Jack Harrison

Jack Harrison (1890-1917), V.C., M.C. Commemorated by League 13 with Rob Bell giving a reading at Holy Trinity, Hull 12/11/14 at 15:00.

Jack Harrison is one of Hull and Rugby League’s honoured sons. Born on Southcoates Lane, Hull into a humble and hard-working family; he was the only son of Charlotte and John, a plater and boiler-maker in the Earles Shipyard – they built two yachts for the Tsar. Jack studied at Craven Street School (now Malet Lambert) and went to York St John to become a teacher.

Jack taught at Lime Street School and joined Hull FC to become their record try scorer with 52 tries in the season leading up to the outbreak of war. Jack scored in the Challenge Cup Final – Hull FCs first win – in a team including Bill Batten, the world record signing. Batten earned £14 per match where the best of the rest earned £4. He was the super star and Jack was the Gentleman who volunteered to join the Hull Pals.

On the 3rd May 1914 Jack led his platoon on a mission to take Oppy Wood – the subject of a celebrated painting by John Nash. The Germans had dropped back from a calamitous defeat at Vimy Ridge on the Arras Front. Oppy Wood was blown to smithereens with tree stumps like scars against the sky. Jack Harrison attacked a machine gun position taking out the gunner but losing his life in the process. His body was never recovered. The battle lasted four days. One survivor, Captain Trail, remarked that he seemed to have lived a thousand years in four days.

Today is Jack Harrison’s birthday. League 13 have inducted him into the Rugby League Hall of Honour – one of three League Players who won the VC in the First World War. THT were honoured to be asked to participate. Rob Bell read Jack Harrison and Game on from Sharp Street and the recently written poem Hull Pals.

Future plans were discussed to commemorate Jack Harrison at Oppy Wood in 2017. The History Troupe will be working with The Yorkshire Regiment and others to make this happen. And, we are exploring an adaptation of Sharp Street, the performance, across Yorkshire.

Watch this space. Thoughts ...

http://thehistorytroupe.org/www/

A Poem

This was a second poem read at Ferens that people asked for - not in the Sharp Street book. This one came to me at Durham Cathedral recently. I saw a Pieta in the Cathedral and pondered as to what women who had lost theirsons would have thought ...

Pieta

If we could have been there
followed the battle, cleaned up
the mess; we could have held you
in our own pieta, made sense
of that telegram held at the door
as if read. Now, there are visits
to the fields on charabancs
with picnics and photographs
but all I take from these slabs
on mown grass is the hum of bees.

None of the pointless blood letting
of the battlefield, the deeper wounds
of those left behind. Something
understood unleashed itself
at the door. I didn’t need to go
or even have those photographs
on the mantlepiece. We are both
gone. Now we are back as you and me.

http://thehistorytroupe.org/www/

THT TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AT HULL BOX OFFICE

Since we started one year ago we have written, devised, produced and performed more than 15 different hidden histories seen by over 2,500 people in tiny places and bigger places at the Freedom Festival, in Churches; Pubs; Schools; Residential homes; doorways; a dockside and even Paragon Station. Oh, and a Theatre.

Some of the very best local talent have worked with us and the traffic on the website and this facebook page tells its own story – people are interested in history bottom up.

We are a young and learning as we go. We aim to build capacity to do more and do better performances with new writers and even more exciting content. One area of concern has been ticketing and so we are pleased to announce that from now on all tickets (with a price) will be available through Hull Box Office – a one stop shop for tickets to live events, concerts, comedy, theatre and the arts in Hull, East Yorkshire and beyond (for tours).

Press the button on the website and then, the TAB- Film & the Arts.
Coming soon – Oppy Wood and Readings from the First World War at Kardomah94, Hull; Christmas in Yorkshire at the Endsleigh Centre, Hull and Toll Gavel, Beverley.

Meanwhile, we are now listed:

https://www.hullboxoffice.co.uk/

http://thehistorytroupe.org/www/ 

German Artists of the First World

War ask questions of us all …

This coming week is a poignant one in the Centenary to the First World War. The History Troupe will be making a contribution to the local commemoration of the impact this war to end all wars had upon our own community.

