens in stories.

00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:28.779
It's just it's a story and so it goes it's you

00:09:28.779 --> 00:09:31.879
know as it is written or whatever um the other

00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:35.019
thing that um about making it episodic is you

00:09:35.019 --> 00:09:38.960
want to connect it and I I've read about when

00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:42.740
we were doing Yggdrasil I'd featured the Norns

00:09:42.740 --> 00:09:45.679
in that because they they nourish they nourish

00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:48.179
Yggdrasil is one of the things they do but I

00:09:48.179 --> 00:09:53.820
thought It would be really good to have them

00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:57.399
as the kind of connecting theme, that every time

00:09:57.399 --> 00:10:01.240
this curse does what it's supposed to do, the

00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:07.259
Norns can move out and take over. The Norns are

00:10:07.259 --> 00:10:10.259
fascinating. They're so, as characters, they're

00:10:10.259 --> 00:10:12.779
so interesting. Also, in a story that's going

00:10:12.779 --> 00:10:15.919
to be very, very boys hitting each other, it's

00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:19.840
great to have something that's more female -focused.

00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:24.539
I really like the idea of the the norms because

00:10:24.539 --> 00:10:26.500
they said we we said at the beginning we set

00:10:26.500 --> 00:10:31.879
the whole thing up and we say um your your fate's

00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:34.980
predestined the norms know it when you're born

00:10:34.980 --> 00:10:37.639
at the moment you scream when you're born the

00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:42.720
norms are there and they have a thread and that

00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.120
thread's cut to uh that thread is going to run

00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.159
to a certain length and when it's cut that's

00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:52.220
it game over And it's so the norms know your

00:10:52.220 --> 00:10:56.500
fate, but you decide what happens within that

00:10:56.500 --> 00:11:00.440
because the story of time thing or till thing

00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:06.759
is a story of people making choices. Is that

00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:10.159
you you you if you're given and it's that choice

00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:14.539
really that at the moment is incredibly resonant.

00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:19.460
If you were given absolute power. to do whatever

00:11:19.460 --> 00:11:24.220
you wanted to do with the threat of this thing

00:11:24.220 --> 00:11:28.559
that can destroy or kill anything. How would

00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:33.000
you use it? What would you do? Thank you. That's

00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.480
a really good point about using the norms to

00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:40.039
give a female voice to the performance. I for

00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:42.620
one certainly think that a lot of the female

00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:44.580
characters of the mythology in the pantheon,

00:11:44.580 --> 00:11:47.279
not just the goddesses but kind of the giants,

00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:50.539
the vulva, the norns themselves, we know names

00:11:50.539 --> 00:11:52.399
and pieces but there's so much more to them that

00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:56.000
we don't know. They lack a certain volume of

00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.200
definition compared to the male characters and

00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:02.220
that could be just because historically these

00:12:02.220 --> 00:12:05.720
stories were stories for a long long long time

00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:10.029
and they were written centuries after Christianisation,

00:12:10.889 --> 00:12:13.909
presented a taboo, almost like a barrier between

00:12:13.909 --> 00:12:18.909
what was known and what is known. And through

00:12:18.909 --> 00:12:22.450
the male gaze and the acts of male scribes, a

00:12:22.450 --> 00:12:25.070
lot of the female voice representation has been

00:12:25.070 --> 00:12:29.809
lost. And for those who are viewing this on YouTube

00:12:29.809 --> 00:12:32.649
and listening on Spotify and wherever online,

00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:35.860
Just to help you understand the challenge that

00:12:35.860 --> 00:12:38.759
this wonderful theatre company faced, they performed

00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:42.659
in a circular piece of land. I'm not going to

00:12:42.659 --> 00:12:44.860
say meters how long because I can never get it

00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:47.700
right. But if you look on Google Maps, it's right

00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:49.700
in front of the Yorkshire Castle Museum in the

00:12:49.700 --> 00:12:52.279
centre of York and there is a tree in the middle.

00:12:53.620 --> 00:12:57.000
And it's also got some other buildings around

00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:59.059
it, including Clever's Tower directly behind

00:12:59.059 --> 00:13:02.159
it and the car park and the main road. So it

00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:06.639
is a very congested performance space, but it

00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:10.279
was wonderfully done. They did an amazing, almost

00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:13.519
like triangular performance zones. There were

00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:15.679
three zones all around the circle where something

00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:19.259
was going on. And because they didn't put up

00:13:19.259 --> 00:13:22.059
anything around the tree, people could see straight

00:13:22.059 --> 00:13:23.720
across the circle and always see through it.

00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:26.600
And it was wonderfully done. And the noise themselves,

00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:30.909
I was very impressed with how They were costumed,

00:13:30.950 --> 00:13:33.169
they were dressed, because quite often when you

00:13:33.169 --> 00:13:35.070
read about the Norns, you read about them as

00:13:35.070 --> 00:13:38.070
women and being of particular ages. There was

00:13:38.070 --> 00:13:42.049
verandah, schooled and erred, path, present and

00:13:42.049 --> 00:13:44.809
future, usually old, middle -aged and young.

00:13:45.649 --> 00:13:49.789
But these Norns, these were dramatically simplified.

00:13:50.110 --> 00:13:52.950
They were masked and, or not quite, they were

00:13:52.950 --> 00:13:57.409
mystically robed. And they used staves or staffs

00:13:57.409 --> 00:14:02.000
in a very dramatic almost magical manner and

00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.440
I really respected that. I really respected that

00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:08.179
interpretation of them. It gave them that agelessness

00:14:08.179 --> 00:14:11.340
because they are a being above and beyond the

00:14:11.340 --> 00:14:13.440
gods, above and beyond the giants. They were

00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:15.139
there from the beginning and they will be there

00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:18.759
at the end because they know and weave the end

00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:21.559
of all things effectively and I really really

00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:25.259
like that. It certainly brings a point, because

00:14:25.259 --> 00:14:27.980
Cathy, how did it go with costuming? Because

00:14:27.980 --> 00:14:31.779
I as an audience member, because there was no

00:14:31.779 --> 00:14:36.139
stage, there was no screen, the actors that you

00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:39.139
had involved had to get changed into their costumes

00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:41.779
now, but it's not fully undressed and just kind

00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:45.340
of like tops off and tops on, or robes on, cloaks

00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:48.120
on, cloaks off, that kind of thing. Right around

00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:50.000
the base of this tree, that was their changing

00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:53.100
area. So how did that come about in planning

00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:57.110
and operation. Yes we um I do bring many because

00:14:57.110 --> 00:14:59.269
we don't have a huge there's not a huge budget

00:14:59.269 --> 00:15:01.870
for us to have some productions might have weeks

00:15:01.870 --> 00:15:05.330
of rehearsal we have the fighters get to fight

00:15:05.330 --> 00:15:07.909
um for a couple of days of rehearsals and and

00:15:07.909 --> 00:15:10.950
that's choreographed specifically for each show

00:15:10.950 --> 00:15:15.330
um but we only get a day the day before so I

00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:19.860
bring loads of options just in case because they

00:15:19.860 --> 00:15:22.059
do need to be able to get in and sometimes we're

00:15:22.059 --> 00:15:23.740
like we might have a vision and we like that

00:15:23.740 --> 00:15:26.899
idea and we will go we've got an amazing costume

00:15:26.899 --> 00:15:29.460
hire place in Suffolk I'm East Anglia well we're

00:15:29.460 --> 00:15:32.940
both East Anglia based but the stores in Norfolk

00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:35.559
but this costume place in Suffolk is phenomenal

00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:39.519
and she takes in lots of different she makes

00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:41.019
her own but she also takes in lots of different

00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:43.860
like past productions films and things so she

00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:47.600
has a huge tool, doesn't she? And we go along

00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:50.899
and you have ideas of what you want the characters

00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:53.179
to look like, and then we have a look about the

00:15:53.179 --> 00:15:55.799
logistics of whether they'll be able to get in

00:15:55.799 --> 00:15:59.740
and out of them quick enough. And we had a long

00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:03.200
talk about hiding that, but as soon as you build

00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.440
a structure in that space, then someone can't

00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:08.299
see. So you need to be able to keep it open.

00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:10.279
Because we thought about, you know, we have thought,

00:16:10.340 --> 00:16:12.379
lots of people said to us, why didn't you screen

00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:14.539
that off? Why didn't you build somewhere where

00:16:14.539 --> 00:16:17.419
they could change without being watched? And

00:16:17.419 --> 00:16:20.799
that that is someone then somewhere I can't see.

00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:24.480
And and I personally, as an audience member,

00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:28.019
would have quite what, you know, to be able to

00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:30.759
give to see that as well. I mean, the idea, obviously,

00:16:30.899 --> 00:16:34.360
is that the drama detracts so you don't look

00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:37.470
at it. Yeah. it is nice or nice to acknowledge

00:16:37.470 --> 00:16:39.970
it and once you've seen it happen once then you

00:16:39.970 --> 00:16:41.629
just ignore it anyway we're very good at being

00:16:41.629 --> 00:16:46.169
selective about what we do and don't see um uh

00:16:46.169 --> 00:16:48.269
but yes i mean that that those quick changes

00:16:48.269 --> 00:16:50.490
would have happened even if they'd happened out

00:16:50.490 --> 00:16:53.409
of sight so it's a kind of way of acknowledging

00:16:53.409 --> 00:16:56.750
that uh it's a skill and there are many characters

00:16:56.750 --> 00:17:07.940
involved um a space again away from us. It's

00:17:07.940 --> 00:17:10.980
quite a challenge. And we also mustn't forget

00:17:10.980 --> 00:17:14.279
the reenactment groups that are involved. It's

00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:17.880
just the space is so big. It does work with eight,

00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:22.460
but it calls for more in the cast. And we're

00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:24.859
really fortunate that the reenactment group were

00:17:24.859 --> 00:17:27.220
happy to come along, be directed. They actually

00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:30.460
really enjoyed it. They do enjoy it. And so we

00:17:30.460 --> 00:17:31.920
don't have a huge amount of time to rehearse

00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:34.430
with them either. But they, you know, they're

00:17:34.430 --> 00:17:36.630
sitting around the edges and then choreographing

00:17:36.630 --> 00:17:40.789
them coming in and them coming into the drama

00:17:40.789 --> 00:17:44.369
and then fading out again. We're really fortunate

00:17:44.369 --> 00:17:46.990
to work with such great groups that are so keen

00:17:46.990 --> 00:17:51.410
to support us in creating the piece. So, yeah.

