Evocative storytelling
The tale of “Bog Standard” is anything but bog standard. Written and narrated by journalist and story-teller Rachel Pugh, and directed by Marion Kenny, it is the true story of how Rachel unwittingly uncovered one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th Century – Lindow Man.
On a simply set stage, with seven standees depicting a boggy landscape, Rachel took us back to around 2000 years ago, during the Roman occupation of the British isles. Accompanying her on stage was harpist Lucy Nolan, with atmospheric harp and sounds from the natural world to set the scene.
Under a greenish light, we were transported to Lindow Moss, in the North West of England, and reverentially told the tale of a young prince of the Brigantes (no, me neither, but worth reading about!), naked except for a fur armband, who is due to to be sacrificed by his priests to make peace with the Romans, and secure future harvests.
With a change to pink-ish lighting, and we’re whipped to 1984, and a lovely harp version of Blondie’s Heart of Glass, as Rachel regales us of her life as a newly graduated reporter, working for the dizzying heights of the Wilmslow World. Armed with a tip-off of a foot being found in Lindow Moss, and her red racing bike, Rachel sped off hoping to uncover the secret of a modern murder mystery – that of Malika Reyn-Bardt, whose husband had been convicted of her murder, but no body found. Instead, she finds herself recruiting the county archaeologist and our young prince “Pete Marsh” is uncovered, dated to circa 60 AD, and ending up in the British museum.
The story has a lovely balance of humour against the facts of that week in 1984. The insights into Rachel’s thoughts at 23 (and the fate of her white suede shoes) and pinpricks of Northern humour provide a brightness that could easily have been lost to the dark subject matter. Together with some imaginative imagery, the scenes of the peat processing plant were brought to life in front of us in sharp relief. This is a short performance, but is the type of story you could easily see being a feature length performance, or a podcast series, and there were areas where I felt I wanted warranted more detail, and there were hints from Rachel herself that there were other stories to tell here.
The Netherbow Theatre in the Scottish Storytelling Centre is a cosy, comfy venue and well suited for this type of confessional storytelling. The house lights may have been a touch too high for my preference, but the sound and lighting changes were perfectly suited for this event. The changing lighting colours were an elegant way to demarcate the different timelines. Lucy Nolan’s harp playing and soundboard were an excellent match to the narrative, adding layers of depth and emotion, particularly in the climax of the story.
The intriguing subject matter and musical collaboration mean that this story would appeal to a wide range audience, especially the lightness of touch bringing a humanity to what could be a bog standard true-crime story, but proves to be much more.
Edinburgh TradFest runs from 2nd – 12th May 2025. For more details, please see: https://edinburghtradfest.com/