We have been working on the selection of poems, songs and images for Truths at Endsleigh on the 15th and, again at Kardomah94 on the 19th. We will add to the well-known Canon of British War poets such as Brooke, Owen and Sassoon many more from India, Kurdistan, China as well as others from Russia, Italy, Germany and Austria. As these were selected and we moved to the images I was struck by how powerful German artists had been as witness to the war. They did not rely on the old way of drawing and painting to make their point. They threw everything at the War in protest.

Kathe Kollwitz, whose son was killed on the front line, drew some of the most truthful images of War in pulling away from the front line and settling on the impact on Mothers; children, those left to cope during and long after the guns stopped. Otto Dix, who served on the front line, produced a collection after the war of grotesque images like a skull in no-man’s land; of a trench. Ludwig Kirchner painted a self-portrait of how the war had “unmanned him”. Helmut Herzfeld was so disgusted by the war and the patriotism that cranked up the stakes he changed his name to John Heartfield – a subversive use of the enemy’s language. George Grosz did exactly the same changing his name to that of St George.

The Dada movement was born in 1916, the year that General Haig took the decision to attack at the Somme – 19,000 were killed on the first day. This was the catalyst for protest in the Arts much like the anti-Vietnam Flower Power Movement to come. So incensed by the senselessness of it all they sent Dada Care packages to the front – perfectly ironed white shirts wrapped neatly in boxes.

By 1919, Dix was back home and painting of maimed war veterans begging hopelessly on crowded streets. There is a card game and the men use feet to hold cards. These are no longer men. They are collages.

These German artists have made a telling contribution to our understanding of the impact of this and any other war. They were rejected as decadent by the Nazis but their own abstractions on the canvas were closer to reality than any patriotic image of men marching to a war to end all wars. These images yelled where others whispered and, urge us to look wider than the mud and back to the struggle for social justice, gender equality and, peace that manifested itself in strikes across Europe during the war, conscientious objectors on all sides and, mutinies on the front itself.

Let’s not forget that just before the Somme, half the French Army had refused to go over the top. This was not an isolated incident.

War does not allow for business as usual. War destroys not just the men on the front line but much much more. These German artists ripped up the rule book and their realism was less abstract than the decisions taken by generals far removed from all reality but their own.

On the 15th at Endsleigh, we will commemorate but we will remember that war is not to be written 

http://thehistorytroupe.org/www/

As We Move Forward

THE HISTORY TROUPE FIRST ANNIVERSARY!

Yes - it may seem like we have been around for a while but in fact tis but a year! 

November is a busy time. PLEASE come along if you can...

• Tuesday 11th, 12:30. Ferens Art Gallery. Staged next to the First World War Exhibition, Rob Bell will read a selection of his own stories and poems set in the war as part of the Humber Mouth Festival. Free entry.

• Tuesday 11th, 19:00. Statues Cradling Toys, Toll Gavel Beverley. This performance tells the story of the East Riding during the First World War featuring Rob Bell, Bruce Khan, Cass Patton, Tom Steer with the Hillbilly Troupe and Lyn Acton singing songs from the era. Tickets are £5.

• Saturday 15th, 19:00. Truths, Endsleigh Centre, Beverley Road. Rob Bell has combined with the Hillbilly Troupe and Dr Nahro Zagros to devise a reading of poems from all over the world backed by songs and music of the era. Readings of German, Italian, Indian, Kurdish, Chinese poems will add a fresh perspective to the British War Poets and satire will not be forgotten with extracts from Wipers Times and Nursery Rhymes of the era. Tickets are £5.

• Wednesday 19th, 12:30. Kardomah94. 12:30 – for 30 minutes FREE. By popular demand, the short play Oppy Wood is to be repeated. Written by Rob Bell and directed by Cass Patton this play tells the story of Tommy, back from the war, who explodes in the family like a bomb. Featuring Daniel Ash, Emily Cox, Bruce Khan and Cass Patton.

• Wednesday 19th 19:00. Kardomah94. A performance of Oppy Wood will open the evening and then, a selection of war poems and stories will be read by the actors. Again, the readings will reach across the globe to summarise the impact of the First World War way beyond the trenches of the Western Front. Entrance £5.