00:17:51.609 --> 00:17:55.809
So we had two groups that worked with us. Yourfus

00:17:55.809 --> 00:17:59.220
Hall, who we met last year, who worked with us

00:17:59.220 --> 00:18:01.740
last year, who are just brilliant. They would

00:18:01.740 --> 00:18:04.799
do anything. Last year they did anything in the

00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:10.460
rain. And Reggie Anglorum, who are a group that

00:18:10.460 --> 00:18:12.940
we've had the privilege of working with on a

00:18:12.940 --> 00:18:15.599
number of occasions. They are brilliant as well.

00:18:15.940 --> 00:18:17.400
I'm sure there are probably some people in there

00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:24.630
from other groups as well. The space because

00:18:24.630 --> 00:18:26.849
it's not quite circular that they call it in

00:18:26.849 --> 00:18:35.630
York. They call it the York eye So last year

00:18:35.630 --> 00:18:40.170
when we did it's perfect It's a play about a

00:18:40.170 --> 00:18:45.490
tree. There's a tree in the middle and everything

00:18:45.490 --> 00:18:49.230
focuses so I think focuses back inwards I decided

00:18:49.230 --> 00:18:54.430
very early on that The staging that we could

00:18:54.430 --> 00:18:57.170
use, again, has to fall into certain parameters.

00:18:57.230 --> 00:19:01.630
It can't be fixed because they use the ice space

00:19:01.630 --> 00:19:03.609
for other things, especially in the Saturday

00:19:03.609 --> 00:19:06.789
afternoon. There's Viking games and there's a

00:19:06.789 --> 00:19:08.589
sort of Viking backer there. So we can't, we

00:19:08.589 --> 00:19:11.990
don't have access to it. Plus we are next to

00:19:11.990 --> 00:19:16.369
York County Court or City Court, which is in

00:19:16.369 --> 00:19:19.920
use Thursday and Friday. So we can't. do anything

00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:22.420
that might impinge on the wheels of justice.

00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:27.940
So really we only, we get very limited time.

00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:33.579
So my idea was to have three drum risers positioned

00:19:33.579 --> 00:19:37.440
like the ends of the props on a propeller. That

00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:39.920
gives you a little bit of elevation. And if you

00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.220
position them correctly, it means that you could

00:19:42.220 --> 00:19:45.940
always see something going on, just raised up.

00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:49.220
Thank you that's a really good explanation and

00:19:49.220 --> 00:19:51.720
a very valid point about sight of line because

00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:54.579
it's a circular performance area the audience

00:19:54.579 --> 00:19:57.180
is therefore gathered in a large circle and so

00:19:57.180 --> 00:19:59.980
for it makes sense to enable everyone to see

00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:03.720
from whatever side you're on and I certainly

00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:05.779
as a member of the audience I noticed it but

00:20:05.779 --> 00:20:08.779
then I didn't notice it because the way you stage

00:20:08.779 --> 00:20:11.440
the drama in three zones around the circle around

00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:15.299
the tree was very easily distraction. And because

00:20:15.299 --> 00:20:17.539
you had people moving from point to point as

00:20:17.539 --> 00:20:20.019
well, your eyes would never always know what

00:20:20.019 --> 00:20:22.359
they're doing now. But I did notice, of course,

00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:24.980
like everyone else did, when the lights go down

00:20:24.980 --> 00:20:30.019
at the end of each dramatic arc. So how did everyone

00:20:30.019 --> 00:20:33.119
adapt or learn how to not only make their way

00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:35.099
to the tree in complete darkness, but then get

00:20:35.099 --> 00:20:37.160
changed into the right costume in the complete

00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:45.329
darkness? The changing in darkness the We finished

00:20:45.329 --> 00:20:48.289
each section with a blackout which essentially

00:20:48.289 --> 00:20:51.289
just gave the access time to run back Change

00:20:51.289 --> 00:20:54.670
and then we'd start up again the other thing

00:20:54.670 --> 00:21:00.970
is that the whole thing is driven by a narrated

00:21:00.970 --> 00:21:11.440
soundscape so we I Write the script We record

00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:17.099
the narration and our composer, Johnny Dyer,

00:21:17.859 --> 00:21:22.500
then adds in music and sound effects. He's absolutely

00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:27.059
brilliant. We collaborated with him on half a

00:21:27.059 --> 00:21:31.140
dozen projects at least, and he's just fantastic.

00:21:31.180 --> 00:21:34.299
He really gets what we're trying to do. With

00:21:34.299 --> 00:21:37.720
that, and with the fantastic work by the lighting

00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:41.299
company, Fantastic Fireworks, who do the pyros,

00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:46.039
who bring in a lighting company. All of those

00:21:46.039 --> 00:21:50.339
aspects together make it, I guess what we're

00:21:50.339 --> 00:21:53.000
trying to do is we say at the beginning, come

00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:58.019
into the realm of myth. That's what we say, this

00:21:58.019 --> 00:22:01.200
is what this world is like. It's a bit crazy.

00:22:02.009 --> 00:22:05.250
There's lots of conflict. Nothing is what it

00:22:05.250 --> 00:22:09.089
seems. Enjoy. And that's where the story sort

00:22:09.089 --> 00:22:13.049
of starts. I have to say, as an audience member,

00:22:13.349 --> 00:22:16.910
that the music from Johnny Dyer was phenomenal.

00:22:17.269 --> 00:22:19.750
It really set the atmosphere, the environment,

00:22:19.869 --> 00:22:23.069
the vibe, the mood, the tone. Everyone was like,

00:22:23.230 --> 00:22:26.930
oh, this is different. We're not in a normal

00:22:26.930 --> 00:22:29.150
environment now. This is very, very different.

00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:32.660
And of course, we could see a few people out

00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:35.559
in the area where they were performing. I didn't

00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:37.039
know who they were going to be, what they were

00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:40.240
going to do. And then when we hear your voices,

00:22:40.359 --> 00:22:43.519
and it is your two voices, your Simon and your

00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:47.000
Cathy narrating, of course, Simon's magnificent

00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:51.460
script, come over the loudspeakers and echo around

00:22:51.460 --> 00:22:54.359
this, not quite an amphitheater, but it's got

00:22:54.359 --> 00:22:58.599
that kind of environment and that space. It really

00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:02.299
does transport everyone to a time that is not

00:23:02.299 --> 00:23:06.740
now. That is also not in the past either. It's

00:23:06.740 --> 00:23:11.660
almost somewhere else entirely. And I quickly

00:23:11.660 --> 00:23:14.000
caught up on the pattern, the narrative pattern

00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:18.140
of, and so it goes. My mum, who's my loyal Yorvik

00:23:18.140 --> 00:23:21.420
companion, turned to me and said, how do you

00:23:21.420 --> 00:23:22.940
know they're going to say that? And I said, because

00:23:22.940 --> 00:23:28.150
it's a pattern. It's a beat. it's poetic, because

00:23:28.150 --> 00:23:30.410
a lot of your script was poetic, a lot of it

00:23:30.410 --> 00:23:35.210
has rhyme to it and rhythm and a beat and that

00:23:35.210 --> 00:23:38.710
fits with a pattern. But yeah, it was, I mean,

00:23:38.910 --> 00:23:41.289
the quality of your voices too, and I mean this

00:23:41.289 --> 00:23:44.690
as a compliment, they're ageless, if not timeless,

00:23:45.390 --> 00:23:49.970
they were neither young nor old, kind of, they

00:23:49.970 --> 00:23:56.140
haven't... It's a really hard quality to explain

00:23:56.140 --> 00:23:58.339
without sounding insulting and saying if I sound,

00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:00.720
because you don't sound old, but then equally

00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:02.740
you weren't sounding young. And I liked how it

00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:06.680
was both a female voice and a male voice, because

00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:08.619
A, the female made me think of the norms, but

00:24:08.619 --> 00:24:11.420
B, the male voice almost made me think of, well,

00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:16.019
if Tiffy had a voice, could it be male? And I

00:24:16.019 --> 00:24:20.099
just. I salute you, Simon, your writing. It was

00:24:20.099 --> 00:24:25.339
so evocative, engaging, emotive, and it really

00:24:25.339 --> 00:24:28.279
drew me in and kept me hooked, not just on what

00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:31.400
I was seeing, but on what I was hearing, because

00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:34.720
I've rewatched slash listened to this, because

00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:36.680
it's available on YouTube, the link is down below,

00:24:36.839 --> 00:24:40.099
dear viewers and listeners. And it does, it sounds

00:24:40.099 --> 00:24:43.960
very much like a wonderful... scowled in your

00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:47.920
ear, telling a wonderful tale. So thank you so

00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:51.079
much for that wonderful script. The style of

00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:57.279
it, the style of the writing is, I've read as

00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:01.680
many solos as I can read. I've also always loved

00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:05.259
Viking and Saxon poetry. And there's a very,

00:25:05.259 --> 00:25:08.579
very weird way about the writing structure of

00:25:08.579 --> 00:25:13.970
that. I really like it, it's like you half discover

00:25:13.970 --> 00:25:16.349
things, then a bit later on you go, oh yeah,

00:25:16.549 --> 00:25:19.109
I see why that was that, that rhyme connected

00:25:19.109 --> 00:25:21.369
to that. And I think when you're telling a story,

00:25:21.430 --> 00:25:24.329
it's a really, really good way of punctuating

00:25:24.329 --> 00:25:28.049
in the same way that Shakespeare does exactly

00:25:28.049 --> 00:25:32.349
the same thing. He punctuates with words that

00:25:32.349 --> 00:25:35.710
echo backwards and forwards. It's quite tricky

00:25:35.710 --> 00:25:37.809
when you're trying to... to do it. It takes a

00:25:37.809 --> 00:25:40.869
bit of time to get into the drop into it. But

00:25:40.869 --> 00:25:46.849
I was trying to give it a sense of this is a

00:25:46.849 --> 00:25:50.150
this language is not quite our language. But

00:25:50.150 --> 00:25:51.970
obviously, you've got to recognize that you're

00:25:51.970 --> 00:25:54.190
Viking festival, you've got people from all over

00:25:54.190 --> 00:25:58.650
the world. Perhaps not necessarily with English

00:25:58.650 --> 00:26:02.109
as their first language. Plus, it's got to be

00:26:02.109 --> 00:26:03.809
you've got to be able to understand it anyway.

