A breath of life
" .....and He breathed into it the breath of life and
Man became a living soul."
Final preparations
In the grey light of dawn, I check that everything is
loaded and ready. The chest full of weapons is aboard, the sharp sword sleeping
in the scabbard, the spears packed tightly together, the shields carefully
arranged to overlap one another. In another chest are plates and cups, spoons
and bowls - if I survive the morning, I will be eating and drinking from them by
noon. I take a last look at home, where my wife lies warm, and prepare to set
out on my journey, as rosy-fingered Aurora draws the curtain of the night. I am
confused, mixing Anglo-Saxon alliteration with Classical Greek mythology. Who am
I? Where will my journey take me? What monsters may I meet? How many fierce
foes wait to strike at my life? I have no way of knowing, but must set out and
take my fate as I find it.
Bringing history to life...
I am a History Specialist. I go into schools in the guise
of various people from the past and my aim is to bring the character and his
world to life for the children I meet. I use a lot of props. and costume, but I
believe that much of the power of what I do comes from the spoken word. As an
actor, my voice is my primary tool and so, metaphorically, I breathe life into
each of my characters. Like the miracle of the Creation, this is a miraculous
thing to me. I believe we are closest to God when we are creative and that the
power we have to create worlds through words, poetic and prosaic, is an amazing
gift from God.
When I go into a school as Torfinn Stormbringer, I use my
swords, shields and axes to portray the "Sword Age, Shield Age, Axe Age" which
the Vikings perceived themselves as inhabiting. I also have tools and furniture,
kitchen utensils, crockery and cutlery, clothing and bed linen to enable
children to get the feel of the period. The weapons always excite their
interest, but it takes a little encouragement to make them see the wonder of a
horn bowl.
Heroes, monsters and legends
I always tell a tale or two from the time I am portraying
and I feel that it is in the literature of a culture that we find its soul. The
heroes and monsters of myth and legend may be larger than life, but the stories
tell us what the tellers dreamed of being, where their "treasure" was; what they
wanted to be. Often, too, I'll tell true stories of the deeds of the men - and
women- of old, and when I can see the children seeing the sun set on Senlac
hill, or shiver in the chill breeze blowing through the thinning ranks of
Leonidas' Spartans at Thermopylae, then I know that the past has made itself
present in their minds.
I cover Ancient Greeks and Romans, Saxons, Vikings and
Normans. For each, I have a costume and the arms and armour of a soldier of the
period. I also have sets of artefacts representing the daily activities of the
period - cooking and eating utensils, tools, coins, pottery and woodwork. Some
of the artefacts, such as coins and arrowheads, are genuine originals, others
are faithful recreations. By reference to the artefacts, I draw out of the
children a picture of the daily lives of the people of the period and of the
nature of the society in which they moved, so that they see the whole of the
civilisation - art and architecture, law and social structure, technology and
agriculture, the specific roles of women and children - and not just its
military aspect. I do presentations on the different racial groups and their
periods within the "Invaders and Settlers" modules. I also do a presentation on
the Battle of Hastings from both the Norman and the Saxon points of view. This
links to Literacy in respect of the comparison of different views on one event,
and with KS3 History, the Norman Conquest.
For each period, I have sets of worksheets to help the
children explore the language and literature of the period and during the course
of the day's activities, they may be writing their names in Runes or Greek
letters or doing sums in Roman Numerals. Most of my work is in Key Stage 2, but
I also work with Key Stage 3 on the Norman Conquest and with Key Stages 3 and 4
on the Greeks, for students of Classics. There is always far more I can show and
tell them than we have time for in one day, so I leave them with a lot of ideas
and starting-points for further research and the enthusiasm to get thoroughly
involved in their studies. All this is achieved with hands-on experience - and
the spoken word.
That's why I call my business "Breath of Life".
Paul Allen |
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We are grateful to Paul Allen for this amazing insight into his work with
schools. For more information, or to book a visit to your school, please
contact Paul directly.
Breath of Life
29 Chishill Road
Heydon
ROYSTON
Herts.
SG8 8PR
Tel: 01763
838759
Email:
paul_a_allen@hotmail.com
Website:
www.vikingvisits.org |
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