To the first TEN who ask on this page - FREE ENTRY to the lot!

Painting by the inspirational Martin Waters

http://thehistorytroupe.org/www/

First World War Readings at Kardomah94

First World War Readings at Kardomah94

Last week, The History Troupe cast from Oppy Wood plus Rob Bell; Geoff Sargieson and Norah Hanson read a selection of material from all over the world. Poems and writings from Russia to Italy; India to Armenia and the Wipers Times were added to more well known poems from the British Isles and Germany.

There is one poem from China. Few people know that 140,000 Chinese were sent to the Western front to help out on the docks and behind the lines. A deal had been struck that - if the Allies won the war, the ports on the Chinese coast that were under German rule would be returned. At Versailles they were given to Japan. To compound the felony. the victorious allies re-deployed them - clearing the battlefields and building cemetries for the dead. Many were killed - because they had not been warned of the danger of live shells. In one shell casing a poem ...

The readings are listed in a Blog Rob Bell has been running for a while. This blog is all about journeys...

Go to: http://rihlajourney.wordpress.com/

The Adventures of Aubrey Pocock

Aubrey Pocock’s trawl across the pubs of Hull …

Last night at the Bull on Beverley Road was the last performance of Aubrey’s Tour of the Four Corners of Hull. Emlyn, a truck driver from Ebbw Vale in Wales happened to be at the Sportsman: “I have been coming to Hull for over 20 years and I have never learned so much about the City AND had such a good night out anywhere in the UK!”

This was history bottom up; how events and the famous had an impact on each of the pubs visited: the founder of the SAS and honorary Bedouin Wilfred Thesiger at Rayners; Bowie at the Polar Bear; philosopher Wittgenstein at the sportsman and Charles 1st at the Bull on Beverley Road.

Aubrey was played by Stan Heywood who gave a tour de force and plans to enter Mastermind with the history of Hull as a topic; Cass Patton was the juke box and the Singing Nun; Dan Ash was a lost white Russian and raffle salesman; Lily Barr, a tarot card reader and Walt Lees was the magician. Applause rings out stll!

Each pub had a different story to tell and the craic was mightier still with the Hillbilly Troupe performing 40 different songs across the four nights. Barry Cundill opened up with his superb local songs and the Street Urchins joined us at the Polar Bear. Not forgetting Nahro Zagros – who gave us one of the most memorable violin solos at Rayners. Rob Bell wrote the script, working with Stan and Ian Winter on how best to make Aubrey tick.

The Four Corners Tour was sponsored by the Freedom Festival who saw this as an opportunity to open up Freedom across the City – MANY THANKS. Burnsy backed us all the way on the radio and the Hull Daily Mail gave us terrific coverage. David Murden filmed each performance and Darren Rogers of OccularArt took some superb photos and designed the T shirt.

Above all, each venue was packed and many followed the trawl across the city. This was a good night out with plenty of the craic and the songs before the sacking of our pubs took hold. There were raffles and dominoes; we voted to refuse King Charles entry to the City at the Bull; there were tearful moments in recalling 1968 at Rayners and, Aubrey's market stall banter was a tour de force. Remembering Jack Harrison VC in each pub was a poignant moment and THT have been asked to tour the pubs with a First World War playlet in coming months. THT are thinking about it.

Aubrey and the Hillbilly Troupe have been asked to return to the pubs and do some more and there is an idea to stage Aubrey’s Prayer as the story of Aubrey’s life and his attempt to turn back the tides of blind progress to give us back our market stall banter; the pub craic and the hidden histories of our town.

Many, many thanks to all who came along!!! And Aubrey hopes that he passed the audition! 


www.thehistorytroupe.org  

Oppy Wood

DOUBLE HEADER TONIGHT: KARDOMAH94, HULL 19:30 £5

1. The Play Oppy Wood. Tommy comes home from the war and explodes in the family like a bomb. Nothing can be the same. Cass Patton acts and directs with Bruce Khan as Tommy; Lily Barr as the wife and Dan Ash as the debt collector Sidney Watmough.

