Socially distanced performance
More information here.
The remarkable story of the mysterious woman of the Ormskirk workhouse
A true story, told in song and narration
Following the acclaimed production, Cork Jackets & Drill: The Great Lifeboat Disaster of 1886, which went down so well with the Friends of Folk audience, Len Pentin has now penned a new show, Avondale, again based on a true story.
After spotting an intriguing historical newspaper report about an inmate of the Ormskirk Workhouse, Len began to investigate further, and uncovered a story that he could not ignore!
The story involves the last, tragic, voyage of the Lusitania, a dramatic search for a lost relative, and much more besides. Set in both the UK (Ormskirk) and the USA (Illinois and New York), it’s a story that connects two continents and two women whose paths would normally be unlikely to have crossed.
While some crucial information around the story remains lost to time, what remains manifests into a fascinating tale that demands to be told and remembered.
Avondale is a two act performance of narration and 18 original songs and is performed by:
Len Pentin – keyboards, guitar, vocals
Chris Nelson – fiddle, octave violin, mandolin, vocals, narration
Siobhan Nelson – vocals, narration
Don Palmer – guitar, vocals, narration
Mike Huddart – bass.
A few words from the writer Len Pentin:
“A writer is lucky if once in a lifetime a true-life story drops into his or her lap, that not only is fantastic in its detail but has not already been claimed and written up by someone else. Avondale is such a story. Beyond a casual mention on a local history site, the full extended story of Kate Fitzpatrick, a mysterious inmate of Ormskirk Workhouse, has never seen the light of day on any stage or any page – that in itself is remarkable, never mind the events of the story themselves! The story involves the last tragic voyage of The Lusitania, a dramatic search for a lost relative and much more besides. As soon as I came across this story, I knew I had to write it up. Yes it’s a local story but its themes, like any great story, are universal. Set in both the UK (Ormskirk) and the USA (Illinois and New York), it’s a story that connects two continents and two women whose paths would normally, under other circumstances, most likely never have crossed. If the story around these two women was fiction, it would never be believed – it would be deemed fantastical – but, nonetheless, the remarkable events depicted in Avondale really did occur. While some crucial information around the story remains lost to time, what remains manifests into a tale that demands to be told and remembered for all sorts of reasons.”
avondale.uk.com / Facebook @Avondalesongs
