Hereward The Wake at Ely Museum 7 pm 8 December
As free as the waters that flow through the Fen. *The Penland Phezants bring you *Hereward The Wake!**
The Penland Phezants are a published storyteller/poet; a veteran folk musician/composer, a harpist/composer and a fourth singer. They put famous folk tales to music & tell musical tales of real folk. Harp & voice have done this since Homer. Folksongs came to the fireside a little later. The Phezants give you all of this in their latest show “A Very English Resistance (The True Story of Hereward The Wake)” against a backdrop of the Hereward exhibition at Ely Museum.
Hereward The Wake’s daring commando raids against the Norman Conquest, gloriously crowned by his will o’ the wisp escapes along secret fen paths is the stuff of legends. Poet Gareth Calway’s racy new narrative celebrates Hereward’s underdoggéd routing of the Normans, from the Siege of Ely and the Sack of Peterborough Abbey to his later real-life Robin Hood resistance in the greenwoods of Northamptonshire. Based on contemporary Latin sources later compiled by 12C monks, this hero-tale contains much more actual history than other British and European legends as well as the added thrill of romance and magic. Andy Wall (lead vocals & guitar) Vanessa Wood-Davies (harp & harmony vocals) and Maz ( lead and harmony vocals) will join Gareth (narrative, backing vocals, drum) in a riveting retelling of this tale on Saturday 8 December at 7 pm.