00:26:05.210 --> 00:26:08.799
So Um, yeah, I really enjoyed writing. I mean,

00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:11.180
and so it goes, you have to keep the was it did

00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:14.039
get to a point with that where I had to get the

00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:17.920
the Google rhyming dictionary. So what else rhymes

00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:24.119
to go suppose? Yeah, you know, the nose. No,

00:26:24.180 --> 00:26:28.160
I can't use that. So you you do end up having

00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:31.440
to cheat a bit. But I really enjoy writing it

00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:35.059
really. I really enjoy it. The other great thing

00:26:35.059 --> 00:26:37.200
is that one of the good things about our company

00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:41.660
is that we work with the same actors a lot. So

00:26:41.660 --> 00:26:47.740
even if they're not actually speaking words,

00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:50.960
I have their voices in my head. So as I'm writing,

00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:52.779
I'm kind of going, oh, yeah, that's what they

00:26:52.779 --> 00:27:01.119
do. And of course, Cathy is my go -to. for any

00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:04.920
narration. Last year when we did Yggdrasil, it

00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:07.640
was great. It's a story about a sort of female

00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:10.279
entity. And they actually said that was one of

00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:12.079
the few things that they said that we'd like

00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:14.960
to have a woman's voice doing the narration.

00:27:15.099 --> 00:27:20.779
It's perfect. Great. Yeah, sadly, we only have

00:27:20.779 --> 00:27:23.740
the audio of that. We don't have the visuals

00:27:23.740 --> 00:27:27.289
of that one. But yeah, yeah, it's good. It's

00:27:27.289 --> 00:27:30.470
well written. We're incredibly proud of both

00:27:30.470 --> 00:27:32.730
of the performances. Yidrisse was challenging

00:27:32.730 --> 00:27:35.069
because it literally rained. And it didn't actually

00:27:35.069 --> 00:27:38.650
rain. We only did it once as well, whereas the

00:27:38.650 --> 00:27:42.049
cursed sword we did twice. So we had two runs

00:27:42.049 --> 00:27:44.089
at it. Two good nights. Yeah, we had no rain.

00:27:44.809 --> 00:27:50.000
But Yidrisse, it rained heavily, heavily. before

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.839
it the actual hour of the show there wasn't any

00:27:52.839 --> 00:27:55.720
rain but that that site was we were wet because

00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:58.920
we hadn't we were outside when it rained and

00:27:58.920 --> 00:28:03.890
um the site just became a mud bath yeah so yeah

00:28:03.890 --> 00:28:06.490
it was quite that was quite challenging for that

00:28:06.490 --> 00:28:09.309
we had still in that as well so the stilt walker

00:28:09.309 --> 00:28:12.349
it was quite challenging for the fighters actually

00:28:12.349 --> 00:28:14.309
i found it challenging just walking i don't know

00:28:14.309 --> 00:28:16.789
how they did the fighting there was a moment

00:28:16.789 --> 00:28:22.609
where louise one of our fighters went down And

00:28:22.609 --> 00:28:24.230
it was just the first time she'd worked with

00:28:24.230 --> 00:28:27.650
us. And she went down, and there was just this

00:28:27.650 --> 00:28:31.650
huge splash of water as she hit the ground. And

00:28:31.650 --> 00:28:34.049
everybody sort of went, wow, you know how you

00:28:34.049 --> 00:28:35.950
sort of, you're not quite sure, is this brilliant?

00:28:36.109 --> 00:28:38.309
Is this a brilliantly planned, contrived moment?

00:28:38.710 --> 00:28:41.369
Or has she just fallen completely on her face?

00:28:41.430 --> 00:28:45.480
And she's probably not just, she went down. and

00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:48.559
then got up again and aah and people just like

00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:51.200
wah and that was the that was the moment that

00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:53.200
people try to get the pictures of that those

00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:55.849
sorts of little those those are the little moments

00:28:55.849 --> 00:28:59.349
that you remember she was absolutely soaked yeah

00:28:59.349 --> 00:29:02.869
she had the best time yes she did enjoy it but

00:29:02.869 --> 00:29:05.589
yeah challenge afterwards getting the costumes

00:29:05.589 --> 00:29:09.089
clean yeah gosh yes because we were talking about

00:29:09.089 --> 00:29:13.150
the norns um in my mind i had an idea about what

00:29:13.150 --> 00:29:15.809
i wanted them to look like and i i didn't want

00:29:15.809 --> 00:29:18.990
them to be recognizable i i didn't want to be

00:29:18.990 --> 00:29:25.829
about faces so we We use masks, which we actually

00:29:25.829 --> 00:29:31.450
and. But also I wanted them to be I wanted them

00:29:31.450 --> 00:29:34.069
to have some like cloaks trading out behind them

00:29:34.069 --> 00:29:37.869
and a sense of just size like like they were

00:29:37.869 --> 00:29:42.210
living shadows and. These are all great ideas

00:29:42.210 --> 00:29:46.230
to have. until you're standing outside and the

00:29:46.230 --> 00:29:47.589
wind starts blowing. And there are all these

00:29:47.589 --> 00:29:49.529
lovely ideas, oh, we could use really light material

00:29:49.529 --> 00:29:51.470
and it would just billow around and it would

00:29:51.470 --> 00:29:53.509
look fantastic. And not if the wind's blowing

00:29:53.509 --> 00:29:55.829
in the wrong way, it doesn't. It just looks a

00:29:55.829 --> 00:29:58.710
bit weird. And you've got performers being blown

00:29:58.710 --> 00:30:00.789
across the stage trying desperately to hold onto

00:30:00.789 --> 00:30:02.670
their costumes. And when they take their costumes

00:30:02.670 --> 00:30:04.509
off, the costumes blow away. So there's all these

00:30:04.509 --> 00:30:06.769
sorts of things that you have to, when you're

00:30:06.769 --> 00:30:08.589
doing something like this outdoors, you have

00:30:08.589 --> 00:30:11.609
to take into consideration. That's a really good

00:30:11.609 --> 00:30:14.049
point about the cloaks. I can see how it would

00:30:14.049 --> 00:30:16.710
have been beautiful as a concept, but didn't

00:30:16.710 --> 00:30:18.849
work out practicality, especially if the wind,

00:30:19.089 --> 00:30:20.990
because you can't control it, changes direction.

00:30:22.289 --> 00:30:25.410
And certainly, me as an audience member, it's

00:30:25.410 --> 00:30:28.130
only afterwards I think about how you did this

00:30:28.130 --> 00:30:31.910
or how you might have done that. And the fact

00:30:31.910 --> 00:30:34.369
that you try the cloak and then learned it didn't

00:30:34.369 --> 00:30:36.329
work, especially if the wind blows, and what

00:30:36.329 --> 00:30:40.190
if it rains? Does it trail and get soggy? or

00:30:40.190 --> 00:30:42.289
if it snows, we can have snow in February when

00:30:42.289 --> 00:30:44.109
your actors be shivering as they're trying to

00:30:44.109 --> 00:30:46.470
put on their costumes. It just shows the level

00:30:46.470 --> 00:30:49.609
of thought, preparation, creativity, skill and

00:30:49.609 --> 00:30:52.670
talent, all that you and others put together

00:30:52.670 --> 00:30:56.109
to make this one event of many that formed the

00:30:56.109 --> 00:31:00.009
Orbit Bike Festival attract such an audience

00:31:00.009 --> 00:31:02.269
and are so engaging and thought -provoking. And

00:31:02.269 --> 00:31:04.009
it's why I want to do this mini -series, The

00:31:04.009 --> 00:31:07.569
Legends of Yorvik, to showcase the talent and

00:31:07.569 --> 00:31:10.049
the skills that are used and recognise the effort

00:31:10.049 --> 00:31:13.309
and hopefully honour your pride that you should

00:31:13.309 --> 00:31:17.130
have in shows like this because I am grateful

00:31:17.130 --> 00:31:19.230
the weather gods were good for you this year

00:31:19.230 --> 00:31:23.049
compared to last year. The other thing is that

00:31:23.049 --> 00:31:32.170
in common with Fantastic Fireworks, Johnny, Regia

00:31:32.170 --> 00:31:36.259
and You're For School, anybody who'd done it

00:31:36.259 --> 00:31:38.440
last year coming back to doing it this year,

00:31:39.259 --> 00:31:41.900
we had an idea of what we could do, of the potential

00:31:41.900 --> 00:31:45.759
of it. But obviously you want to improve on it.

00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:50.420
So Fantastic Fireworks had some ideas about,

00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:52.259
they had more of an idea about the lighting.

00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:54.940
Because when you can sit and talk to somebody

00:31:54.940 --> 00:31:56.220
in a meeting and say, well, there's eight of

00:31:56.220 --> 00:31:59.619
us, we've run around a lot, just we're using

00:31:59.619 --> 00:32:04.049
this area, try and light that. So we wanted to

00:32:04.049 --> 00:32:06.890
have, for when the dwarves are in Sparkelheim

00:32:06.890 --> 00:32:11.490
and they're at their forges, we wanted lights

00:32:11.490 --> 00:32:14.369
inside the drum risers shining up into their

00:32:14.369 --> 00:32:18.690
faces. So that was a new thing that we put in.

00:32:18.990 --> 00:32:21.930
And it's a very simple thing, but you have to

00:32:21.930 --> 00:32:26.089
have a cable to the light. So you then got to

00:32:26.089 --> 00:32:29.470
put this in in such a way that it doesn't impinge

00:32:29.470 --> 00:32:33.039
on anybody. Biting over it, yes. Or anything

00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:34.880
like that. We don't want to create a trip, so

00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:39.359
we sort of dealt with that. Well, and also, in

00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:42.480
the same space, you've got a battle that's happened

00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:47.200
two hours beforehand. So you either have to have

00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:49.759
it so they can work in the same space with it,

00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:52.380
or you have to lay it down and deal, and you

00:32:52.380 --> 00:32:54.480
don't have the time, really, to build. You can't

00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:57.640
build a set in that time. So yeah, there's lots

00:32:57.640 --> 00:33:00.569
there. I mean, the weather, yeah. We've thought

00:33:00.569 --> 00:33:02.490
about, I mean, one of the things about doing

00:33:02.490 --> 00:33:05.150
it again is that you do, it does make you go,

00:33:06.069 --> 00:33:07.549
do you know what, I wonder if we could do this.

00:33:07.650 --> 00:33:10.490
I mean, the first year, Yggdrasil tree, you've

00:33:10.490 --> 00:33:15.369
got an ovoid shape with a big tree in the middle.

