Hydock Does Battle with Medieval Text for 'Silence'
-- Mary Colurso, music and arts columnist, The Birmingham News

Ladybugs on the crown molding of Dolores Hydock's house in Irondale have heard the story of "Silence" many times. The pomegranate tree near her patio and the muscadine vines in the back yard have heard it, too.

Hydock, a writer, storyteller and actress, has been developing her new performance piece for about two years, adapting a little-known tale from the 13th century into a 90-minute evening of theater. "I'd write some, tell some. Write some, tell some," she says.

Audiences who watch her slip into the character of a grumpy crone, the plain-spoken and opinionated narrator, will very likely be caught up in the adventures of Silence, a brave and beautiful girl pretending to be a boy so she can one day claim her inheritance.

They'll hear of battling knights and jealous minstrels, lustful queens and elusive wizards. If all goes well, Hydock says, modernity will melt away as she relocates her listeners to a drafty castle in England, building the medieval world brick by brick, word by word. In that task, she'll be aided by PanHarmonium, a trio of players from Birmingham that specializes in recreating ancient music.

"The music adds so much to creating a context for the story, a setting for the story," Hydock says. "You hear the harp and recorder on the opening song, and those two minutes of music slowly begin to edge you back, century by century." But what seems nearly effortless on stage - the recitation of a lively and absorbing story, supported by period songs and instrumentals - actually has required much effort.

Those spotted red beetles on the walls of Hydock's place know, because they've watched her reading, editing and working at the computer. Also, while planting, pruning and otherwise tending the garden she loves, Hydock has shaped "Silence" by telling it to herself, out loud, over and over.

If the neighbors think she's crazy, talking animatedly into the air while wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat, Hydock doesn't mind. Art requires a few sacrifices, and she's willing to make them.

Hence, all those hours Hydock has spent pondering ways to turn a thick text - an academic translation of French poetry, no less - into something lighter, tighter, brighter and more theatrical. With the help of Gilbert Ritchie, Susan Marchant and David Cantrell of PanHarmonium, she believes she has succeeded.

But when Hydock discusses the evolution of "Silence," her sentences contain phrases like "struggling hard" and "sweating bullets." She is grateful, she says, for a fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts that allowed her to devote time to the project, and add "Silence" to other performance pieces in her repertoire. Professionally speaking, Hydock can mix, match and tell about 65 stories - and does so frequently at theaters, colleges, businesses, libraries, churches and community gatherings.

Typically, her tales are grouped into thematic programs with titles such as "Holidazed! A Story Tour of the Holiday Calendar," "Made From Scratch and Other Accidental Stories," "Momorabilia: Stories About Mothers" and "No, Really, My Dog Ate It: Stories for Teachers and Students of Life."

Hydock has recorded several of these stories on four spoken-word CDs she sells at shows and bookstores, as well as through her web site at www.storypower.org. She'll sign copies of "Silence," her latest disc, and present an excerpt from it, from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at The Alabama Booksmith in Homewood. Of necessity, that performance will be short, clocking in around 10 minutes. But even a full, in-concert telling of "Silence" zips along for her, Hydock says, despite the program's official length of 63:22, plus intermission. "It goes by in a minute," she says, "particularly if the audience is into it."

During a recent appearance at the UAB Honors House, for example, Hydock was delighted to hear a woman in the front row gasping at every twist and turn of "Silence." The building pleased her almost as much: a beautiful old church equipped with spotlights that cast giant shadows of Hydock in costume as the crone.

The crotchety character's attire includes a stout wooden staff with a ring of colored stones and a claw at the top, clutching a mysterious off-white globe. It's her story stick, Hydock says, designed for leaning, pointing and poking into other people's business.

"The woman who tells this story is so much fun to be," she says. "I imagine her as a person in the background, who sees all but isn't allowed an official voice at court. You might think: How does she know all this? Maybe she hung out in the kitchen in the palace."

Hydock and PanHarmonium have inserted themselves into a courtly setting before, teaming for adaptations of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "The Juggler of Notre Dame."

Teenagers - "Lord of the Rings" fans, no doubt - have been surprisingly enthusiastic about these stories, and some adults have no qualms about being transported into a realm of kings and queens, dragons and peasants. Hydock realizes she may never convince other folks to accept the idea that 600-year-old literature can sound fresh, exciting or relevant, but she's determined to give it a try.

"They get worried," she says, "thinking, 'I have to be good. I have to sit still and be quiet.' But there was danger and violence and sex in the medieval world. Life was severe. And these were very earthy people. They had to populate the 14th century somehow."

