In 2003
John gave his first performance of Breton
Tales after Dark, an anthology of stories
and folklore from 19th Century Brittany. This production
has since toured throughout the UK and has attracted a
range of reviews ranging from “wonderfully feral”
(Raw Edge
Magazine) to “the finest
presentation of storytelling I have ever seen”
(Marion Cockin,
Wolverhampton Libraries Service).
John Edgar’s show is a collection of dark, eccentric and
often bleakly funny stories of Breton life, and death,
after sunset, in a land where daytime is for the living but
night is the
exclusive province of the
dead. It’s a time when trees walk, dead skulls regain
the power of speech and the locals venture abroad with
their heads down, hoping that they won’t encounter the
Ankou with his fatal scythe (even though we all will, one
day), the Lavandières, the washerwomen of the night,
washing sheets to make the shrouds that will be needed at
dawn, or the strange and charming horseman eager to invite
you to supper in his mansion house below ground, where,
whatever the weather outside, it’s always warm.
All these characters and more are vividly drawn in this
faithful adaptation of some of the darkest tales ever to
cross the channel. The stories come from a range of
sources, most notably the work of Anatole Le Braz, a Breton
academic and writer who collected many stories and "first
hand accounts" from across north Brittany for his most
famous work "La Légende de la Mort".
The following year John added Breton
Christmas Spirits.
Christmas Eve was always
special in Brittany. Not only was it the beginning of the
most celebrated feast in the Christian calendar, it was
also the night of miracles. It was a night when the ox and
ass in the stable regained the power of speech in
recognition of their good work on that first Christmas
night. It was the night when the ageless standing stones
left their ancient beds to drink from the rivers, and there
was treasure to be had – provided you were quick. Midnight
was the hour when the waters in the wells would turn, for
two seconds only, to the sweetest and strongest wine ever
tasted. You were either at midnight mass or you were in
bed. For, of course, the dead also walked abroad …
John’s third anthology of
Breton tales and stories was 2005’s cheerily-titled
Curses,
Corpses and Conjurations.
In 19t
h
Century Brittany life could be dramatic enough, but what
happened next was far more exciting. And even if someone
were still alive there was always a curse to speed up the
journey to the great beyond. But once you’d killed them,
what if they wouldn’t lie down? What if they didn’t want to
keep still?
In this collection of dark, eccentric and bleakly comic
stories and folklore, we learn about the voueueses, those
with the knowledge and power to curse, we meet the dead who
won’t lie down (like the skull that wants its bonnet back),
and we encounter the exorcists whose job is to try and make
sure that the departed stay where they belong. And, of
course, there are John’s usual hints and tips for keeping
on the right side of death. From the hidden statues that
could give justice where it was due, through ghostly
revenants unable to rest until things were put in order, to
the brave priests and unwilling volunteers who dragged
reluctant spirits of the dead to the very gates of the
Other World, this is a bleak and eccentric celebration of a
time when two worlds met on a daily – or, more often,
nightly – basis.
John’s most recent Breton collection, Intersigns
- Tales From a Breton Fireside, premiered in 2006.
This is
another anthology drawn from the spookily strange world of
Breton folklore when the other world comes to meet ours
when the sun sets. The roads and paths of Brittany at night
are full of all sorts of things we don’t want to bump into,
such as the Lavandières, the washerwomen of the night,
washing shrouds by the river for all who will need them
soon (including you, if you interrupt them), and the Ankou,
who goes around with his old cart and his scythe collecting
the departed for their final journey. There are also a
couple of traditional Breton songs thrown in for good
measure in a show that promises you a dark, eccentric and
often bleakly funny evening of some of the darkest tales
ever to cross the channel. And if you’re wondering what
intersigns are, they’re omens, warnings of what’s going to
happen. As it’s Brittany, of course, the news is rarely
good …)
“When I first saw John
he took my breath away. He was performing one of his Breton
Tales and it was like the pupil and the master ... There is
never a moment when John is performing that the audience
isn’t captivated by the theatrical way he weaves his
stories.”
Billy Spakemon - RoosterSpake
All four Breton Tales performances are available for
bookings and require nothing more than a space for John to
tell his tale. Contact John for further information.
