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

The events listed in yellow below are open to the public.

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 of social dancing by making it respectable for partners to dance – in public – to ragtime music. Their story has unexpected detours into the shadows of ragtime, the glittery world of fame and fortune, and the battlefields of World War I. But the real hero of this intriguing tale is the public 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.

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.
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

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.

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.

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

upcoming events

If you'd like to be on Dolores' e-mail list for a reminder about upcoming
story performances, send your e-mail address to doloreshydock@gmail.com

Items below in gold are open to the public.

MARCH 2023

Thursday, March 23: Going the Extra Mile: The story behind an extraordinary journey. 10:30 - noon. Friends of the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest monthly meeting. SOLD OUT.

Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland made headlines as they raced, solo, in opposite directions around the world in 1889. Though they never met in person, their stories overlap in a fascinating series of coincidences that had them racing against time, injustice, and each other. This is the little-known backstory of their life journeys before and after that famous trip.

Tuesday, March 28: Starch in Their Petticoats ~ True stories of strong women who settled the West. 2 - 3 p.m., Sheffield Public Library, Sheffield, AL. Free. Sponsored by the library and the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

They were tough, resourceful, and ready for anything! This presentation shares the true stories of women of guts and gusto who settled the American West. They were pioneers, homesteaders, pistol-packin' card sharks, entertainers, and "upstairs girls," but they all played a part in putting the shine in the Golden West of the 1800s. Photographs, diary excerpts, letters, and newspaper articles of the day help bring their stories to life.

APRIL 2023

Wednesday, April 5: Footprint on the Sky ~ Voices from Chandler Mountain. 10:45 a.m. Auburn United Methodist Church, 137 South Gay Street, Auburn, AL. Part of The Harvesters monthly luncheon. All are welcome to attend. The program is free; there is a small charge for the lunch. Call the church at 334-826-8800 to make a lunch reservation.

Bonnets, bow-tie quilts, tomato stakes, the recipe for Scripture Cake, and an old-timey cure for hiccups – they’re all part of this funny and touching portrait of an Alabama mountain community in the 1970's. Actress and storyteller Dolores Hydock brings the spirit and voices of special mountain friends to life in this story of strong women, Southern hospitality, and the generous spirit of a close-knit community.

Friday, April 21: Short Stack ~ Stories to celebrate National Library Week. 7 - 8:30 p.m., Homewood Public Library. Tickets are $25, available online at homewoodpubliclibrary.org/hydock.

Non-fiction, travel, technology, the children's department...each section of the library holds its own kind of story. Join storyteller Dolores Hydock for a story ramble through the Dewey Decimal system with this collection of stories from classic lit, biography, and other treasures from the library stacks.

Thursday, April 27: Footprint on the Sky ~ Voices from Chandler Mountain. 5 - 6 p.m., Moody Civic Center, Room 1, 200 Civic Center Drive, Moody, AL. Free. Sponsored by the Doris stanley Memorial Library and the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

Bonnets, bow-tie quilts, tomato stakes, the recipe for Scripture Cake, and an old-timey cure for hiccups – they’re all part of this funny and touching portrait of an Alabama mountain community in the 1970's. Actress and storyteller Dolores Hydock brings the spirit and voices of special mountain friends to life in this story of strong women, Southern hospitality, and the generous spirit of a close-knit community.

MAY 2023

Sunday, May 7: Momorabilia ~ Stories about mothers and the ties that bind. 2 - 3:30 p.m., Hoover Public Library Theatre, 200 Municipal Drive, Hoover, AL. Tickets are $25 and are available online at http://events.hooverlibrary.org/event/7972218.

Swishy red dresses, Jungle Gardenia perfume, home cooking, holidays, and mother's intuition -- it's all part of a mother's story. A collection of funny, affectionate stories about mothers, children, and the peculiar ties that bind them together -- and a celebration of the woman whose story will always be linked to your own: mom.

Wednesday, May 10: Castles and Cathedrals ~ A story of ragtime dancers, social revolutionaries, and the magic of public libraries. 12:30 - 1:15, Red Ridge UMC, 8091 County Road 34, Dadeville, AL. Free. Sponsored by the Friends of the Dadeville Public Library and the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

Vernon and Irene Castle were ballroom dancers of the Vaudeville era. Their story has unexpected detours into the glittery world of fame and fortune, and the battlefields of World War I. But the real hero of this intriguing tale is the public library system whose resources make their story come to life.

May 18 - 20: Shoals Storytelling Festival, Florence, AL. Tickets and details at shoalsstorytelling.com.