00:33:16.630 --> 00:33:18.890
And last year, there was a fence around the bottom

00:33:18.890 --> 00:33:21.069
of the tree. So we went, oh, that's all right,

00:33:21.089 --> 00:33:22.930
because we can hang the costumes on the fence.

00:33:23.170 --> 00:33:26.009
It also looks in keeping, but it keeps the focus

00:33:26.009 --> 00:33:29.099
on Yggdrasil. the tree was lit all the way through

00:33:29.099 --> 00:33:31.680
so that was again yeah that was that was that

00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:34.400
was great we could see what we were doing um

00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:38.819
and this year obviously we didn't want the tree

00:33:38.819 --> 00:33:41.779
to be the focus it's mentioned in passing but

00:33:41.779 --> 00:33:44.460
it's not the star of the show because that was

00:33:44.460 --> 00:33:47.359
the thing about doing it before have the tree

00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:49.220
is the star of the show and we're just kind of

00:33:49.220 --> 00:33:52.119
minions running around underneath it this year

00:33:52.119 --> 00:33:54.160
no light on the tree we didn't know that the

00:33:54.160 --> 00:33:58.359
fence had been removed so we managed to get Yeah,

00:33:58.380 --> 00:33:59.660
we got some Harris fencing in the end. We got

00:33:59.660 --> 00:34:02.000
some Harris fencing which we put around it and

00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:03.559
then covered with stuff so it didn't look like

00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:05.640
we'd put Harris fencing around the tree. Yes.

00:34:05.819 --> 00:34:08.039
We still had the three drum risers but I wanted

00:34:08.039 --> 00:34:11.940
one of them to be a funeral beer so we had one

00:34:11.940 --> 00:34:15.260
of them was a double so somebody could lie down

00:34:15.260 --> 00:34:16.539
because you can't really lie down on just the

00:34:16.539 --> 00:34:19.500
one. So we had two of the lids opened on so that

00:34:19.500 --> 00:34:21.320
there was light underneath and one that was a

00:34:21.320 --> 00:34:25.039
double drum riser so that you could lie somebody

00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:32.969
down on it. Yeah, the fireworks. Again, I was

00:34:32.969 --> 00:34:37.289
trying to work out, could we get fireworks into

00:34:37.289 --> 00:34:39.510
the show? Because last year, all the pyrotechnics

00:34:39.510 --> 00:34:43.090
were right at the end. So you had the show. Which

00:34:43.090 --> 00:34:45.670
was great. And Johnny wrote this fantastic piece

00:34:45.670 --> 00:34:50.429
of brilliant piece of music. But you know, when

00:34:50.429 --> 00:34:52.929
you've got these things there, you think, oh,

00:34:52.989 --> 00:34:54.329
I don't think you've used it before. Fantastic

00:34:54.329 --> 00:34:56.369
fireworks were very, very into the idea of using

00:34:56.369 --> 00:35:01.760
it. earlier as well. So obviously the, the pyrotechnics

00:35:01.760 --> 00:35:07.420
are set up on the very perimeter of the, of the

00:35:07.420 --> 00:35:10.000
space as far away from the actors and from the

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:12.380
audience as is possible so that there's no, there's

00:35:12.380 --> 00:35:20.380
no safety issues. Last year we, the museum let

00:35:20.380 --> 00:35:26.159
us use six or eight benches to put the reenactors

00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:30.739
on. And this was a really important thing that

00:35:30.739 --> 00:35:33.320
sort of happened organically, but it meant that

00:35:33.320 --> 00:35:36.380
the reenactors had somebody to sit down rather

00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:38.940
than sitting on the wet floor. And it also got

00:35:38.940 --> 00:35:40.519
them, it almost got them out of the way. And

00:35:40.519 --> 00:35:42.139
it was a bit like they were part of the audience

00:35:42.139 --> 00:35:46.400
watching what was going on. But obviously those

00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:50.900
benches were very close to the pyrotechnic line.

00:35:51.340 --> 00:35:55.619
So we could put pyros in, but I had to. director

00:35:55.619 --> 00:36:00.000
scene, so at the end of it, all our friends from

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:03.059
Regia and Jofas Hall came into the center and

00:36:03.059 --> 00:36:04.980
were around the tree. So that when all this stuff

00:36:04.980 --> 00:36:09.199
went off, they were miles away. You're then really

00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:12.699
paranoid about everybody understands that. So

00:36:12.699 --> 00:36:15.900
you're going through these things again and again.

00:36:16.420 --> 00:36:22.000
Luckily, I direct, but on the day, what tends

00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:27.300
to happen is that directing is taken over, or

00:36:27.300 --> 00:36:31.000
split between three of us. So Cathy also, director,

00:36:31.159 --> 00:36:34.599
which is brilliant. Our fight director, Matt

00:36:34.599 --> 00:36:38.980
Wood, is also directing. And because the actors

00:36:38.980 --> 00:36:42.079
are so many times there, they throw in their,

00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:45.840
they throw in their sort of, their tough and

00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:49.500
safety worth as well. So it's, it's quite a collaborative

00:36:49.500 --> 00:36:52.900
thing. And the real actors the same, they, they

00:36:52.900 --> 00:36:55.239
just did such a good job this year, such a good

00:36:55.239 --> 00:36:57.260
job, because I asked a lot more of them this

00:36:57.260 --> 00:37:00.539
year, because I could, last year with Yorvick

00:37:00.539 --> 00:37:03.460
Hall, I got a sense of what they could do, and

00:37:03.460 --> 00:37:05.480
they loved it, and they wanted to do more, so

00:37:05.480 --> 00:37:08.920
this year we gave them more to do. I'm glad you've

00:37:08.920 --> 00:37:11.099
mentioned three actors, because I've been going

00:37:11.099 --> 00:37:15.119
to Yorvick Festival since 2006 for the odd year

00:37:15.119 --> 00:37:18.300
off, for various reasons, but 2020 when that

00:37:18.300 --> 00:37:20.920
was my longest consecutive number of years not

00:37:20.920 --> 00:37:23.980
attending because of life reasons and logistics

00:37:23.980 --> 00:37:26.599
because trains aren't always reliable in my side

00:37:26.599 --> 00:37:31.219
of West Yorkshire. But I remember like the earliest

00:37:31.219 --> 00:37:33.800
finales I've seen they were often great battle

00:37:33.800 --> 00:37:37.599
reenactments. I remember one, the earliest one

00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:39.960
I saw featured an acquaintance that me and Cathy

00:37:39.960 --> 00:37:43.559
have which is Nigel Amos and he's a member of

00:37:43.559 --> 00:37:46.519
the, excuse me, Regae Engelorum reenactment group

00:37:46.519 --> 00:37:48.159
which as you mentioned you've been working with

00:37:48.159 --> 00:37:53.000
for this one and last one potentially. But I

00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:55.539
remember first learning that Nigel started doing

00:37:55.539 --> 00:37:57.559
a lot of the script writing, a lot of the more

00:37:57.559 --> 00:37:59.559
narrative elements that started coming through.

00:37:59.639 --> 00:38:02.360
So instead of just showing the active combat

00:38:02.360 --> 00:38:04.679
episodes of history, they would look at the narratives

00:38:04.679 --> 00:38:07.019
behind those events with the characters and the

00:38:07.019 --> 00:38:12.099
figures of history. I remember going to a great

00:38:12.099 --> 00:38:16.079
banquet in 2018 or 2017 and Nigel Amos was part

00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:20.849
of that event. performed brilliantly as a scald,

00:38:21.050 --> 00:38:26.750
praising the sons of Ragnar, Huber, Hafdam and

00:38:26.750 --> 00:38:29.210
Sven, Snake in the Eye, that kind of thing and

00:38:29.210 --> 00:38:31.030
it was really good and I got to know him a bit

00:38:31.030 --> 00:38:33.309
more personally then and then of course I know

00:38:33.309 --> 00:38:36.449
he got to write on other plays, well parts of

00:38:36.449 --> 00:38:39.750
Jorvik finale and of course the one in 2020 I

00:38:39.750 --> 00:38:41.610
was due to go to and I know that he was looking

00:38:41.610 --> 00:38:43.769
forward to that one because it was about Ibn

00:38:43.769 --> 00:38:48.960
Hadlan, the Islamic scholar who encountered Vikings,

00:38:49.400 --> 00:38:51.340
many Rus Vikings, and wrote quite a bit about

00:38:51.340 --> 00:38:56.219
them in his own scripts and travel logs. But

00:38:56.219 --> 00:38:58.500
that sadly got cancelled because a storm came

00:38:58.500 --> 00:39:00.260
over and started blowing all the fences over

00:39:00.260 --> 00:39:01.760
and all the lighting out, which of course was

00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:04.159
a big health and safety hazard. It started to

00:39:04.159 --> 00:39:06.039
cancel, then of course pandemic happened, and

00:39:06.039 --> 00:39:08.320
then it's been a long time coming since the finales

00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:10.960
have been as big as they have been, I think,

00:39:11.340 --> 00:39:13.619
although I haven't been to any recently until

00:39:13.619 --> 00:39:19.400
yore this year. But I guess the other question

00:39:19.400 --> 00:39:23.219
is, now that you've done two, do you think you'll

00:39:23.219 --> 00:39:27.320
be around to do a third in 2026? Have you ever

00:39:27.320 --> 00:39:30.480
told you anything? No, we don't know. We don't

00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:34.519
know. They are, I mean... It must take them a

00:39:34.519 --> 00:39:37.579
long time to plan the whole festival. So we won't

00:39:37.579 --> 00:39:41.519
know anything. I think till mid -summer maybe.

00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:43.780
I mean, the very first year, they were even later,

00:39:43.820 --> 00:39:45.659
weren't they? It was more like October time when

00:39:45.659 --> 00:39:49.760
we got asked. But I think this year just gone.

00:39:50.199 --> 00:39:52.800
I think it was mid to late summer when they got

00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:55.460
in touch. So we'd love to do it again. We think

00:39:55.460 --> 00:39:58.000
sort of three times would be nice, wouldn't it?

