Its Tuesday- and in Totnes, in the summer, that means... Elizabethan Market Day.
The first ever (Setptember 2011) Town Cryer programme I made (included a spelling mistake in its title for the first 3 shows?) included a interview with Totnes' very own actual Elizabethan Crier, Don. Don dresses in traditional regalia, with the tricorn hat and bell, and attends the Tuesday charity craft Markets through summer. He opens any ceremonies, such as the Grove Primary Schools Elizabethan dance performances, and proclaims Elizabethan market and town news. The market is especially popular with tourists and coach tour parties. Don's voice is as loud as one would expect when he is Crying- (no need for a megaphone there) but he was kind enough to talk to me conversationally and explain his work and a little about how he came to be in such a position.
The interview set a direction for the shows ahead. Don spoke frankly about his enjoyment of his voluntary work- he also drives for Totnes Caring- and his engagement with the elderly community in general, and how, when his wife and he first visited Totnes coming over the old bridge, they knew it was the place for them. I was really touched by the genuineness of the interaction.
I had thought of that interview as a courtesy visit, and I had worried he might be protective of his 'Town Crier' title and challenge me to a public Cry-Off, or be unwilling to talk to a sightly tatty looking arts student. But it was friendly, and it highlighted something to me about community radio.
When one makes radio- as with any kind of performance- you can plan, practise, assemble, and use a script. It is safer. Less risks. It can be daunting to make room for chance encounters, (human) mistakes, and maybe allow for unassociated associations to meet. If you go to take a interview, usually you take some suppositions and prejudices with you.
Would Don have minded being on a show sandwiched between rap music and folk music, or a review of European herbal medicine legislation, or a critique of Dartingtons' Interrogate Festival (where he was to be later that month, proclaiming at the 'Speakers Corner')? Are people only willing to participate in something they are going to get 'value' from- a radio show supporting their own particular project? I don't think so. Don was warm, engaging and willing to share his passion for Elizabethan Town Crying without pretencion. 'Community', 'community radio' and a simple conversation even, is often the most engaging, productive, and enigmatic when it is inclusive, and allows for a meeting of strangers.
In the 6 shows that followed that one, I made a commitment to challenge myself to going outside of my comfort zone- to make radiophonic connections where I had not before, and to make (non- sensationalist) features of what could be otherwise considered outside my remit. Maybe
I smile broadly as I pass the Tuesday Elizabethan Market - I'm very pleased to be part of a town where such active expressions of community abide.
The first ever (Setptember 2011) Town Cryer programme I made (included a spelling mistake in its title for the first 3 shows?) included a interview with Totnes' very own actual Elizabethan Crier, Don. Don dresses in traditional regalia, with the tricorn hat and bell, and attends the Tuesday charity craft Markets through summer. He opens any ceremonies, such as the Grove Primary Schools Elizabethan dance performances, and proclaims Elizabethan market and town news. The market is especially popular with tourists and coach tour parties. Don's voice is as loud as one would expect when he is Crying- (no need for a megaphone there) but he was kind enough to talk to me conversationally and explain his work and a little about how he came to be in such a position.
The interview set a direction for the shows ahead. Don spoke frankly about his enjoyment of his voluntary work- he also drives for Totnes Caring- and his engagement with the elderly community in general, and how, when his wife and he first visited Totnes coming over the old bridge, they knew it was the place for them. I was really touched by the genuineness of the interaction.
I had thought of that interview as a courtesy visit, and I had worried he might be protective of his 'Town Crier' title and challenge me to a public Cry-Off, or be unwilling to talk to a sightly tatty looking arts student. But it was friendly, and it highlighted something to me about community radio.
When one makes radio- as with any kind of performance- you can plan, practise, assemble, and use a script. It is safer. Less risks. It can be daunting to make room for chance encounters, (human) mistakes, and maybe allow for unassociated associations to meet. If you go to take a interview, usually you take some suppositions and prejudices with you.
Would Don have minded being on a show sandwiched between rap music and folk music, or a review of European herbal medicine legislation, or a critique of Dartingtons' Interrogate Festival (where he was to be later that month, proclaiming at the 'Speakers Corner')? Are people only willing to participate in something they are going to get 'value' from- a radio show supporting their own particular project? I don't think so. Don was warm, engaging and willing to share his passion for Elizabethan Town Crying without pretencion. 'Community', 'community radio' and a simple conversation even, is often the most engaging, productive, and enigmatic when it is inclusive, and allows for a meeting of strangers.
In the 6 shows that followed that one, I made a commitment to challenge myself to going outside of my comfort zone- to make radiophonic connections where I had not before, and to make (non- sensationalist) features of what could be otherwise considered outside my remit. Maybe
ringing a
bell, standing in a prominent position, shouting at the top of one's
voice has become (through the passage of several hundred years and the wonder
of modern technology) speaking into a mic, and working the faders at
the local community radio station. But the message is still loud and clear- communication, news, and people caring makes the world go round.
I smile broadly as I pass the Tuesday Elizabethan Market - I'm very pleased to be part of a town where such active expressions of community abide.
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