2. Poetry of the First World War. This goes beyond the British canon and explores poetry from Russia; Germany; India; Turkey; Kurdistan; and China. These words ask a lot of questions ...

www.thehostorytroupe.org 

For more Information

https://www.facebook.com/events/1854642451341398/ 

Remembering

The day the lights went out all over Europe...

For me, one of the most sensitive artists on the subject of war is Martin Waters. If you can - have a look at:

Poppy Installation at The Creative and Cultural Artspace in Princes Quay Shopping Centre, Hull. The new home of the Freedom Flame, The Flame of Liberation from Holland.

If not - have a look at http://www.martin-waters.co.uk/

Martin painted the image for the cover of Rob Bell's book Sharp Street. Today of all days, Martin Waters captures the mood.

www.thehistorytroupe.org 

Big Week

Another BIG week for The History Troupe

Monday. 04/08/14. Remembering Zeppelins on BBC Radio Humberside 4 x

Thursday 07/08/14. Kardomah94. Double Header:
- Oppy Wood. A play. Tommy returns from the First World War and explodes in the family like a bomb.
- Reflections on the First World War. Readings from the War Poets - ALL over the world. This is a fresh perspective with readings from Russia; France; Germany; India; Armenia; Kurdistan; China and the British Isles. Goes beyond that corner of a foreign field ...

Friday 08/08/14. Aubrey Pocock, Act 1 Scene 4. After a hugely successful tour of Hull's iconic pubs (Polar Bear; Rayners and the Sportsman), Aubrey signs off at the Bull on Beverley Road. Another COMPLETELY new script reflecting Beverley Road area and the 700 year history of this entrance to Hull.

It has been a busy few weeks. Above all - this week sees The History Troupe join the commemoration of the First World War with some ground breaking insights. Come along to be challenged, entertained and ...

www.thehistorytroupe.org

 

History From The Bottom Up

A BIG week for The History Troupe...

Wednesday 30th July - Aubrey Pocock at The Sportsman. FREE. 

Friday 1st August - Lunchtime - Street Shrines & Stories - Kardomah94. Readings and song about the First World War. FREE.

Friday 1st August - Evening - Statues Cradling Toys at Toll Gavel, Beverley. Tickets £5.

The cast: Rob Bell; Cass Patton; Bruce Khan and special guest Tom Steer of Open Umbrella Theatre.

The musicians: #TheHillbillyTroupe; Lyn Acton; Andrew Thomson; Jody McKenna and special guest - violinist Nahro Zagros

Remembering Zeplins

Remembering Zeppelins! A THT Radio playlet ...

Written by Rob Bell and performed by Norah Hanson; Cass Patton; Bruce Khan; James Stokes & Rob is on BBC Radio Humberside Monday August 4th:
- Breakfast (short version)
- David Burns (long version)
- Phil White (short version)
- Drivetime (long version)

This radio playlet is set just after the war and gives a perspective on the numerous Zepps raids across Hull during the 1914-18 War

The History Troupe Presents

Statues Cradling Toys, Toll Gavel, Beverley - 1st August 2014. 

As part of the Beverley First World War weekend, THT will perform at Toll Gavel. 

CAST: Rob Bell; Bruce Khan; Cass Patton & Tom Steer
MUSIC: The Hillbilly Troupe; Lyn Acton; Jody McKenna & special guest Nahro Zagros.

STARTS 19:00 | £5 on the door

 #thehillbillytroupe #Hull #hullfreedomfestival #thehistorytroupe

Aubrey is Back

 This Wednesday The Adventures of Aubrey Pocock 

Aubrey is Back in #Hull :) This time at the #sportsman 

#Aubreypocock #thehillbillytroupe #the4cornersofhulltour #hullfreedomfestival

 Aubrey has been away – no one knows which side of the wall - and returns to tell of the history, the craic and the soundtrack of Hedon Road in the 1970s. Dress to tell. The Hillbilly Troupe on song; Cass Patton leads the menagerie and … Aubrey will be there. 

From dockers hooks to timber ponds; Mother Riley to the Silver Hatchet Gang. Language is a skin – come tattoo the hours: 7 for 8 pm. FREE ENTRY 

The History Troupe