When lockdown landed, 1927 the multi-award winning independent Performance Company behind Roots, saw the loss of their planned tour of this show in France, Germany, South Korea and China and their operas planned for Canada and the USA also all fell away. But they’ve been creating nonetheless.
They found ourselves thinking about Boccaccio’s 14th century novel The Decameron, an influence for Roots. They were thinking about how sharing stories in a time of quarantine is essential for moving forwards. They pitched an idea to BBC Arts and were commissioned as part of BBC Arts and Arts Council England’s Culture in Quarantine programme to create an audio series drawing together folk tales from roots into an aural experience. So next month 10-12 August BBC Radio 3 will be airing three episodes of ‘1927’s Decameron Nights’ drawing on 8 of the stories from Roots.
They made the series in isolation in sheds, at kitchen tables and bedrooms but you’d never know – it sounds great!
Available to listen to on BBC Radio 3 at 10.45pm on 10 – 12 August. You can also also find out more about these episodes on the 1927 website here.