BOOKS
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The Assembly of the Severed Head
by Hugh Lupton
He is Cian Brydydd Mawr, the greatest bard of his age, who holds in his head the four ‘branches’ of an ancient, epic Welsh myth cycle: The Mabinogion. Physically weak but strong willed, he asks the monks to put aside their rigid Christian doctrine and commit his tales (which they see as pagan relics) to parchment. It takes the intervention of a king to persuade them. And as the old poet tells his tales of spirits and shape-shifters, spells and curses, passion and vengeance, no-one in his audience will ever be the same again.
Here is a truly memorable novel, possibly a great one, standing at the intersection of the oral and the written. This is the novel that Lupton was born to write. It is by turns spiritual, magical, passionate, tender, visceral and gory. It is beautifully crafted. And its backbone is a humane engagement with the power and function of story.
Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Dreaming of Place
by Hugh Lupton
Drawing on his vast knowledge of folklore and legends from around the world, as well as an unrivalled experience of live storytelling, Hugh Lupton shows us how stories always formed on the breath before the page – have nourished, taught and guided us for millennia.
Orpheus and Eurydice
Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden
Theseus and the Minotaur
Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden
The Adventures of Odysseus
Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden
The Songs of Birds
Hugh Lupton & Steve Palin
Demeter and Persephone
Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden.
The Adventures of Achilles
Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden
CDs & DVDs
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The Hanging Of A Mouse
A story of Love, Transformation, Enchantment and Revenge from the First and Third branches of the Mabinogion.
Told by Hugh Lupton, accompanied by Nick Hennessey on harp.
When The Morning Star Sang And The Angels Shouted For Joy
Four mysterious Apocryphal Tales of Animals & Birds, Men & Women, Angels & Demons… and the Voice from the Heart of the Whirlwind.
The Three Snake Leaves
Hugh Lupton, Ben Haggarty and Sally Pomme Clayton make a journey into the dark forests of Grimms. Fairy tales for grown-ups, with music by Dylan Fowler and Gillian Stephens.
The Horses
A praise song for Jenny Wing. Hugh and Chris Wood’s acclaimed poetic tribute to the life of a horse-man’s daughter. Hugh Lupton & Chris Wood.
Beowulf
Anglo-Saxon epic tale… three blood-curdling encounters map the life of a Viking hero, accompanied by a master percussionist. Hugh Lupton & Rick Wilson.
Daedalus and Medea
Commissioned by the National Theatre. Hugh, Daniel Morden and Jan Blake tell two Greek myths. Suitable for 10+.
The Homing Stone
Written & told by Hugh, composed by Chris Wood, played by the English Acoustic Collective, the true story of Arthur Ransome’s hair-raising escape from Moscow in 1919.
Metamorposes
Ovid’s darkly humorous and moving stories of transformation, told by Hugh and Daniel Morden. Includes Arachne, Persephone, Echo & Narcissus, Midas, Semele, Tiresias, Erisychthon, Baucis & Philemon.
Song Speak
Ballads, Birdsong & Cello. A cycle of ballads, including Tam Lin, Cherry Tree Carol, Sheath & Knife, John Barleycorn, Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard, Polly on the Shore, Thomas the Rhymer, The Leaves of Life. Hugh Lupton & Sherry Robinson.
Barbed Wire for Kisses
In this spell-binding performance the narratives of families in one small community tell the bigger story of the First World War. Lives and deaths on several fronts are played out without leaving the boundaries of an English parish. The trials, tragedies and triumphs at home open a human window onto the trauma that shaped the twentieth century.
Liberty Tree
Two of Britain’s leading storytellers sing and tell their way deep into the secret, dappled heart of Sherwood, and at the same time tell the true and harsher histories of English dissenters and radicals. Hugh Lupton & Nick Hennessey.
The Iliad
Full-blooded retelling of Homer’s epic tale of love and war told by Hugh and Daniel Morden.
The Sleeping King
Classic tales from the British Isles, interspersed with harp music and song. Includes Gawain and the Green Knight, The Pardoner’s Tale, Fairy Ointment, Tam Lin, The King Asleep Under The Hill, The Loathly Lady, Llyn y Fan Fach. Hugh Lupton / Daniel Morden & Nick Hennessey.
The Mardling Acre
The recording includes the story of Tom Hickathrift, Glamoury Ointment, The Pottle of Brains, Tom-Tit-Tot, The Parson of Sedgeford, Old Horse, The Grey Goose Feather and The Pedlar of Swaffham. The tales are interspersed with tunes played by Steve Bazire on the melodeon and concertina.
On Common Ground
The Enclosure of John Clare. Front Row & The Times listed it as an Audio-Book of the Year 2009. Hugh Lupton & Chris Wood.
The Odyssey
Hugh & Daniel Morden’s acclaimed retelling of Odysseus’ journey home, the first and greatest adventure yarn of them all.
Christmas Champions
Limited edition CD; reworked recording of the celebrated BBC Radio 3 broadcast and a selection of festive songs and carols. Hugh Lupton & the English Acoustic Collective
Made In The Great War
Inspired by the true story of a violin interrupted by the Great War, Sam Sweeney (Bellowhead) & Hugh Lupton tell a moving tale of war, music and an instrument lost for almost a century.