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dramatically different stories and shows

DOLORES HYDOCK

OCTOBER 2020

Thursday, October 29: Every Picture Tells a Story: The Storytelling of Norman Rockwell. 10:30 - 11:30 - 3 a.m. First Baptist Church of Trussville, 128 North Chalkville Road, Trussville, AL. Free. All are welcome to attend. (The event will be held in the church sanctuary, where there is plenty of room to spread out and social distance. Face coverings are required.)

Norman Rockwell didn't just paint pictures; every picture told a story. In this presentation, storyteller Dolores Hydock shares surprising stories from Rockwell's life and career, and gives a behind-the-scenes look at how Rockwell created his one-image stories. Using slide images of his sketches, models, paintings-in-process, and finished work, this program follows the step-by-step creative process Rockwell used in becoming “America’s painter” – and storyteller on canvas.

NOVEMBER 2020

Thursday, November 5: Castles and Cathedrals. 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., Fayette Music Club, Fayette, AL. Event held at Fellowship Hall of the First Baptist Church of Fayette, 432 Temple Avenue North, Fayette, AL. Free. Sponsored by the Alabama Humanities Foundation and the Fayette Music Club. (The event will be held in the church fellowship hall, where there is plenty of room to spread out and social distance. Face coverings are required.)

Vernon and Irene Castle were ballroom dancers of the Vaudeville era. In thefirst part of the 20th century, they revolutionized the idea ofsocial dancing by making it respectable for partners to dance – in public – to ragtime music. Their story has unexpected detours into theshadows of ragtime, the glittery world of fame and fortune, and thebattlefields of World War I. But the real hero of this intriguing tale is thepublic library system whose resources make their story come to life.

DECEMBER 2020 (tentative)

Saturday, December 5: The Unexpected Christmas. 10 a.m. - noon, holiday brunch sponsored by the Sheffield Public Library. Clarion Inn, 4900 Hatch Blvd., Sheffield, AL. Brunch at 10 a.m., with stories to follow. Tickets available starting in November. For more info, call the library at 256-386-5633.

2020 has been a year when perfect plans got turned upside-down. Why should Christmas be any different? Storyteller Dolores Hydock brings two stories of plans for "perfect" Christmases that turned out to be ... well, different than expected.

Tuesday, December 8: The Unexpected Christmas. 2 - 3 p.m., Anniston Public Library, 108 East 10th Street, Anniston, AL. Free. The event is in the library's auditorium, where there is rooms to spread out and social distance. For more info, call the library at 256-237-8501.

Wednesday, December 9: It's Not the Food, It's the Fellowship. Alabama Homemakers Christmas Gathering. Private event.

Tuesday, December 15: Stubby Pringle's Christmas, with the music of Bobby Horton. Part of an "old-time Christmas" at the We Piddle Around Theatre, Brundidge, AL. More info coming soon!

2020 has been a year of perfect plans turned upside-down. So let's finish it off with a funny, charming story about a cowboy whose perfect plan for a foot-stompin' good time on Christmas Eve gets derailed by an unexpected detour.

Thursday, December 17: Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory and It's Not the Food, It's the Fellowship. Virtual storytelling performance of two Christmas stories, part of the Storytelling Online series of the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Tickets are $12; the online session is available for viewing by ticket holders from December 17th through December 20th. For tickets, visit www.storytellingcenter.net/storytelling-online

Writer Truman Capote spent part of his childhood in Monroeville, Alabama, living with some elderly cousins. One of those cousins, Miss Sook Faulk, became, as he said, "his first friend." A joyful Christmas from that simpler time and the enduring friendship of a 7-year-old child and his 60-something cousin became the subject of Capote’s beloved story A Christmas Memory. In this special presentation, Capote’s holiday classic is brought to vivid life by storyteller Dolores Hydock.

In the story, Miss Sook’s annual exclamation – It’s fruitcake weather! – sets in motion a ritual of holiday baking that was an essential part of that long-ago Alabama Christmas. Holiday baking steams up another, more modern Alabama kitchen in It’s Not the Food, It’s the Fellowship, the story that begins this two-part, hour-long program.

Both stories will remind you that other people’s relatives and rituals are crazy, too. But most of all, they’ll help you celebrate that spirit of comfort, joy, and connection that makes this such a memorable time of year.

Thursday, December 17: Christmas stories. Private event.

Sunday, December 20: Christmas stories. 10 - 10:45 a.m., Independent Presbyterian Church Highland Hall. Free.

JANUARY 2021 (tentative)

Sunday, January 31: Soup and Stories for the Soul. 12:15 - 2 p.m. Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church. Lunch and story program benefitting the church food pantry. Ticket info TBA.

FEBRUARY 2021 (tentative)

Tuesday, February 9: Valentine stories. Metro Dinner Club, Birmingham, AL.

