Sheffield Archives - Folk Phenomena

When it comes to yarn spinning the best type (in our opinion) is, quite explicitely, the one involving reading from a book or telling a grand tale. Knitting a jumper seems rather complicated and in folklore so many bad things seem to happen when you start spinning that wheel. That being said there is that familiarity in a favourite jumper, especially the one that appears after seemingly doing commando-ops in the bottom of your clothes drawer. In a strange way this comfort is rather like that of classic ghost stories, especially when their form and idea is respun in stories of the modern day.

Made in conjunction with The Book of Darkness and Light/LittleMighty/Harrogate Theatre, penned and performed by Adam Z. Robinson, and showcased as part of Enable US (which joyfully brings “New professional performances” to the old Baptist setting) “Haunted” is a play directed by Dick Bonham which we recently saw that showcased a performance of classic stories “The Upper Berth” (F. Marion Crawford, 1894) and “The Monkey’s Paw” (W.W Jacobs, 1902).

The Monkey’s Paw itself is close to the consciousness with such recent adaptations as The Simpsons, and (our personal favourite) Inside Number Nine, so watching a seed of these ideas being played back is a treat meaning that “Haunted” occupies a space which hits the sweet spot in the mind where your favourite spooky feelings dwell.

It all starts with hard liquor from the decanter, as our narrator gets a case of the shaky hands and tells us that “nothing will get him back on thatship”. “The Upper Berth” is a great story about a passenger on a cruise ship who ends up staying in a room which all the staff speak ill of due to the fate of several of those who were boarded there on previous voyages. The adaptation really keeps some of the best descriptions that set the scene, e.g. “sad coloured curtains”, his sensory description of the “wet” floor, and the individual running like “the shadow of a galloping horse”, and the performance around the spookiness of the “port hole” is memorable. In “The Monkey’s Paw”, we get a different story about a family who acquire a magical artifact from a Sergeant-Major returning from service India that grants wishes; but when has that ever been unproblematic? Robinson’s range is good as he moves from the part of an educated, supernatural sceptic to the Northern, working class father of the story in “The Monkey’s Paw”, who seems more than willing to accept and get his hands dirty in that superstitious, dark unknown. Other side characters such as the doctor on the boat are effectively performed allowing us reminisce of how an exasperated, worried and educated man of science of the time might be like too.

The constrasting themes of the perils of the curiosity of the scientific method (The Upper Berth) vs the curiosity of the chance to cheat life and fate itself are gruesomely desperate and fun themes. “The Monkey’s Paw” is great for what it doesn’t show too as well are left to imagine the grisly “machinery” death of one of the characters. It’s fascinating to see here how the promise of wealth even corrupts those with modest ideas about improving their station in life but also the pain and strength of avoiding temptation and trying to right a terrible wrong. Robinson switches between roles well, they all have distinct voices and idioms that make them recognisable. The only confusion for us is when Mr White (in the Monkey’s Paw) seems to refer to his wife as “Mother”. This could be narratively simpler for the audience to follow or it is possible we are losing our own internal plot at this point.

Credit must be given to the BSL interpreter (whose name I did not get unfortunately) whose forlorn and haunted expressions accompanied the signings and kept the grim atmosphere and tension high. The set is recognisable and effective in it’s choice of furnishings (Steve Watling/Charlotte Woods, technical manager) with the ghostly, greyed pictures in frames and domesticity of “The Monkey’s Paw” compared with the rolling netting, old case and dusty bottles of the marine nightmare. The lighting was moody and communicated the bleakness of the dark well (particularly as part of The Upper Berth). At times there were loud sound spikes for the jump scares. These were quite successful, we did jump at least once during the show after a scary build up.

These two stories are a great showcase of presentation, performance and writing. “Haunted” is the unfolding dread of the unknown and the dangers of human choice and inquisitiveness when perhaps things, “should just be left alone”. Old in subject yet lovingly adapted (and inclusive), it was a night to remind of the joys of storytelling and bone-chilling horror.

Photos by Charlotte Woods,

Check out the rest of Enable Us’s programme here, theres some great stuff.

For more details of projects and artists LittleMighty support, click here.

For enquiries around covering horror, folk horror theatre or folk music, please email us on reviewer@folk-phenomena.co.uk

Some emotionally grey, but not dismal tones as Yorkshire local Andy Whitehouse launches his thoughtful solo piece in Sheffield.

The Heeley Institute is a like a small crab, delicate yet intricate and versatile with a beauty in it’s design.

It isn’t the largest space but it has hosted some of the biggest acts. Recent winners of the Radio 2 Folk Awards, “The Furrow Collective” performed there last year (I luckily managed to get tickets for this) so it’s not just me who finds the place magical. You can’t get much more intimate, it’s like a pub but without the potential for loud interlopers during the set (definitely a bugbear of mine). Put simply, the Heeley Institute is a rather special place and while it is home for the night for big artists, it is also a venue for local musicians. On this night in March it is the launching pad for Andy Whitehouse’s solo album “Almost Home” alongside some supporting acts.

