1353
The Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio creates the Italian masterpiece The Decameron in response to the great bubonic plague of 1348 that had profound effects on the course of European history.
In The Decameron, ten storytellers shelter from the black death outside Florence, telling ten tales a night in their quarantine.
Bocaccio borrowed all the plots from existing ancient folk tales from all over the globe.
2020
1927’s show ROOTS is set to tour the globe but all touring is cancelled due to the pandemic
ROOTS is an anthology of ten ancient folk tales by anonymous authors, tales that have sprung from the imaginations of the ordinary men and women who made our world.
Some of the tales can be found in Bocaccio’s The Decameron.
We staged the tales, animated them, scored them by live instruments, actors, and a host of storytellers…
With theatres closed, the show patiently waits for the time it can be let out of it’s box.
But the tales themselves… are keen to be told….
Listen to
‘1927’s Decameron nights’
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in August 2020, and again in August 2022.
You can now download all 3 episodes from BBC Sounds now!
I’m alright, Jack:
A trio of folk tales about looking out for number one
Available to listen to and download:
Heartstrings:
A threesome of folk tales about love
Available to listen to and download:
Lady Luck:
A shamrock of forgotten tales about fortune and fate.
Available to listen to and download: