{"id":162,"date":"2018-12-12T14:42:31","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T14:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsite.applesandsnakes.org\/?p=162"},"modified":"2018-12-17T17:47:34","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T17:47:34","slug":"silence-how-to-work-with-historical-texts-rachel-rose-reid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/2018\/12\/12\/silence-how-to-work-with-historical-texts-rachel-rose-reid\/","title":{"rendered":"Silence, how to work with Historical texts: Rachel Rose Reid"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the last few months, I\u2019ve been collaborating with a brilliant spoken word artist from Cornwall, whose work is timeless, full of rage, rhyme and satire. Their name is Heldris, and we have to work remotely because they\u2019ve been dead for 700 years.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Roman de Silence is Heldris\u2019 epic 13th Century adventure which was lost until 1911, and then quickly silenced again, probably because of its incendiary nature.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It tells how Silence \u2013 a descendent of King Arthur who uses s\/he pronouns interchangeably \u2013 \u00a0must fight for the right to inherit land (and therefore have any power in those times) and to be their true self.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I caught up with Heldris, who asked me a few questions about our collaboration.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Rachel Rose Reid\u2019s interview with Heldris<\/b><\/h3>\n

Heldris:<\/span> \u00a0What are your top 3 tips for working from a source as old as mine?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR:<\/span><\/p>\n

1) Read it once, then read it again , often with a pencil and notebook. \u00a0Write<\/span><\/p>\n

every time you feel something inside you respond. Pause the reading to<\/span><\/p>\n

explore what has moved you, what was familiar, what was new, what was visceral. What did it remind you of in your own life.<\/span><\/p>\n

2) Research the whole multi-sensory world of the story. \u00a0Speak to experts. Listen to music, eat food, shut your eyes and imagine the landscape these people lived in \u2013 both the writer, and their characters.<\/span><\/p>\n

3) Become a detective Don\u2019t settle for stereotypes just because \u201cthat\u2019s how it was back then\u201d. Ask yourself \u201cwhat would lead someone to behave in this way?\u201d, \u201cWhat has happened to a culture whereby such and such event seems normal to them?\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris:<\/span> Why are you working with me? \u00a0Why aren\u2019t you telling a brand new story?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR: <\/span>Good question. I mean, why do people repeat Shakespeare so often?<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris:<\/span> Who?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR:<\/span> Ah yes, he\u2019s not going to be born for another couple of hundred years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, for me, there\u2019s a sort of relief in finding that challenges I have been contending with, were being wrestled with by you, seven hundred years earlier; as we reach out to each other across time, I gain new perspectives, a sense of solidarity, a sense of this being part of a journey. \u00a0When we experience struggles in life we can feel as though we\u2019re alone, yet here in this bound vellum book you are genuinely tackling gender norms, rape culture, capitalist greed, women\u2019s rights, and queer oppression.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris: <\/span>\u00a0Are those still not sorted?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR:<\/span> Next question.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris:<\/span> Are you telling my story as I wrote it?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR:<\/span> No. Firstly, your voice is your own, I\u2019m writing through mine. Secondly, you wrote it in Old French.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris:<\/span> Don\u2019t they still speak French in court?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR: \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No, they speak a kind of posh English.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris:<\/span> \u00a0Ha! Common English? Posh? Seriously?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR: <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thirdly, you wrote it in rhyming couplets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris: <\/span>\u00a0That\u2019s a memory aide and it\u2019s great for rhythm.<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR: \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It feels pretty cheesy these days\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris:<\/span> What else are you changing?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR: <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our cultural references are totally different \u2013 If I were to just tell the story as it is I would alienate everyone. It would be a museum piece.<\/span><\/p>\n

I could just cut everything that\u2019s confusing, but then I\u2019d be stripping the complexities and depth from your story. \u00a0So I work out how we 21st century people can drop into this story. There are not many writers from your time that I\u2019d feel able to work with, but you\u2019re a rebel against archaic prejudices, so we make a good team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, some of your figures of power have been diluted across the centuries. \u00a0\u00a0For example, the way that knights and kings have become fairytale clich\u00e9s, or dragons and sorcerers have become the realm of fantasy films.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris:<\/span> \u00a0Fantasy what?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR: <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But knights are just a regular every day thing to you, and dragons and magic are a theme you use to explore the idea of how we deal with a Universe that\u2019s beyond anyone else\u2019s control. My work with you is to pull these things out of clich\u00e9 and make them feel real, so we can experience them fully.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris:<\/span> \u00a0Have you kept anything the same?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR: <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are so many ways in which you relate with your audience that I recognise \u00a0from storytellers and performance poets I know and love. You directly chat with us. Ask us questions \u2013 and can probably deal with back-chat. Go off on long arrogant waffles that turn out to be self-aware self-deprecating jokes. You take us high on humour before crashing us into the rocks of grief. Use rhythm, language, and nothing more than your words and body in the space to bring us the courage to face a difficult World \u2013 a World that doesn\u2019t seem so long ago after all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris: <\/span>\u00a0Are you performing it for hours on end in the Great Halls as I once did?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve broken it into a couple of acts for now. Each one a great adventure initself. \u00a0The remaining dates of this first tour are 11 July (Nottingham) 18 July (Bristol), and 21 & 22 July (Festival at the Edge, Shropshire).<\/span><\/p>\n

In September we\u2019ll be putting the whole epic together as part of an overnight experience in Devon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heldris: <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0In a hall though? With mead?<\/span><\/p>\n

RRR: \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span> More like a community space, with beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more details on the tour of Silence, and to make enquiries, see <\/span>www.rachelrosereid.com<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>www.silencespeaks.strikingly.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the last few months, I\u2019ve been collaborating with a brilliant spoken word artist from Cornwall, whose work is timeless, full of rage, rhyme and satire. Their name is Heldris, and we have to work remotely because they\u2019ve been dead for 700 years. Roman de Silence is Heldris\u2019 epic 13th Century adventure which was lost…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_surecart_dashboard_logo_width":"180px","_surecart_dashboard_show_logo":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_orders":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_invoices":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_subscriptions":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_downloads":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_billing":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_account":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[31],"article_type":[9],"class_list":["post-162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-as","tag-rachel-rose-reid","article_type-read"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":49,"label":"A+S"}],"post_tag":[{"value":31,"label":"Rachel Rose Reid"}],"article_type":[{"value":9,"label":"Read"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/silence-1024x600.jpeg",1024,600,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"D237","author_link":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/author\/d237\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":49,"name":"A+S","slug":"as","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":49,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":192,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","cat_ID":49,"category_count":192,"category_description":"","cat_name":"A+S","category_nicename":"as","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":31,"name":"Rachel Rose Reid","slug":"rachel-rose-reid","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":31,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}