Momentous Moment for Medieval Cornish Drama

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Momentous moment for medieval Cornish drama 17th July 2012 It may have been Friday 13th but the rain held off and there was a huge crowd at Heartlands for Meriasek, a one off performance of a play involving 150 students from nine schools in the Camborne and Pool area. The performance was the culmination of a project run by MAGA, the Cornish Language Partnership, that introduced students to the Cornish language and the tradition of medieval Cornish drama through a series of workshops and rehearsals. Students worked with a team of theatre professionals to create the performance, which was based on Bewnans Meryasek, one of two medieval Cornish saint’s life plays. Meriasek was a Breton priest who came to Cornwall and settled in the Camborne area, and the performance featured the story of Sylvester and the Dragon, which comes from the original play, together with other tales from medieval Cornish drama, all of which were woven skilfully together to tell the story of the saint’s life. The project aimed to raise awareness of the rich tradition of medieval Cornish drama, particularly amongst young people, and to return a sense of ownership of the play to the people of the area in which it would originally have been performed. Bewnans Meryasek was written in the Cornish language in 1504 by canons at Glasney College in Penryn, with the purpose of bringing the word of God to a predominantly illiterate populace, and it would have been performed in open air amphitheatres, known as ‘plen an gwari,’ in the Camborne area. The new play, Meriasek, incorporated elements of the Cornish language throughout, and followed the open air tradition by being performed out of doors at Heartlands. “The children did an amazing job with the play, using Cornish with confidence and really getting into the spirit of medieval Cornish drama,” said Elizabeth Stewart, who was producer for the Meriasek Project. “We did wonder if planning such a large scale, out door performance for Friday 13th was a sensible decision, but thankfully the rain kept away and everyone’s hard work paid off.” As a legacy from the project, a resource pack for schools on medieval Cornish drama will be available to purchase from MAGA this autumn. To order a copy, contact MAGA on 01872 323497 or e-mail [email protected]. Ends Notes for Editors • For further information about the Cornish language contact MAGA, the Cornish Language Partnership, tel. 01872 323497, e-mail [email protected] or visit the MAGA website at www.magakernow.org.uk. • For further information about Heartlands, contact Kate Turnbull at [email protected], call 01209 722327, or visit www.heartlandscornwall.com. • Further photos are available upon request from [email protected]. .

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