00:39:58.619 --> 00:40:01.559
A third crack of the whip would be lovely. I

00:40:01.559 --> 00:40:03.420
know the team really enjoy it. because it is

00:40:03.420 --> 00:40:06.119
a challenging week because the weather can be

00:40:06.119 --> 00:40:09.780
horrible that week. You know after the first

00:40:09.780 --> 00:40:11.239
year I thought none of them would ever want to

00:40:11.239 --> 00:40:13.500
come back because it was so the weather was so

00:40:13.500 --> 00:40:16.219
miserable but yeah we need to do it again so

00:40:16.219 --> 00:40:21.090
we would love to. But it all depends on them

00:40:21.090 --> 00:40:24.610
and then their budget and all of that kind of

00:40:24.610 --> 00:40:28.269
and their themes. I mean, Nigel, as you say,

00:40:28.289 --> 00:40:31.570
has been involved in it for ever and he was in

00:40:31.570 --> 00:40:33.530
the show. I don't know whether you knew. Yes,

00:40:33.530 --> 00:40:36.010
I did notice Nigel was in, but only after the

00:40:36.010 --> 00:40:38.349
event, I must admit. And it's only because, of

00:40:38.349 --> 00:40:40.269
course, I follow him on Facebook as a friend.

00:40:40.909 --> 00:40:43.630
He posted photos of himself playing one of the

00:40:43.630 --> 00:40:47.250
dwarves and working in Svartelheim. and he of

00:40:47.250 --> 00:40:49.730
course tags you in and is like, oh Nigel, would

00:40:49.730 --> 00:40:51.750
you mind just possibly putting me in touch with

00:40:51.750 --> 00:40:53.570
Tybalt Health Theatre? I would love to talk to

00:40:53.570 --> 00:40:56.090
them about their amazing performance and here

00:40:56.090 --> 00:40:59.590
we are. He's a very good dwarf, he's Nigel. He's

00:40:59.590 --> 00:41:02.050
also a very good bolder than beautiful. He was

00:41:02.050 --> 00:41:05.789
very good bolder than beautiful. I can imagine

00:41:05.789 --> 00:41:10.909
that. He died well. So yeah, I mean, I should

00:41:10.909 --> 00:41:12.989
imagine he'll be involved and hopefully, hopefully

00:41:12.989 --> 00:41:15.389
we will. We'd really like to. The thing is that

00:41:15.389 --> 00:41:19.289
we we've worked with Nigel for years. I mean,

00:41:20.869 --> 00:41:24.269
Nigel and I have done loads and loads of projects

00:41:24.269 --> 00:41:26.829
over the years together. And I've always known

00:41:26.829 --> 00:41:30.889
about his involvement in Jorvik. And again, he's

00:41:30.889 --> 00:41:33.170
one of the one of the people who's been involved

00:41:33.170 --> 00:41:40.119
in that life. And when He was the first person

00:41:40.119 --> 00:41:43.039
we contacted when we were approached by the the

00:41:43.039 --> 00:41:46.400
festival To say we've just been asked about this.

00:41:46.440 --> 00:41:49.920
What do you think and he was very very enthusiastic

00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:53.099
and of course Right from the word go. We wanted

00:41:53.099 --> 00:41:55.099
him to be on board. We want him to be part of

00:41:55.099 --> 00:41:58.000
the company I don't think he knew what he was

00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:02.860
letting himself in for because it is As we've

00:42:02.860 --> 00:42:06.739
sort of said within that within the hour You've

00:42:06.739 --> 00:42:10.780
got eight performers But in order to make that

00:42:10.780 --> 00:42:14.679
large space look busy, you're either on doing

00:42:14.679 --> 00:42:18.159
something or you are off getting changed and

00:42:18.159 --> 00:42:19.900
ready to run and do something. You have about

00:42:19.900 --> 00:42:22.079
six characters each, I think. Five or six characters

00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:27.059
each. Plus you are wrangling the re -enactors

00:42:27.059 --> 00:42:33.360
into the right places. In some ways for actors

00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:35.360
it's great because you don't have any lines to

00:42:35.360 --> 00:42:37.900
learn so you're not that isn't occupying that

00:42:37.900 --> 00:42:40.420
would normally be what was occupying the most

00:42:40.420 --> 00:42:43.400
of your brain. You don't have that but you have

00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:48.559
to really listen. You don't have that internal

00:42:48.559 --> 00:42:50.900
clock of saying when I hear that word I know

00:42:50.900 --> 00:42:53.789
that I'm about to say this. So you have to really,

00:42:53.789 --> 00:42:56.369
really focus on what's going on. And I mean,

00:42:56.710 --> 00:42:59.190
you end up with people throwing on one costume

00:42:59.190 --> 00:43:01.690
and they're going, no, wrong costume, throw it

00:43:01.690 --> 00:43:07.230
away. Oh no, no, no. Because you're... And we

00:43:07.230 --> 00:43:13.809
don't get much rehearsal time. We have the day

00:43:13.809 --> 00:43:19.420
before, but we can't... Do a rehearsal as you

00:43:19.420 --> 00:43:22.420
would as you would normally do constriction you

00:43:22.420 --> 00:43:24.699
want to have everything in place But we can't

00:43:24.699 --> 00:43:26.239
do that because we can only rehearse during the

00:43:26.239 --> 00:43:27.760
day Which means you can't have the lights and

00:43:27.760 --> 00:43:30.219
we can't have the sound because they look because

00:43:30.219 --> 00:43:32.900
the courts are in session Yes, so it's very much.

00:43:32.920 --> 00:43:37.019
It's a walkthrough and just And of course we

00:43:37.019 --> 00:43:38.760
and we don't have to be an actors either because

00:43:38.760 --> 00:43:40.960
they they've got jobs. They're sensible people.

00:43:40.960 --> 00:43:47.389
I paid attention to school so It's The rehearsals

00:43:47.389 --> 00:43:49.489
are really hard because you get a little time

00:43:49.489 --> 00:43:51.909
to just go, here's your costume, here's your

00:43:51.909 --> 00:43:53.110
next one, here's your next one, here's your next

00:43:53.110 --> 00:43:54.349
one, here's your next one, here's your next one,

00:43:54.630 --> 00:43:55.929
here's your next one. Right, let's take all that

00:43:55.929 --> 00:43:58.829
outside. So just get that sorted out so you know

00:43:58.829 --> 00:44:02.409
what order you're doing things in. Right, here

00:44:02.409 --> 00:44:05.190
are the three drum rises. We're using this one,

00:44:05.230 --> 00:44:06.750
then this one, then this one, then this one.

00:44:07.789 --> 00:44:10.329
Now let's block the first bit. Now let's block

00:44:10.329 --> 00:44:12.429
the second bit. It takes a lot longer. It always

00:44:12.429 --> 00:44:13.949
takes longer than you think it's gonna take.

00:44:16.269 --> 00:44:22.889
And yeah, I'm always amazed at the skill of the

00:44:22.889 --> 00:44:26.949
performers to actually get to the evening and

00:44:26.949 --> 00:44:29.230
go, yep, I know what I'm doing. Right, let's

00:44:29.230 --> 00:44:32.380
get out there and do it. Or for an hour. But

00:44:32.380 --> 00:44:34.539
hopefully next year, fingers crossed, we hope

00:44:34.539 --> 00:44:37.659
so. Now that you've both explained so well the

00:44:37.659 --> 00:44:40.559
limitations and the challenges the entire cast

00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:43.739
faced in terms of logistics around the space,

00:44:43.820 --> 00:44:46.159
working with the monologue, the duration, getting

00:44:46.159 --> 00:44:48.260
the timing right, working with the lighting or

00:44:48.260 --> 00:44:52.860
the lack of lighting when it goes dark. I just

00:44:52.860 --> 00:44:56.239
take my hat off to all of them because they did

00:44:56.239 --> 00:45:00.079
everything so smoothly, so easily it looked.

00:45:01.550 --> 00:45:03.889
And yes, although they went off at lines, the

00:45:03.889 --> 00:45:06.349
drama that they used in their bodies was brilliant.

00:45:06.510 --> 00:45:10.510
I remember watching, with some gripped attention,

00:45:11.869 --> 00:45:14.849
the silent discussion or, say, argument between

00:45:14.849 --> 00:45:18.710
Herval and her ghostly father, I say ghostly,

00:45:19.309 --> 00:45:22.230
the draugr, an undead father, about taking his

00:45:22.230 --> 00:45:25.210
sword from his burial mound and from his arm

00:45:25.210 --> 00:45:27.469
gestures and her arm gestures and the postures.

00:45:27.849 --> 00:45:30.570
And of course, thinking back to the dwarves,

00:45:30.769 --> 00:45:34.630
which Nigel was one of them, they walked with

00:45:34.630 --> 00:45:37.869
such a different type of swagger and step and

00:45:37.869 --> 00:45:41.369
a hunch or a limp. It really made them feel distinctly

00:45:41.369 --> 00:45:44.150
different just on site visually with those simple

00:45:44.150 --> 00:45:46.230
moves to the rest of the cast, who are of course

00:45:46.230 --> 00:45:50.070
playing as humans. And I have to say, whoever

00:45:50.070 --> 00:45:53.849
thought of doing the backlit orange inside those?

00:45:54.829 --> 00:45:57.929
prop boxes to turn it into a forge when they

00:45:57.929 --> 00:46:02.130
were making Tiefing. It was stunningly simple.

00:46:02.670 --> 00:46:04.909
It captured the moment, the mood, the atmosphere,

00:46:05.510 --> 00:46:07.469
all within that small space. They didn't need

00:46:07.469 --> 00:46:10.690
a big setup for a forge. They just needed that

00:46:10.690 --> 00:46:17.150
and it worked really, really well. I think the

00:46:17.150 --> 00:46:20.030
dwarf bits, they really do it because there's

00:46:20.030 --> 00:46:23.880
Matt and Nigel, isn't there? No, it's Tom and

00:46:23.880 --> 00:46:27.340
Nigel. Tom and Nigel. Tom's a regular at the

00:46:27.340 --> 00:46:32.420
festival as well. So yeah, they enjoyed it. Yeah,

00:46:32.559 --> 00:46:35.400
they really get big dwarves. I mean, because

00:46:35.400 --> 00:46:37.440
it has to be big, because the stage is so big.

00:46:37.760 --> 00:46:40.039
You have to be over the top in whatever you're

00:46:40.039 --> 00:46:41.820
doing, because everyone needs to be able to see

00:46:41.820 --> 00:46:48.699
it. Lots of big gestures. And also that's why

00:46:48.699 --> 00:46:51.659
we have the... that's why we have the stilt walking

00:46:51.659 --> 00:46:54.659
unit as well, just to give us a bit of scale.