Saturday, February 20: DKG State Conference, Huntsville, AL.

MARCH 2021 (tentative)

Friday - Saturday, March 19 - 20: Do Tell! Storytelling Festival, Madison, GA.

APRIL 2021

Friday - Saturday, April 16 - 17: Sounds of the Mountains Storytelling Festival, Bethel, VA.

MAY 2021

Friday - Saturday, May 20 - 21: Shoals Storytelling Festival, Florence, AL.

JUNE 2021

Tuesday, June 8: Private event, Birmingham, AL.

Thursday, June 10: Soldiers in Hoop Skirts. Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table, Huntsville, AL.

JULY 2021

AUGUST 2021

SEPTEMBER 2021

OCTOBER 2021

Friday - Sunday, October 1 - 3: National Storytelling Festival, Jonesborough, TN. Ticket info TBA.

NOVEMBER 2021

DECEMBER 2021

Eglamore and Cristobel ~

A Medieval Love Story

Romeo and Juliet. Tristan and Iseult. Antony and Cleopatra. Bonnie and Clyde.

Some people are just made for each other. How they got together, how it all worked out… well, that’s what love stories are all about.

One love story that’s been around for hundreds of years is the hauntingly beautiful medieval tale of Eglamore and Cristobel, star-crossed lovers from long ago. Theirs is the story of a cruel father, three dangerous tasks, a fateful journey, and a love that will not be denied. The random winds of fate conspire to keep them apart. Will they lose each other forever? Or will love conquer all?

Dolores Hydock, in the voice, spirit, and costume of a cranky crone, brings to life this original adaptation of a passionate 14th-century tale of desire, heartache, treachery, and the triumph of true love. The storytelling crone, as always, adds editorial commentary as she tells the tale; medieval music trio PanHarmonium lends musical punctuation on harp, hurdy-gurdy, lute, viol, recorder, and other instruments of old.

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Award-winning storyteller Dolores Hydock, in the costume, voice, and spirit of a wily old crone, serves as the narrator who freely expresses her opinions as she spins the tale.

The story can be told with or without period music provied by the musicians of PanHarmonium -- David Cantrell, Susan Marchant, and Gilbert Ritchie. With recorders, harp, hurdy-gurdy, lute, viols, and psaltery, they add haunting melodies and exuberant songs of the period to this powerful story.

"I am 17, and as a child I was fascinated by tales of dragons and warriors. I loved hearing and reading stories of men who stood for something as opposed to our modern society where most men will fall for anything. I loved this story. Throughout, I felt as if I was not at a storytelling festival but in a dirty 13th century street, that I was not wearing jeans and a button-up shirt, but rather a tunic. You kept me hanging on every word wanting to know exactly what was to happen to these two lovers who became very real for those few moments. After the performance, I noticed that I had gained something from the experience. Your story stretched my mind -- it gave me new ideas and a lot to think about. Though the performance was over, I carried the story with me."

--Adam B., audience member at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival

For a video excerpt from a live performance of Eglamore & Cristobel, click on the arrow on the photo at left or the photo at the top of the page.

The Making of Eglamore and Cristobel

Click here for an article about the development of Eglamore and Cristobel: A Medieval Love Story.

Click here for an article about the collaboration of Dolores and the musicians of PanHarmonium in creating Eglamore & Cristobel and the story Silence: The Adventure of a Medieval Warrior Woman.

This story can be told with or without the period music of PanHarmonium. It requires minimal stage set-up.

Eglamore & Cristobel on CD
The CD of Eglamore & Cristobel received a Resource Award for Story Recordings from Storytelling World Magazine. Click here for information about this CD and Dolores' other award-winning CDs.

Other medieval story adaptations

Dolores and the musicians of PanHarmonium also collaborated to create an original adaptation of Silence: The Adventure of a Medieval Warrior Woman. Click here for video and other information about that story. Dolores and PanHarmonium also collaborated on modern-language adaptations of the stories Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Juggler of Notre Dame.

Click here for an article about the process of working together on these surprisingly contemporary stories.

PanHarmonium was formed in 1987 to recreate the music of ancient times using the instruments and musical styles of the period. Together, David Cantrell, Susan Marchant, and Gilbert Ritchie have performed at Birmingham's City Stages, the Festival of Arts, ArtBurst, the Kentuck Arts Festival in Northport, and other arts events. Their repertoire includes medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music, played on reproductions of the crumhorn, recorder, harp, organistrum, and other instruments.

Click on the arrow above for an excerpt from the story.

Click on the link below for an article called "Medieval Bebop" -- about the musicians of PanHarmonium and the free-form style of the music in this story.

Medieval BeBop