Biennial Radar: Pendle Witches at Metal

If you, like us, saw the episode of Most Haunted with Yvette Fielding and Derek Accorah f-ing and blinding their way around a derelict farmhouse near Clitheroe, perhaps the dark heart of the Pendle witch trials story will be lost on you.

This week, then, is a chance to reacquaint yourself with a particularly black and bloody episode of our region’s history. Just in time for Hallowe’en comes a dreadful tale of ignorance, prejudice and bloody minded revenge. And, grimly, it’s all true.

A unique audio-visual event evoking the alienating nature of the famous Pendle Witch Trials of 1612 will take place at Metal at Edge Hill Station on Thursday 25 October. HIVE, in association with Metal are producing an evening of spoken word, music and film. The event’s six short acts will draw the audience into the world of claustrophobia, dread, mundane ignorance and prejudice that lead to the trial of eleven men and women, ten of whom were later hanged.

“The evening was conceived in response to the 400th anniversary commemorations, but rather than just reflecting the dark history of the 1612 trials we’re looking to explore the collective emotional memories of events that still define Pendle to this day. This unique collaboration between some fantastic artists will provide a thought-provoking experience that we hope will stay with you long after the piece is finished,” Project designer Sam Wiehl says.

The Pendle trials, considered to be the most famous witch trials in English history, date back to the 17 century, when 12 folk were accused of using witchcraft to murder ten people, 11 were tried. Renewed interest in the history of these events has generated different interpretations of the witchcraft accusations and the circumstances of the trials. HIVE presents you with their artistic response to these historical events with a piece called ‘Unsettle’, intending to create a sensation in the audience comparable to the discomfort and confusion felt by the accused.

Music by Jonathan Aasgaard, principal cellist of the RLPO, an electronic soundscape inspired by the Black Dyke Band’s performance of Nigel Clarke’s 1996 work ‘The Pendle Witches’, sound and visual art by HIVE, spoken word pieces and strange theatrical interactions will provide the setting for the audience to contemplate this bloody chapter of our shared history.

For more information & tickets:
www.metalculture.com

25 October
Metal
Tunnel Road
Liverpool