The Transports CD
£9.99
***** ‘Stunning… truly a transport of delight.’ Alfred Hickling, The Guardian
The CD of The Transports, a words-
Two national tours, Five Stars in The Guardian, the evening concert on BBC Radio 3 – and now on album. CD includes 36 page booklet.
FURTHER INFORMATION
‘Up there with War Horse for its emotional impact – music and theatre at its best’ Audience Member
‘Truly stunning ensemble singing and individual instrumental virtuosity’ Chris Kenny, Songlines
Matthew Crampton co-adapted The Transports from Peter Bellamy’s famous set of folk ballads. The CD incorporates his narration with songs performed by folk luminaries such as The Young’uns, Faustus, Nancy Kerr, Rachael McShane and Greg Russell. Paul Sartin arranged the songs.
The company twice toured the show nationally. The Guardian gave it Five Stars and you can hear Matthew talking about the show on BBC R4 Front Row. The show was broadcast by BBC Radio 3 as an Evening Concert on 10 January 2019.
‘Fourteen songs are each preceded by a piece of narration from Matthew Crampton, moving the story along and clearly setting the context for each song, which are as rich and varied in style as could be imagined.’ Ian Taylor, Northern Sky
Matthew wrote narration to tell the tale that links Bellamy’s songs. This true story is set in the 1780s, when a poor couple from Norfolk were exiled to Australia for crimes so petty the motive was clearly to provide cheap labour for the empire. He added local stories for each town where the show was performed, contrasting locals exiled in past centuries with people who have arrived from abroad in recent years. These form part of the Parallel Lives project, by which Matthew arranged for local refugee or migrant support groups to attend each performance.
The show was a joy to perform. Here are 4,000 people at Shrewsbury Folk Festival – rising instantly in ovation.
Read more about the show and Parallel Lives at The Transports website.