Residing in Sheffield Whitehouse usually plays in the band “The Silver Darlings” with a jazz rock and blues edge. Going solo, his sound has changed a little. It is moving a bit more towards the sullen than it might have done before and while doing it, it still retains it’s introspective angle that characterises “The Silver Darlings”. Like black silk moving across a dressmaker’s table, the songs roll through the sewing machine of music as the artist negotiating the edges of genre, creating stitches in the leathery Blues of the album. Not bright and cheery in the everyday sense it is a moody set that invites comment and reflection; if this appeals to your sensibilities then the music from the whole event will be right up your street .

On the night, Andy Whitehouse is joined for the festivities by a couple of support acts: the pretty dark Richard Neuberg and a fairly new, acoustic duo Mike & David.

https://youtu.be/dtVcoNfwme0

Mike & David bring an early bit sensationalism and cabaret to the evening kicking things off. Playing a few tracks to get the crowd going there were some joys to be heard. The pinnacle is a rather delicious cover of Pete Burns’ “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).” One cannot really argue with a great stage presence and more sass than a sarsaparilla smoothie. As a cobra ready to strike, you get the feeling that there is some untapped potential here, a duo with more places to go. Richard Neuberg was less of a cabaret motorshow and more a lone bounty hunter doing laps around an inky, dangerous pit. Dark clouds descended as he sang, his words almost slow clap to the man in black himself. Some great songs ensued like the swirling “Summertime” and it’s grim words, “what we burn we betray” and the chasing, affecting guitar and song of “Gold in the River.” There is more that can be said, but check out his website and have a listen to his work (here). At this point the seeds of melancholy have been cast and the grim rider has mounted his steed as Andy Whitehouse launches into his album.

https://youtu.be/T1kbDtTo3dk

“Almost Home” starts and ends with the sound and feeling of travel; it’s opening track looks inwardly and folkily to the nearby places of Yorkshire with “The Daleman’s Litany.” Previously tackled within the genre by Tim Hart & Maddy Prior, Christy Moore, and Roy Bailey to name just a few, Andy Whitehouse’s version can be described as being despondent, downtrodden and pained in feeling. Throughout the song there is a kind of chamber harmony, bringing a spiritual dimension to the song and making the man who has seen and done many things more of a living pilgrim than anything else. There is a feeling of weariness too; the guitar has the odd scratchiness to it and the song feels a bit detached like that the floating feeling of sleep from the lorry driver speeding through long roads of neon lights. Whitehouse lists the well known Yorkshire towns of the song “Hull”, “Halifax”, and “Keighley” to name a few with him being like the “eternal wanderer” who is never at peace. Some good exploration and it’s own stamp of identity, Andy’s first track is a banner for tracks to come.

If “The Daleman’s Litany is broad and spiritual “Beauty Before Darkness” is like a mirror ball that casts light and shadow on a relationship. Whitehouse wrestles with the starkness of the song. displaying shades of grief and angst throughout the lyrics. It could be the notion of love between troubled people, it also be the finality of one’s own life; Whitehouse’s delivery allows the audience judgement. It takes its time savouring the storm. With it’s waves of emotion from Whitehouse’s delicate vocals combined with the dark night mood guitar we get a poignant number with sad undertones, “Love is like a sunset, it’s beauty before darkness.” One of my favourites on the disc, a good second track and an enticing number, with it’s inner eye working overtime.

“Cherry Blossom” also has quite a bit of charm being is an off-beat song with bass and light touches of percussion that sound like the dropping of crystals. Much like “Beauty Before Darkness” it is laced with possible undertones. This one is like a song of addiction calling of loves past, occupying a kind of space between the waking world, the world of memories and the one of dreams. “as the sun comes up again, nothing soothes the pain.” If it isn’t obvious Whitehouse’s album and performance seems to call from quite a macabre and sulking place deep in a the middle of a goth gathering; though it never feels like posturing of for it’s own sake and there aren’t any elements of pretension. If it just a good fit of mood to lyrics. The sweet spin of brown sugar as it is swallowed by a frothy coffee I love the austere edge of the song, the deliberateness of the performance and places that Andy reaches for.

There is a brief interlude with “Jessica Faith” as a lighter instrumental and “Like the tide” has some more joyous moments too. “Almost Home”, on the other hand is like a late night drive over Sheffield’s local snake pass with the fog rolling in. Guitars harass from all angles and the darkness creeps in, the guitars work really well on this track; something about the whole sound, the atmosphere gives a shiver of timelessness, of thought melting into the road and dead of night. An extremely, evocative track it is the mind racing to the unknown wilderness, the sharp noire and stillness that you find in Murakami’s “After Dark”novel. Great, I love it.

https://youtu.be/Ge_N2C-vXKo

If there are similarities between this and Whitehouse’s work in “The Silver Darlings” it is the joy for the blurry edges of genres and the murkiness of some of the songs. It is a blue splashing of paint blending into obsidian, a delightfully inner world being dragged out of the depths of the mind. It is not the album for those that prefer their world-view through the lens of a rainbow and sunshine, it instead it hangs out with Reece Shearsmith in the woods with a blues guitar and a sense of parnioa. Check it out if this sounds like your kind of thing, “Almost Home” is available on Amazon (here) as well as Bandcamp (here) for purchase.