SUNDAY 4TH JUNE, 3PM

VENUE: HOUSE OF THUNDER

This is a story about a bird and its extraordinary journey – but it is also a journey of the imagination, that makes a bird’s migration more than a just physical event but a metaphor for movement through time and space

Myth and science meet in this compelling tale of an iconic bird’s journey – told through story and song by Malcolm and Joshua Green. ‘Intimate and affecting’, ‘a tour de force of musicianship and performance art’. 

It all starts just after dawn at RAF Fylingdales on the North York Moors. A male Cuckoo is having a tiny 4.5g radio transmitter strapped to his back. A few weeks later he will have flown thousands of miles south and 3 miles high over the Sahara Desert, sending signals back to England as he travels through Libya and Chad to the Congo.

For thousands of years the Cuckoo has been part of folklore and its call present in songs, poems and stories. But now this bird is disappearing in England and people are already forgetting his iconic ‘cuck-coo’ song.

Suitable for all ages 7+

 

‘Musicianship and environmental performance-art meet history and myth…an engaging & beautifully constructed tour de force’.
Dave Pritchard (Chair, UK Arts & Environment Network, and consultant to the Convention on Migratory Species)

‘Father and son Malcolm and Josh Green have created a tour de force of environmental art. Gone Cuckoo mixes Josh’s enchanting voice, hilarious acting and wonderfully improvised music-making with Malcolm Green’s spellbinding gift for telling tales. Their shared story blends wonder and humour and joy with a profoundly serious message about the loss of British wildlife. Above all Gone Cuckoo is a love song to the most celebrated bird of the northern summer. ‘
Mark Cocker, author of: ‘Crow Country’

 

Malcolm Green is both a naturalist and storyteller who has told stories professionally since 1982. He has taught storytelling at Newcastle University for 20 years and, as manager of the Rising Sun Country Park, made storytelling central to the interpretation. In his recent work he has endeavoured to integrate a more-than-human perspective into his storytelling, collaborating with scientists and musicians to create a tapestry of ecology, myth and personal experience that convey both the wonder and fragility of life. His performance pieces include Shearwater and Gone Cuckoo. He is a founder member of A Bit Crack Storytellers  with whom he organised the collaborative Dreaming the Land walking project. He is author of Northumberland Folktales.

Joshua Green is a percussionist and singer-songwriter who collaborates with a range of pop/folk/alternative musicians and other artists, including Sam Lee, Alabaster de Plume and storyteller, Malcolm Green. His distinctive sound and feel are built from an innate sensitivity to sonic storytelling, the influence of nature’s inherent musicality and music and rhythms from around the world.