00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:57.380
So last year, I can't remember the name of the

00:46:57.380 --> 00:47:00.519
character, who's the giant that the world is

00:47:00.519 --> 00:47:05.599
made from? Oh, Ymir. Ymir, thank you. Yes. So

00:47:05.599 --> 00:47:10.179
Tom played Ymir last year. We have an absolutely

00:47:10.179 --> 00:47:14.559
brilliant costume that was made for us a few

00:47:14.559 --> 00:47:18.349
years ago. for like a wild man. Wild man. Yeah.

00:47:20.050 --> 00:47:24.030
So we we use that. But yeah, as soon as I was

00:47:24.030 --> 00:47:27.769
going through it, I thought the ghost of Herve's

00:47:27.769 --> 00:47:30.789
father, that will be that's the moment to have

00:47:30.789 --> 00:47:33.250
that in. Although Tom last year with all the

00:47:33.250 --> 00:47:35.090
rain, it got to a point where he was going really

00:47:35.090 --> 00:47:38.050
is now I've got to stop raining. Otherwise it

00:47:38.050 --> 00:47:43.590
gets dangerous. Because we had Ymir was killed.

00:47:44.119 --> 00:47:47.699
and he had to fall and then be caught by the

00:47:47.699 --> 00:47:51.619
actor. So those kind of, yeah, it was quite the

00:47:51.619 --> 00:47:56.679
thing. This year he could walk on and walk off,

00:47:56.739 --> 00:47:59.280
which was great. We used more torches this year

00:47:59.280 --> 00:48:02.880
as well. Flaming, yeah. Flaming torches. So we

00:48:02.880 --> 00:48:04.840
tried to introduce, yeah, we tried to introduce

00:48:04.840 --> 00:48:11.300
that, which again, there's a very weird dissonance

00:48:11.300 --> 00:48:16.099
between What is going on in my head? What eventually

00:48:16.099 --> 00:48:19.360
happens in the York? I that always makes me laugh

00:48:19.360 --> 00:48:22.400
because you have to go you have to sort of go

00:48:22.400 --> 00:48:24.659
I'm sure Kathy about milk. Yeah, this is the

00:48:24.659 --> 00:48:27.829
ideal. This is the this is what we want But we're

00:48:27.829 --> 00:48:29.949
not gonna get that so this is what we can have.

00:48:30.190 --> 00:48:32.570
Let's let's but so let's make this the best of

00:48:32.570 --> 00:48:34.250
what we can have Yes, because in an ideal world

00:48:34.250 --> 00:48:36.389
you'd have stage crew and you'd have someone

00:48:36.389 --> 00:48:38.849
lighting someone else lighting the flames for

00:48:38.849 --> 00:48:42.070
you Yeah, and having it there to give you as

00:48:42.070 --> 00:48:45.750
soon as but because we don't have that so logistics

00:48:45.750 --> 00:48:47.929
of how to get all the flames lit and who was

00:48:47.929 --> 00:48:50.489
gonna light the flames and who was fire trained

00:48:50.489 --> 00:48:57.090
and And how to yeah, and yeah Yeah Poor old Louise.

00:48:57.289 --> 00:48:58.869
She enjoyed it though, she liked having her own

00:48:58.869 --> 00:49:01.469
flame. But there is, you know, to look that magnificently,

00:49:01.590 --> 00:49:03.349
there was work to be done behind the scenes.

00:49:03.530 --> 00:49:05.349
That was, I think, one of my favourite scenes,

00:49:05.530 --> 00:49:09.510
the herbals scene. Again, it's so brilliant to

00:49:09.510 --> 00:49:14.949
have a female character like that in it, because

00:49:14.949 --> 00:49:19.130
otherwise it is just lots of kings and berserkers

00:49:19.130 --> 00:49:22.590
killing each other. And having that character

00:49:23.770 --> 00:49:28.170
And again, as I said, it's about choice. Having

00:49:28.170 --> 00:49:31.809
that character come from nothing, from being

00:49:31.809 --> 00:49:36.070
a slave to being a shieldmaiden to then going

00:49:36.070 --> 00:49:39.550
to get her father's sword and actually claiming

00:49:39.550 --> 00:49:44.150
it from her dead father's ghost. And then having

00:49:44.150 --> 00:49:51.190
got it, what do you do? Because her father says,

00:49:51.309 --> 00:49:54.280
if you take this, there'll be trouble just now

00:49:54.280 --> 00:49:57.039
I want to know there'll be really big trouble

00:49:57.039 --> 00:50:02.380
kill each other and yeah whatever and still she

00:50:02.380 --> 00:50:04.079
takes it away and she there's that lovely bit

00:50:04.079 --> 00:50:08.179
where she tries to sort of she applies she marries

00:50:08.179 --> 00:50:13.780
she has two sons one of them's like his grandfather

00:50:13.780 --> 00:50:18.079
a bit of a wild person the other one's more like

00:50:18.079 --> 00:50:22.710
his father gentle considered person and you're

00:50:22.710 --> 00:50:24.150
kind of going this is and this is what i love

00:50:24.150 --> 00:50:26.690
about the viking myths you're going oh come on

00:50:26.690 --> 00:50:29.969
this has got to end this is going to end badly

00:50:29.969 --> 00:50:32.969
especially when you add in a sword that if you

00:50:32.969 --> 00:50:35.090
draw it out of its sheath it has to taste black

00:50:35.090 --> 00:50:37.710
that's probably the person come on and you give

00:50:37.710 --> 00:50:40.010
that sword to your son and you don't say by the

00:50:40.010 --> 00:50:43.349
way just a few little pointers about this sword

00:50:43.349 --> 00:50:46.050
it's cursed so don't don't do anything with it

00:50:46.050 --> 00:50:50.380
just you know have it there and i Yeah, I wish

00:50:50.380 --> 00:50:53.760
there'd been, one of the things that tends to

00:50:53.760 --> 00:50:57.079
happen in Metz is, in Norse Metz is that somebody,

00:50:57.559 --> 00:51:01.079
something happens, the story moves on and you

00:51:01.079 --> 00:51:03.820
then want the backstory of what did, what did

00:51:03.820 --> 00:51:08.559
Hervald do? What have her sons killed the other

00:51:08.559 --> 00:51:13.119
one? What does she do? We don't know. It's not

00:51:13.119 --> 00:51:15.400
in the story. What was her reaction? We know

00:51:15.400 --> 00:51:18.880
that her son. almost to went voluntarily into

00:51:18.880 --> 00:51:23.099
exile. So I suggested that, you know, he broke

00:51:23.099 --> 00:51:27.219
his mom's heart. The reason he got the given

00:51:27.219 --> 00:51:31.059
the sword was that he was the favorite. But we

00:51:31.059 --> 00:51:34.860
have such Louise was so thrilled to be playing

00:51:34.860 --> 00:51:37.340
a shieldmaiden. She's done a lot. She does a

00:51:37.340 --> 00:51:42.900
lot of combat stuff. She does stunt performance.

00:51:43.079 --> 00:51:46.409
She does a lot of combat stuff. and it was it

00:51:46.409 --> 00:51:50.190
was really good to have that story involved.

00:51:51.170 --> 00:51:54.389
Louisa did amazing in that role as her role as

00:51:54.389 --> 00:51:58.130
field maiden. You could tell she knew how to

00:51:58.130 --> 00:52:00.969
use the sword quite adaptly, quite well, quite

00:52:00.969 --> 00:52:03.329
cleverly, quite strategically for the purpose

00:52:03.329 --> 00:52:05.849
of it as being a weapon. It wasn't just a prop,

00:52:05.889 --> 00:52:08.909
it was her weapon and I can still distinctly

00:52:08.909 --> 00:52:12.010
remember there was a sequence of little combats

00:52:12.010 --> 00:52:14.829
between the reenactors around the circle and

00:52:14.829 --> 00:52:17.920
she had gained victory over one then she walked

00:52:17.920 --> 00:52:19.880
around a bit fought another one gained victory

00:52:19.880 --> 00:52:23.119
over that and at the same time others were fighting

00:52:23.119 --> 00:52:25.119
and yet they all kind of like rotated and yet

00:52:25.119 --> 00:52:27.360
met in pairs fought and then rotated then met

00:52:27.360 --> 00:52:29.659
in pairs and fought and it was it was really

00:52:29.659 --> 00:52:31.559
cleverly done i was really impressed with that

00:52:31.559 --> 00:52:35.260
as a performance combat piece if you've got four

00:52:35.260 --> 00:52:41.980
fighters then you can't really you have they

00:52:41.980 --> 00:52:44.380
have to sort of just do fight fight fight fight

00:52:44.699 --> 00:52:47.960
Move. Fight the other one. Move. Go back to fighting

00:52:47.960 --> 00:52:50.900
that one. Move. So that everybody gets to see

00:52:50.900 --> 00:52:52.519
it. You have to keep moving it around. Otherwise,

00:52:52.619 --> 00:52:55.679
I think it will be too small. The reenactors,

00:52:55.719 --> 00:53:01.599
we gave them more fighting to do. I mean, King

00:53:01.599 --> 00:53:05.099
Svaflame, when he was just knocking them down

00:53:05.099 --> 00:53:08.139
one after the other, that was a highlight. It

00:53:08.139 --> 00:53:12.579
was a highlight for them. So you almost don't

00:53:12.579 --> 00:53:15.920
line up. But almost like you're in a line and

00:53:15.920 --> 00:53:18.699
you step forward and he just there's one, do

00:53:18.699 --> 00:53:20.960
you remember the really really big guy? He does

00:53:20.960 --> 00:53:23.000
some kind of amateur boxing or something. Yeah,

00:53:23.000 --> 00:53:25.960
he does. It's huge. I mean, you know that they're

00:53:25.960 --> 00:53:30.880
all quite huge, this huge guy. And he said, oh,

00:53:30.880 --> 00:53:36.500
can you just bop me on the head? And Will went,

00:53:36.900 --> 00:53:39.659
yeah, because he's got a foamy sort of hammer

00:53:39.659 --> 00:53:43.210
thing because the weapons we use for the sword

00:53:43.210 --> 00:53:47.230
fighting are all live blades. But for that we

00:53:47.230 --> 00:53:49.989
had a couple of things that were more like, I

00:53:49.989 --> 00:53:53.949
suppose more like LARP style things. So yeah,

00:53:53.969 --> 00:53:56.250
sure, popped you on the head and this guy went

00:53:56.250 --> 00:53:59.690
down like a felled tree. I watched that twice

00:53:59.690 --> 00:54:02.469
and each time I watched it, it just delighted

00:54:02.469 --> 00:54:05.070
me. Because you see, when you get moments like

00:54:05.070 --> 00:54:10.269
that, you see the other reenactors go, ah, right.

