Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2016
The Story Machine @ Dragon Hall
15/05/16
I fell desperately in love with books as soon as I got to grips with Roger Red-hat, and have been an avid reader ever since. I was the girl with the book under the covers with a torch, the teenager who studied literature at university and the woman who spent 12 years working in Norwich bookshops. Thus, The Story Machine at the Writers’ Centre at Dragon Hall, a new and innovative immersive literary experience, caught my eye when it was announced as part of the programme for Norfolk & Norwich Festival this year. Books, for me, have always been about not only escaping life, but mirroring life, and enjoying one of my passions in the 14th Century hall and its intriguing nooks and crannies on a Sunday afternoon sounded intriguing.
The concept is this: seven areas of Dragon Hall, including the crypt, the garden and inside a car held 20 minute readings by authors and performers. These were scheduled rather like a music festival, so you chose which of the seven ‘chapters’ to attend each half hour, depending on what took your fancy. Additionally, there was food and literary themed cocktails to buy. Sounds great right? With only two shows at the Festival, one at 12:30, one at 7:30, and an ambitious organisational feat to reckon with, this brand new concept in storytelling and author events was almost being trialled live, with a live audience.
This afternoon was sold out, with around 100 people attending. The Main Hall, with its beautiful wooden beams saw us all together initially, with a spirited and exciting introduction from The Story Machine’s ‘engineer’, who explained a little about the project and gave a short history of the Hall. This led into our first story, Theatre Six, read by the author Sarah Hall. A tale about a doctor in surgery attending to a young pregnant woman in distress, it was a sad, moving and at times distressing piece with lots of medical detail. One of the most interesting aspects of the work for me was the coldness and distance the doctor clearly felt towards her patient. Sarah read beautifully, and was dressed in scrubs which added to its feeling of authenticity. You can read the story here http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/radio4/transcripts/20130816-sarah-hall-theatre-six.pdf.
I remained in the Main Hall for Here We Are, written and read by Lucy Caldwell. Set in Belfast in the 90’s, it was a tender and nostalgic look back at first love between two girls in school living in a conservative environment. Lucy’s Irish accent and wistful, heartfelt reading really brought her story to life, and it felt as though everyone in the audience was remembering their own times of being in a bubble of total joy with someone you have just begun to love. Unfortunately throughout the reading we were distracted by mumbling voices from another reading in the building which broke the spell somewhat. You can check out the story here https://granta.com/here-we-are/.
I had planned to next go to The Electrification Trilogy, located in the crypt of Dragon Hall; it sounded like the most exciting and immersive of the readings. Unfortunately it was fully subscribed as only 12 people were allowed in each time, and I was a minute late due to trying to quickly cram some roasted vegetables down my throat - they were delicious, but I do wish more time had been allowed in between chapters for people to eat and drink comfortably. The lack of space at some of the readings became a real issue as my afternoon progressed - for example, the chapter in the car, Jon McGregor Tours, only allowed four people at a time, and with only four opportunities to see it, the majority of people were left out.
Instead I returned to the Main Hall for Roethke In The Bughouse, written and performed by perhaps the most entertaining of readers, Kevin Barry, who was also Irish. It’s an imagining of the great American poet Roetke’s time at a psychiatric hospital on Inishbofin Island. Indeed, Roetke did suffer from bouts of mental illness. This funny, dark, edgy story was told with verve and vigour; it really makes such a difference having an author read their own work with all the correct inflections, timings and tone. I very much enjoyed this look at the madness that is commonly associated with those who are highly intellectual, and it was very well written. You can read it here http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/kevin-barry-short-story-roethke-in-the-bughouse-1.2308905.
I was primed and ready and hoping to try to squeeze into the next Electrification Trilogy in the crypt when Kevin Barry was finished - however, I was told it was yet again full. At this point, I started to get really annoyed. I couldn’t experience either of the two most intimate and unusual readings, and I wasn’t the only one. I tried to go and check out Situations by Claudia Rankine, a collection of video essays based on poetry, but that room was also full. I tried to go and see Mr Salary by Sally Rooney and that was not only full but had started early, so I had missed my chance again. With nothing happening in the Main Hall at this point, and what seemed like zero chance to get into anything else for the remainder of the event (another hour), I’d had enough, and went home discontentedly.
I was disappointed that this event, although a promising and exciting concept, had not worked out as I hoped, perhaps due to being unprepared, perhaps due to more people turning up than expected. It had rather an exclusive feel to it, a world away from what the Writers’ Centre should be promoting which is reading for all. I felt like they had closed the book in my face, and I had been left out of the very best parts. I’m not sure what they could have done to prevent this happening, and I understand that this was their first run through it, but I hope that The Story Machine returns to the Writers’ Centre again with a little more foresight and a little less chaos. Having said that, I really enjoyed what I did manage to see and hear, I have discovered some new authors and remembered what a nice thing it is, as an adult, to have someone read you a story.