Sunday, May 21: Fools For Love ~ Royal Scandal in Regency England. 11 a.m. - noon, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Shoals, 1332 North Pine Street, Florence, AL. Part of the 11 a.m. service; all are welcome to attend. Free; sponsored by the Alabama Humanities Alliance

Come enjoy true, tender and sometimes shocking stories of Cupid's mischief as we peek under the covers of two royal scandals -- one from 200 years ago, one from more than 2000 years ago. These stories are part royal shocker, part True Romance, and part fun facts from history. There's no telling what will happen when Cupid's arrows fly!

Tuesday, May 23: Soldiers in Greasepaint ~ USO Camp Show Entertainers of WWII. 2 - 3 p.m., Ozark - Dale County Public Library, 296 North Union Avenue, Ozark, AL. Free; sponsored by the library and the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

It was bigger than Bob Hope! From Utah Beach to the Philippines, USO Camp Shows during WWII were part of a diverse, hilarious, moving, and inspiring story of voluntarism and service. This program shares stories, pictures, and video excerpts of some of the 7000 famous and not-so-famous USO Camp Show performers who brought music, laughs, and a touch of the familiar to US service personnel far from home during World War II.

JUNE 2023

Monday, June 12: Putting Down New Roots ~ Through Ellis Island to a New World. North Shelby Public Library, 5521 Cahaba Valley Road, Hoover, AL. Free. Sponsored by the library and the Alabama Humanities Alliance. Time TBA.

Ellis Island was the entryway into the United States for millions of people -- and their stories -- at the turn of the 20th Century. Storyteller Dolores Hydock brings this snapshot of history to life through funny, tender stories that turn immigration data into a moving, human-scale story of what it was like to bravely "put down new roots" in a new world.

Thursday, June 22: It's the Little Things ~ Five small objects that connect us to the Dutch Golden Age. 11 a.m. to noon, Mt. Laurel Public Library, 111 Olmstead Street, Mt. Laurel, AL. (Program is in church hall across the street from the library.)

You could hold them all in the palm of your hand: five little things from 400 years ago that helped shape the world we live in today. Think we invented wearable technology and the selfie in the 21st century? Think again! Those things -- and many other things we think we invented were part of life hundreds of years ago. Photographs, maps, paintings, and historical records help take the audience on a journey from the Arctic Sea to Singapore through the story of five tiny things that changed history in a big way.

Tuesday, June 27: Oh, Henry! The life and writing of William Sydney Porter. 2 - 3 p.m., Anniston Public Library, 108 East 10th Street, Anniston, AL. Free. Sponsored by the library and the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

"O. Henry" is one of the most famous pseudonyms in American literature. It belonged to William Sydney Porter, who is often called "the master of the American short story." In this program, Will Porter's personal story is interwoven with updated tellings of some of the literary gems written by one of the most popular writers of his day.

AUGUST 2023

Tuesday - Saturday, August 15 - 19: Teller-in-Residence, International Storytelling Center, Jonesborough, TN. Hour-long story concerts every afternoon from 2 - 3 p.m. Tickets and info at www.storytellingcenter.net/storytelling-live-main/

SEPTEMBER 2023

Thursday, September 7: Every Picture Tells a Story ~ The storytelling of Norman Rockwell. 7 - 8 p.m., First Thursday Lecture Series, UAB Honors House, 1190 10th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL. Free; all are welcome to attend.

Norman Rockwell didn't just paint pictures; every picture told a story. This presentation shares surprising stories from Rockwell's life and career, and describes the creative process that Rockwell used to craft his one-image stories.

Tuesday, September 19: 2 - 3 p.m., Anniston Public Library. Topic TBA.

NOVEMBER 2023

Wednesday, November 1: Noon - 1 p.m., B. B. Comer Memorial Library, 314 N. Broadway Avenue, Sylacauga, AL. Part of the library's Adult Lecture Series. Topic TBA. For info, call the library at 256-249-0961.

DECEMBER 2023

Friday, December 1: Jingle All the Way ~ Stories, songs, and sing-alongs, with Dolores Hydock and Bobby Horton. 7 - 8:30 p.m., Homewood Public Library, 1721 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, AL. Ticket info TBA.

Saturday, December 2: Christmas Stories. 10 a.m. - noon. Clarion Inn, 4900 Hatch Blvd., Sheffield, AL. Christmas stories follow a lovely brunch. Ticket info TBA. Sponsored by the Sheffield Public Library. For info, call the library at 256-386-5633.

Tuesday, December 5: Christmas Stories. 2 - 3 p.m., Anniston Public Library. Free.

Sunday, December 10: Jingle All the Way ~ Stories, songs, and sing-alongs, with Dolores Hydock and Bobby Horton. 4 - 5:30 p.m., Shelby County Arts Council Theatre, Columbiana, AL. Ticket info TBA.

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