00:54:10.429 --> 00:54:12.909
I can do more with what I'm doing. And they all

00:54:12.909 --> 00:54:14.789
sort of gee each other along. And I love that

00:54:14.789 --> 00:54:19.849
about the show as well. People are exemplars

00:54:19.849 --> 00:54:22.889
to each other. They encourage each other. More

00:54:22.889 --> 00:54:25.309
than just participation. That's what I'd like

00:54:25.309 --> 00:54:27.869
to get. They are quite a long way away, though,

00:54:27.869 --> 00:54:33.420
aren't they? We spent ages on the performance

00:54:33.420 --> 00:54:35.880
stage saying to everybody, you can't come into

00:54:35.880 --> 00:54:38.219
the arena anywhere you want. There's a gate.

00:54:38.659 --> 00:54:41.400
You have to use that so you never ever cross

00:54:41.400 --> 00:54:44.039
over the pyrotechnics. You're always coming in

00:54:44.039 --> 00:54:46.199
there. You're always going out there. And it's

00:54:46.199 --> 00:54:48.519
a bit annoying because it means that you're the

00:54:48.519 --> 00:54:50.719
far end away from where you're staying. But you

00:54:50.719 --> 00:54:53.630
always do that. Yeah, so we couldn't get the

00:54:53.630 --> 00:54:55.570
audience in. So we were going to get the audience

00:54:55.570 --> 00:54:58.150
in. We couldn't involve them that directly. We

00:54:58.150 --> 00:55:01.889
try to get them to cheer. That's what I think

00:55:01.889 --> 00:55:07.230
I'd do maybe next year is think about. I do feel

00:55:07.230 --> 00:55:08.769
like we're a long way away from the audience

00:55:08.769 --> 00:55:13.309
and we're performing. But anyway, yeah. Well,

00:55:13.570 --> 00:55:15.769
I can confirm to you both that I was cheering

00:55:15.769 --> 00:55:18.449
excessively loud or as loud as I could reasonably

00:55:18.449 --> 00:55:20.809
with other people immediately beside me in the

00:55:20.809 --> 00:55:24.579
audience. because I wanted someone in that group

00:55:24.579 --> 00:55:27.380
of you around that tree to know how much I loved

00:55:27.380 --> 00:55:30.139
that show. And the pyrotechnics, of course, they

00:55:30.139 --> 00:55:32.000
were a real treat. I was not expecting them.

00:55:32.079 --> 00:55:34.739
I know in past banales, particularly with battles,

00:55:34.940 --> 00:55:37.829
have had huge... a fireworks display afterwards

00:55:37.829 --> 00:55:39.130
I thought well they're not doing it this one

00:55:39.130 --> 00:55:41.110
because it's a play but then whoosh whoosh whoosh

00:55:41.110 --> 00:55:44.329
whoosh fire huge sparklers and the music that

00:55:44.329 --> 00:55:47.429
went with it oh it was just it was it really

00:55:47.429 --> 00:55:50.670
sealed it off really nicely and I think everyone

00:55:50.670 --> 00:55:53.250
in that circular arena we may have been far away

00:55:53.250 --> 00:55:56.769
but we connected across that distance through

00:55:56.769 --> 00:56:00.630
the the music the staging the acting of course

00:56:00.630 --> 00:56:02.769
the writing of that wonderful script the weird

00:56:02.769 --> 00:56:06.510
thing was that it's it's an hour But because

00:56:06.510 --> 00:56:10.329
once you press the button for the soundtrack,

00:56:10.690 --> 00:56:12.769
that's it, there's no going back. The soundtrack

00:56:12.769 --> 00:56:19.210
is this, an hour later it stops. And the weird

00:56:19.210 --> 00:56:23.630
thing is that that hour just goes. It does. Which

00:56:23.630 --> 00:56:25.250
is a good thing because obviously the audience

00:56:25.250 --> 00:56:29.989
have to stand. We couldn't make it longer. We

00:56:29.989 --> 00:56:34.519
have to be there to think about. Well, now that

00:56:34.519 --> 00:56:38.239
you've got Jorvik under your belt, are you doing

00:56:38.239 --> 00:56:42.320
anything else Norse -related in terms of performances,

00:56:42.440 --> 00:56:48.519
shows, events coming up soon? This year, I don't

00:56:48.519 --> 00:56:50.780
think we have anything other Viking -y, do we?

00:56:50.780 --> 00:56:54.280
We have a bit. Do we? We do, but she won't know

00:56:54.280 --> 00:57:01.159
yet. Oh. We've been asked to perform as part

00:57:01.159 --> 00:57:08.239
of the... Hanseatic festival in Kingslin, which

00:57:08.239 --> 00:57:12.860
is fantastic. Kingslin, when it was in its medieval

00:57:12.860 --> 00:57:15.179
pomp, was one of the most important ports in

00:57:15.179 --> 00:57:17.820
England. And it was a part of the Hanseatic League,

00:57:18.300 --> 00:57:21.559
the League of Merchant Towns and ports dotted

00:57:21.559 --> 00:57:23.940
all around the Baltic, but further afield as

00:57:23.940 --> 00:57:29.219
well. And I've started writing it. And I've put

00:57:29.219 --> 00:57:38.000
in a scene between a Lin salt trader and marauding

00:57:38.000 --> 00:57:44.460
Viking who's a little disappointed that when

00:57:44.460 --> 00:57:47.460
he arrives in Lin there isn't the kind of gold

00:57:47.460 --> 00:57:51.260
and silver that he's looking for and has a long

00:57:51.260 --> 00:57:57.599
discussion with the Lin salt trader. who explains

00:57:57.599 --> 00:58:01.539
that salt is even more valuable. It's much more

00:58:01.539 --> 00:58:06.460
important. And I think, in terms of what I've

00:58:06.460 --> 00:58:09.960
called the Viking, I know what his nickname was.

00:58:10.059 --> 00:58:14.579
It's Ivar the Gullible. He's just, he comes on

00:58:14.579 --> 00:58:18.119
all the... So that's a little bit of Viking.

00:58:18.119 --> 00:58:21.659
I don't know that we have got any other Vikings

00:58:21.659 --> 00:58:24.599
this year. No. There's a sort of... I don't know

00:58:24.599 --> 00:58:27.320
whether you know... There's a festival of history

00:58:27.320 --> 00:58:30.880
in Lincoln that happens this weekend. It's coming.

00:58:31.059 --> 00:58:32.880
Well, I say it like it's been happening forever.

00:58:33.179 --> 00:58:36.960
This is the second year of the festival. And

00:58:36.960 --> 00:58:38.980
we're actually being Victorians, but there are

00:58:38.980 --> 00:58:43.159
Vikings there. The festival is through, I think

00:58:43.159 --> 00:58:44.900
it's just at the top. Have you been to Lincoln?

00:58:45.440 --> 00:58:50.139
So the castle is at the top of the hill, as is

00:58:50.139 --> 00:58:52.320
some of the old bits of the city around the cathedral.

00:58:52.579 --> 00:58:54.820
I think that is mostly where the festival happens.

00:58:55.659 --> 00:58:57.940
90 % of it is free, but the castle does have

00:58:57.940 --> 00:59:02.320
a paywall. And so in there is a big show, which

00:59:02.320 --> 00:59:05.699
we're part of there. But there are Vikings outside

00:59:05.699 --> 00:59:09.340
and there is rumour that it might be more Viking

00:59:09.340 --> 00:59:13.139
focused next year. but that relies on it is a

00:59:13.139 --> 00:59:15.719
council run event so it does rely on the council

00:59:15.719 --> 00:59:20.920
running it um and so hopefully with the nice

00:59:20.920 --> 00:59:24.000
weather this year will be successful enough for

00:59:24.000 --> 00:59:26.340
them to consider running it again next year so

00:59:26.340 --> 00:59:31.059
uh we have that um but i think we're a bit viking

00:59:31.059 --> 00:59:36.380
short because yeah i mean the last time we did

00:59:36.380 --> 00:59:39.079
the last viking stories was for lincolnshire

00:59:39.789 --> 00:59:42.449
with some Viking stories, and then Grimfowl Festival

00:59:42.449 --> 00:59:47.829
a few years ago. We did that with Nigel. We have

00:59:47.829 --> 00:59:50.489
the festival coming this weekend, where we are

00:59:50.489 --> 00:59:54.130
playing a mixture of Victorian historians and

00:59:54.130 --> 00:59:57.150
a Victorian theatre company. So we're working

00:59:57.150 --> 01:00:00.409
together to put on a historical show. So we have

01:00:00.409 --> 01:00:03.329
a very typical argument really in that, how do

01:00:03.329 --> 01:00:06.449
you make history? entertaining so the historians

01:00:06.449 --> 01:00:09.010
of course want to put facts in and make it factually

01:00:09.010 --> 01:00:11.769
accurate the theatricals want to make it theatrically

01:00:11.769 --> 01:00:14.489
exciting so which is an ongoing conversation

01:00:14.489 --> 01:00:18.909
that happens today um so that's a good sort of

01:00:18.909 --> 01:00:22.849
running comment about performing history um so

01:00:22.849 --> 01:00:26.070
that's then um then we we're at Lincoln a few

01:00:26.070 --> 01:00:28.590
times this year but our big big event i suppose

01:00:28.590 --> 01:00:31.750
is illuminated isn't it yeah um so every year

01:00:32.079 --> 01:00:35.679
for feels like about a long time. We have been

01:00:35.679 --> 01:00:41.079
at Whitby Abbey for the half term. So that's

01:00:41.079 --> 01:00:44.079
our next big, massive, like lots of people projects,

01:00:44.260 --> 01:00:47.179
I think. We've got lots of smaller projects.

01:00:47.179 --> 01:00:48.719
Smaller projects, which we've really enjoyed

01:00:48.719 --> 01:00:53.500
doing. So earlier on this year. Sorry, my watch.

01:00:54.059 --> 01:00:57.460
Earlier on this year, we in February, we did

01:00:57.460 --> 01:01:01.730
a piece for Holocaust Memorial Day. about the

01:01:01.730 --> 01:01:04.630
liberation of the concentration camp at Belson,

01:01:05.210 --> 01:01:08.210
and we've been invited back to do that again

01:01:08.210 --> 01:01:14.989
by JW3, who are a charity who specialise in Holocaust

01:01:14.989 --> 01:01:18.929
education. We're at the National Archives. They've

01:01:18.929 --> 01:01:21.329
got a new exhibition in Q in London. They've

01:01:21.329 --> 01:01:25.530
got this new exhibition about espionage. where

01:01:25.530 --> 01:01:29.550
the MI5 files that they've been given access

01:01:29.550 --> 01:01:33.349
to. We went to the opening. It is brilliant.

