Intimate and courageous new solo show from twice BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner, Rowan Rheingans.
Rowan Rheingans is a fiddle player, banjoist and songwriter widely regarded as one of the foremost composers and innovators in folk music today. Best known for her work with acclaimed bands Lady Maisery, The Rheingans Sisters and Songs of Separation, Rowan has won two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (‘Best Original Track’ & ‘Best Album’) and is a five-times nominee.
Rowan’s debut solo show, Dispatches on the Red Dress is a heartfelt yet unflinching musical essay on memory, history, fascism, waltzes, folk-song, bird-song, trauma, family and war… Weaving storytelling and song with fiddles, banjo and guitar, live looping and subtle use of pre-recorded sounds, Rowan unravels the urgent message hidden in the folds of a story from her own grandmother’s youth in 1940’s Germany.
The result is a multi-layered meditation on ancestry and an unnerving elegy on the modern human condition, bringing the intimacy of a folk gig to the imaginative possibilities of theatre. Rowan explores how hope for the future might be found in the very darkest pockets of history in this poignant reflection and subtle celebration of human empathy and resilience.
“Utterly spellbinding singing and narration… and as the red dress’s true origin unfolds, the revelation will leave you quietly breathless” – THE SCOTSMAN ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Sublime…a narrative stitched with the subtlety of an expert dressmaker… celebrates family, nature and the ties that bind and goes on to pack a fierce political punch.” – THE GUARDIAN⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Online tickets available here. Booking fee £1
PRE-CONCERT SUPPERS AVAILABLE DOWNSTAIRS AT THE CHAPEL KITCHEN. BOOKING ESSENTIAL 01873 736430