BEOWULF
Proper Job Theatre’s large-scale immersive Yorkshire adaptation of the oldest known English poem, was created especially for Kirklees Year of Music 2023 and adapted by five Yorkshire-based poets Ian McMillan, Michelle Scally-Clarke, Joel Simmy, Chris O'Connor and Franc Chamberlain.
Working with composer Leighton Jones and Supriya Nagarajan (Manasamitra) on an original score telling the story of a female Beowulf with a visually arresting, musical celebration, the performances took place between 8 and 11 November 2023 and included a Viking procession along the streets of Huddersfield to St Peter’s Church where the story of Beowulf was told.
“Staged by Proper Job theatre company for Kirklees Year of Music, it is a visually inventive mix of masks, shadow puppetry and projections. A gnarled and twiggy Grendel, made by puppeteer Liz Walker, looks like a creature grown from the soil, a quality shared by the music at its most organic.”
Leighton was commissioned to compose four new choral works for 60-strong community choir and pipe organ, in addition to his soundscape collaborations with Supriya Nagarajan.
Reviews
"Viking procession brings Yorkshire poets’ Beowulf to streets of Huddersfield"
The Guardian
"Huddersfield does a Proper Job of Beowulf"
Yorkshire Bylines
