Hagridden

Devised Performance

By Stephen Clark

Directed by: Stephen Clark

Wednesday 16 December – Thursday 17 December,
2.30pm and 7.30pm
Embassy Theatre

Perfromed by: MA Music Theatre students

Iceland is a land full of stories. Tales of Ogres, Elves and people who live beyond sight, heroic sagas and epic poems. They are stories that are born of the land itself.... a land that is a magical confusion of fire and ice, torn mountains, frozen waterfalls, rivers of steam and brutal changes. Hagridden is the story of a woman who keeps a secret far from the eyes of her village. But like the molten lava beneath the earth, her secret cannot be contained. And once it erupts, how does the village respond? Does she bring the endless light of summer or the dark fear of winter?

Hagridden is part of the story of women and how they are seen, and treated, by men. Fire and ice. Ice and fire.

Hagridden was just an Icelandic myth prior to the first production meeting, neither a performance text nor score existed.

Over the past three weeks the creative skills and collaborative efforts of the MA Music Theatre group gave birth to the music theatre piece Hagridden.

Time was spent exploring key themes emerging from the myth. The concepts of community, gender, politics and violence were constantly revisited.

The idea that we could solve both logistical and creative challenges through utilising several small groups, microcosms of the large group, enabled the students to work more quickly. It is credit to the students that they trusted in the process and allowed themselves to live in the uncomfortable but exciting world of not knowing as well as daring to take risks.