01:01:34.070 --> 01:01:36.409
And we are going to be providing a couple of

01:01:36.409 --> 01:01:39.070
characters for that, for a couple of family days.

01:01:40.929 --> 01:01:44.110
We have an ongoing project, a performance of

01:01:44.110 --> 01:01:47.750
Dracula at Whitby also. Go to it. Yeah, home

01:01:47.750 --> 01:01:51.369
from home. So Dracula is a three -handed version

01:01:51.369 --> 01:01:56.579
of Dracula. It's in its 14th year. It's 14th

01:01:56.579 --> 01:01:59.079
or 15th, we're not quite sure. It's like the

01:01:59.079 --> 01:02:02.940
mousetrap of outdoor theatre. Yes, it is. And

01:02:02.940 --> 01:02:05.539
that's all the way through the summer holidays.

01:02:06.460 --> 01:02:09.539
But The Illuminated is very similar. It's similar

01:02:09.539 --> 01:02:13.800
in its epicness as the Orvic project in that

01:02:13.800 --> 01:02:16.420
we work with a lighting and sound company and

01:02:16.420 --> 01:02:19.670
they light... they're commissioned to light the

01:02:19.670 --> 01:02:23.090
ruins and then they work with us to create it's

01:02:23.090 --> 01:02:25.110
a promenade piece so you move as an audience

01:02:25.110 --> 01:02:28.730
and so we have four sort of spaces that they

01:02:28.730 --> 01:02:31.090
come to and watch the performance again Johnny

01:02:31.090 --> 01:02:36.230
writes the sound for that the soundscape but

01:02:36.230 --> 01:02:39.510
it's live performed live so we're acting in it

01:02:39.510 --> 01:02:41.869
and he comes up with us and does all the sound

01:02:41.869 --> 01:02:44.789
around and and and coordinates sound effects

01:02:44.789 --> 01:02:51.500
and stuff and Yes, so this is an ongoing story

01:02:51.500 --> 01:02:53.980
for those who come every year. So there is a

01:02:53.980 --> 01:02:56.199
through line from one year to the next, but that

01:02:56.199 --> 01:03:00.219
is not the main leader. Dracula's always involved,

01:03:00.340 --> 01:03:04.179
but it's not necessarily the Dracula story. I

01:03:04.179 --> 01:03:07.780
managed to sort of define it, didn't I? It's

01:03:07.780 --> 01:03:11.539
a bit like Marvel Comics. You are in the Dracula

01:03:11.539 --> 01:03:15.500
universe. Yes. The characters are in the Dracula

01:03:15.500 --> 01:03:17.599
universe, but it's not Dracula. So you're not

01:03:17.599 --> 01:03:19.480
going to, it's not, we're not telling the story

01:03:19.480 --> 01:03:23.420
of Dracula as we do in the sun. It's always based

01:03:23.420 --> 01:03:29.400
around Victorian, the classic Victorian Edwardian

01:03:29.400 --> 01:03:32.139
stories of horror, dread, weirdness, that sort

01:03:32.139 --> 01:03:35.199
of thing, which I read all the time. And I just,

01:03:35.199 --> 01:03:38.599
I just percolate down my own little ideas about

01:03:38.599 --> 01:03:44.170
how, with that, what to make it. real for the

01:03:44.170 --> 01:03:46.769
audience. We always personify the audience as

01:03:46.769 --> 01:03:49.570
a particular thing. So one year there might be

01:03:49.570 --> 01:03:52.389
refugees fleeing to the safety of Wickby Abbey

01:03:52.389 --> 01:03:55.650
from a vampire plague. The year after they might

01:03:55.650 --> 01:03:59.789
be coming to Wickby Abbey to seek the cure from

01:03:59.789 --> 01:04:02.389
the waters of the Abbey pond or something like

01:04:02.389 --> 01:04:04.090
that. Every year there's something different.

01:04:04.590 --> 01:04:06.809
Or they might all be vampire hunters who've been

01:04:06.809 --> 01:04:12.900
gathered. um yeah it's a night time show obviously

01:04:12.900 --> 01:04:17.099
um and we have similar size audiences actually

01:04:17.099 --> 01:04:19.480
i don't know how many Jorvik had but we can have

01:04:19.480 --> 01:04:22.260
up to three 3 000 in the evening isn't it something

01:04:22.260 --> 01:04:26.579
ridiculous isn't it so yeah we do the show twice

01:04:26.579 --> 01:04:29.019
through the evening so that's our that's our

01:04:29.019 --> 01:04:32.300
big um our big focus towards the end of the year

01:04:32.300 --> 01:04:36.099
and the summer is is uh full of lots of variety

01:04:36.099 --> 01:04:40.539
of victorian and medieval um and archaeological

01:04:40.539 --> 01:04:44.780
um projects throughout the summer the thing is

01:04:44.780 --> 01:04:46.840
we there are certain there are certain things

01:04:46.840 --> 01:04:49.019
that we're interested in and then we're asked

01:04:49.019 --> 01:04:53.199
to do something we think it'll either be oh wow

01:04:53.199 --> 01:04:55.380
i've always wanted to do that or oh i don't know

01:04:55.380 --> 01:04:59.059
anything about that great so the thing in the

01:04:59.059 --> 01:05:03.320
national archives about um about spies and espionage

01:05:03.320 --> 01:05:06.539
we did a play last year called operation fortitude

01:05:06.539 --> 01:05:10.360
about this um to celebrate the 80th anniversary

01:05:10.360 --> 01:05:14.420
of d -day um at dover castle there was a whole

01:05:14.420 --> 01:05:17.000
operation based around dover to try to trick

01:05:17.000 --> 01:05:19.090
the trying to trick the German army into thinking

01:05:19.090 --> 01:05:20.789
the invasion was going to happen between Dover

01:05:20.789 --> 01:05:23.130
and Calais, rather than where it did happen between

01:05:23.130 --> 01:05:27.550
Southampton and Normandy. So we wrote a play

01:05:27.550 --> 01:05:29.570
about that, and that got me very interested in

01:05:29.570 --> 01:05:33.969
Spies and Espionage, a deception, and I've kept

01:05:33.969 --> 01:05:39.610
that interest going. So yes, who knows where

01:05:39.610 --> 01:05:44.909
we get taken next, we just have no idea. The

01:05:44.909 --> 01:05:47.840
other thing is we get asked about projects That

01:05:47.840 --> 01:05:51.780
then don't quite come up come up, but so we do

01:05:51.780 --> 01:05:54.380
a lot of work on them, which is fine Yes, we

01:05:54.380 --> 01:05:58.519
do so we did We were approached about doing a

01:05:58.519 --> 01:06:01.980
project of Stonehenge which is fascinating it

01:06:01.980 --> 01:06:05.519
hasn't hasn't sort of come to anything, but The

01:06:05.519 --> 01:06:07.280
other thing is you just never say never you never

01:06:07.280 --> 01:06:11.840
know if something goes away and then Suddenly

01:06:11.840 --> 01:06:14.400
comes back again. You think oh, yes, that was

01:06:14.400 --> 01:06:17.980
we were talking about that so Watch this space

01:06:17.980 --> 01:06:22.059
every time we tell. And on that very apt line,

01:06:22.159 --> 01:06:25.039
Simon from time will tell theatre, we will bring

01:06:25.039 --> 01:06:28.719
this episode to a close. Another wonderful exploration

01:06:28.719 --> 01:06:33.699
of people and events and organisations and skills

01:06:33.699 --> 01:06:36.460
and talents behind the wonderful Yorbit Viking

01:06:36.460 --> 01:06:38.550
Festival. And that's why you're all legends,

01:06:38.829 --> 01:06:41.710
hence the name. So thank you very much, Simon.

01:06:41.949 --> 01:06:44.730
Thank you very much, Cathy. I wish you both and

01:06:44.730 --> 01:06:47.050
the rest of the whole cast and crew of Tyne Motel

01:06:47.050 --> 01:06:49.809
Theatre best of luck in all your performances,

01:06:50.170 --> 01:06:52.369
whatever time era they're presenting, in any

01:06:52.369 --> 01:06:55.769
of your locations around the UK. Viewers and

01:06:55.769 --> 01:06:57.869
listeners, I'll be putting the link down below

01:06:57.869 --> 01:07:01.289
to the YouTube performance of Their Care Sort

01:07:01.289 --> 01:07:04.130
of Tear Thing and the audio recording of The

01:07:04.130 --> 01:07:09.690
League Still Show from 2024. And of course coming

01:07:09.690 --> 01:07:12.829
up we have other guests lined up for the Legends

01:07:12.829 --> 01:07:15.889
of Jorvik series. We've got a wonderful illustrator

01:07:15.889 --> 01:07:18.250
called Katie Smith from York Archaeology who

01:07:18.250 --> 01:07:21.070
designed the one and only Jorvik Top Trumps card

01:07:21.070 --> 01:07:24.349
set. We have Jason Buck, a storyteller who told

01:07:24.349 --> 01:07:27.530
some fascinating folklore set in Iceland and

01:07:27.530 --> 01:07:30.829
other Nordic tales at the festival as well. And

01:07:30.829 --> 01:07:33.250
we also have our regular content of Valhalla

01:07:33.250 --> 01:07:38.349
Conversations episode 15 featuring Emma Thompson

01:07:38.349 --> 01:07:41.369
from the University of Leicester, Luca Pinaro

01:07:41.369 --> 01:07:43.250
from the University of Iceland and we will be

01:07:43.250 --> 01:07:45.789
discussing the North's influence not just on

01:07:45.789 --> 01:07:48.570
tabletop games but on computer games and the

01:07:48.570 --> 01:07:50.989
lovely crossover in between. So I do hope you

01:07:50.989 --> 01:07:54.500
can join me again on the channels or whatever

01:07:54.500 --> 01:07:57.000
platform you're listening or watching to so please

01:07:57.000 --> 01:07:58.719
hit subscribe so you can catch up because there's

01:07:58.719 --> 01:08:01.619
lots more to come. Thank you again Simon and

01:08:01.619 --> 01:08:04.360
Cathy, it's been wonderful talking to you. Thank

01:08:04.360 --> 01:08:05.519
you. Thank you.