Mummers' play revived for Newport event
An ancient Newport play which may not have been performed for 134 years is being revived for an evening of folk songs and mummers – folk drama – in the town on November 16.
The performance is part of a Music and Mummers event at Cosy Hall which will raise money for a new history of Newport.
Linda Fletcher of Newport History Society said: "Newport Beaumaris Singers will be singing British folk songs before and after the interval, all accompanied by a pianist. The director, Peter Smith, is also director of music at Shrewsbury Abbey.
"At the heart of the evening is the play transcribed by Charlotte Burne of Summerhill, near Newport, and Elijah Simpson, a chimney sweep, whom I assume was persuaded to repeat the whole play for Charlotte to write down.
"This was all published in 1883 in 'Shropshire Folklore- a sheaf of gleanings,' a first edition of which is in Shropshire Archives. The play lasts about 20 minutes. There is also a free cup of mulled wine at the interval."
Although the play is ancient, no words were ever written down until 1879, and there is no record of any performance of it since 1885.
"The event is a fundraiser for a new and definitive history of Newport, which is a joint venture between Newport History Society and the Victoria County History (Shropshire).
"This is very appropriate, as mummers’ plays traditionally always ended with someone passing a hat round – or, in the case of the Newport play, a ladle."
The evening starts at 7.30pm.
