CAMBRIDGE STORYTELLERS

Every seat was taken and there wasn’t a squeak or a rustle from the audience, suggesting they were, like me, hooked on every word right from the start. Introduced with a furious drum roll, first we heard the dramatic tale of Uther Pendragon. In love with Igraine, wife of his enemy Gorlois, Uther uses a spell from wizard Merlin that makes him look like Gorlois, and as a result of this deception, Arthur is conceived. And I thought Arthur was supposed to be noble! Storyteller Chip Colquhoun focussed on the idea of destiny, reminding me of how Arthur was above mere mortals and destined to be special.

But it can’t have been easy for Guinevere, alone and vulnerable while Arthur was frequently on battle duties. Rowan says, ‘I often wonder what a woman's life must have been like in those terrifying days of bloodshed and hunger. I think queens did a lot of sewing.’ As she told Guinevere’s story, I could imagine why even a virtuous courtly lady might be tempted by a knight in shining armour.

From Knights Resplendent to the Beginner Knight, Gareth. Gareth is actually Arthur’s nephew, but has never met his famous uncle. Determined to meet Arthur, Gareth goes to Camelot, and works anonymously in the kitchen. Fortunately, before he becomes the first knight with dishpan hands, a young woman, Linet, comes to Camelot asking for help. The evil Red Knight has imprisoned Lyonesse and taken over her castle and kingdom. Gareth jumps at the chance to help Linet, lady in waiting to Lyonesse, and thereby making himself known to Arthur, and he offers to go and fight the Red Knight. The deal is, if he manages to kill him, he can marry Lyonesse.

Storyteller Anne French injects the story with lively humour and realism as she tells how Linet rudely turns up her nose at Gareth. Who is he? He’s not good enough for her. This isn’t a story I was familiar with and I found myself wondering if, despite Linet’s disgust, she and Gareth would end up together!

When Gareth fights the terrifying Red Knight, he spares his life, allowing him to go to Arthur’s court to serve him there, and it is clear that Gareth is a true Knight. Linet now feels very differently towards him. Call me an old romantic, but I think the mark of a good story is when the characters get under your skin and I feel glad that there is real romance building between these two.

In what feels like a very modern twist to the tale, when Anne’s Lyonesse is released from the Red Knight’s captivity, she sees that Linet and Gareth have fallen in love and she kindly decides to go on a pilgrimage and see the world, allowing Linet to marry Gareth. I feel like cheering.

No account of Camelot would be complete without a mention of Morgan le Faye. For most people, the name Morgan le Faye conjures up images of a witch, a bad person, but Teresa Benison works storyteller magic to portray Morgan as a lonely woman on the fringe of medieval society. Although she is Arthur’s half-sister, Morgan is effectively disinherited when Uther Pendragon kills her father and marries her mother Igraine. Guinevere banishes Morgan’s first lover.

Hardly surprising then that Morgan vows to get her revenge on Guinevere. There is an interesting conflicting pull in the stories between the secular and the religious. We learn that Guinevere sends Morgan to a convent to get her out of the way and it doesn’t appear to do Morgan much good. Teresa says, ‘I was intrigued by the theory that it was Christianity that brought about the transformation in her character, from benign to malign. In particular it was the Cistercians who, as Morgan says in this telling ‘blackened my name and besmirched my soul’.’

Morgan runs away, learns magic from Merlin, and she has love affairs with knights who stop to rest in the forest where she lives, but none of these last. Later she exposes the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere and Arthur is broken-hearted.

At the end of the story, we see Morgan regrets how her actions affect Arthur. Teresa says, ‘I hope that with this telling, the audience would shake off some of their preconceptions about Morgan and feel more kindly towards her, perhaps coming to understand how the events of her life might lead her to see the world more darkly.’

Our last sighting sees him reunited with Morgan and floating away on the Lake. What happens then is a mystery. Anne French says, ‘I like the optimistic concept of the sleeping king who may return; it is exciting to think of there being a hidden force in nature and in ourselves. Who knows what that might lead to?’

Storyteller Teresa Benison says that for her, working on this project was about seeing the familiar anew. Echoing this, a member of the audience, Merryn Grimley, said afterwards, ‘Everyone knows something about the legends of Arthur. This performance refreshed my understanding of the stories and was very enjoyable too. It’s really important to have these stories told, as they are part of our culture.’

Claire Powell, author and playwright