'Six actors I've brought'
Tom Brown holds his Doctorate from the City University (London) Department of Arts Policy and Management. His M.A. dissertation - Mumming: the Evolution and Continuity of English Vernacular Drama - from part of which this paper derives, examined the parallel development of legitimate drama and vernacular plays in England from the earliest references to the present day.
His Doctoral thesis - English Vernacular Performing Arts in the Late Twentieth Century - researched repertoire, origins, development, motivation and management in over 330 extant performing groups: morris sides, mumming groups, calendar customs (including Hobby Horses, Jack-in-the-greens, feast days, etc) and display dance teams.
He and his wife created the North Devon Mummers in 1970, adapting a local Exmoor play, and were Master Mummers for ten years before handing the tradition on when they moved away from the area. It has been maintained ever since, and they re-joined the team when they returned to North Devon in 1998. Seasonal performances have now continued for forty-one seasons. Tom has also written extensively, including publication in Folklore, on his local calendar custom The Hunting of the Earl of Rone.
'Guisering today on the Derbyshire/Nottingamshire border'
[Awaiting information.]
'Rockness Mummers play: Performed by the people of Rockness for the people of Rockness'
Roger Duncan is Deputy Principal of Ruskin Mill College, waldorf educator, Systemic family therapist and one of the founder members of the Rockness mummers.
'Mummies and Masquerades: English and Caribbean Connections'
Caspar James is a musicologist with an MA in Religious Studies. He is based in Norwich, and has a particular interest in the music and traditions of the Caribbean. He runs Culture Crossroads - http://www.culturecrossroads.co.uk/. He has recently spent time conducting field research in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and nearby islands.
'Illegal acts in disguise: Mumming as a component of collective social action in 19th century Newfoundland'
[Awaiting information.]
'Mummies and Masquerades: English and Caribbean Connections'
Peter Millington has been researching British and Irish folk drama for 40 years, and gained his PhD from the University of Sheffield in 2002 for his thesis The Origins and Development of English Folk Plays. He founded the Traditional Drama Research Group's website https://folkplay.info/, and currently runs the Master Mummers website http://www.mastermummers.org/.
'Perform or Else: The Marshfield Mummers in Performance'
Mike Pearson is Professor of Performance Studies, Department of Theatre, Film and Television, Aberystwyth University.
'Bajan Mummers - Have they lost the plot?'
Stephen Rowley has been involved in mumming since the mid-1970s. He encountered the Tuk tradition in Barbados in 1994 and developed links with the island which inspired him to establish an anglo-bajan education project. Since then the Mum & Tuk programme has been delivered in more than 50 schools in the UK. In a development of this project he led a LECT tour by 25 teachers from Gloucestershire to visit schools in Barbados. Stephen is a member of the Gloucestershire Morris Mummers and the chair of the Mummers Unconvention.
'An illustrated talk concerning the Brunel play'
Gavin Skinner has been a full-time member of Bristol's Rag Morris since 1994 and has at various times in the past been Bagman, Foreman and Squire. In 2008 he started work on the script for the Brunel Play which led to the revival of the public performance of mummers' plays by members of Rag Morris. He has since written or assembled scripts for two further mummers' plays and has performed as various Doctors in all three of them. In his non-spare time, Gavin works for the At-Bristol science centre, designing software for interactive exhibits.
'Experiments in the reconstruction of early 18th century English pantomime'
Bill Tuck is a director of theatre company Chalemie and performs in commedia with Barry Grantham's Intentions Commedia Company. He also has considerable experience as a musician in a number of fields. An interest in early music led him to study baroque flute at the Guildhall School of Music in London and then to become involved in the problems of stage production of early music theatre and dance. At the same time he pursued an academic career as research fellow and lecturer in several universities. Since retiring from UCL several years ago he has devoted himself entirely to musical and theatrical interests. He holds a PhD in Mathematics and an OU Diploma in Music.
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