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Get ready for a spooktacular show like never before that will feature The Rough & Tumble performing spooky songs they wrote as part of an album about various monsters and creatures of lore, all created to make children obey and behave.
The show will be accompanied by stories put together and told by John Herman, James Patrick Kelly, Jen Whitley, Tara McDonough, and Mark Michael Adams.
Come if you dare.
Fear. Safety. Control.
This is the melody to every lullaby.
Every hushed and pretty song is a desperate attempt to make you obey. Every bedtime story a calculated plot to make you do as you’re told. In every place, in every time, there have been stories told beside bedsides and around campfires to keep children safe, to maintain control, to frighten into submission.
“Go to sleep, child, or the bogeyman will get you.”
As children, we thought this was just the way the world was and that those who kept us fed and who tucked us in had our best interests in mind. And maybe they did. Maybe when they were children there were actual monsters in closets and lurking in the rivers, demon figures ready to snatch them up if they got too close or disobeyed. Evidence of that was hard to find, though. So we took their word for it and grew up following the rules.
But now that we are adults and we choose our own bedtimes and build our own campfires we’ve begun to wonder, are the stories any less scary? Are the melodies any less haunting? Aren’t they still told to us every night?
Fear. Safety. Control.
Which story controls you?
In 2020, The Rough & Tumble examined the question of these monsters of control in a project called Be Good, Little Children: The Lullafrights, Vol. 1. 8 songs about 8 creatures who were created to make children obey. Spooky songs to illustrate the power stories have over us; how they formed us, how they kept us safe, how they haunted us. How they still haunt us.
ABOUT THE ROUGH & TUMBLE
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The Rough & Tumble are a hard-traveling, New Hampshire, folk/thriftstore Americana duo, consisting of Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler, who will have you in stitches one minute and falling apart at the seams the next. Audiences will hear a menagerie of folk and homemade instruments, close harmony singing, and stories that are as relatable as they are hilarious and absurd. The Rough & Tumble’s songs take an audience from the lighthearted to the gut wrenching, seamlessly, with care for their listeners and integrity to their craft.
JOHN HERMAN
John is an artist, writer, and teacher. He is a former board president of the NH Writers' Project and an improv theatre performer with past performances from NYC to Tokyo. His creative pursuits add up to the unique honor of being the first thing that comes up when one Googles "nerd of all media."
JIM KELLY
Writing as James Patrick Kelly, Jim has won science fiction's Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards. His work has been translated into eighteen languages. He has taught flash fiction at the University of Southern Maine, the New Hampshire Writers Project and the Science Fiction Writers of America.
JEN WHITLEY
Jen has been improvising for over 13 years. She is a proud founding member of Yes & Co (Portland, ME). This is her 12th season as a member of the improv group Stranger Than Fiction (Portsmouth, NH), and she also performs with the all female improv ensemble You Should Smile More (Portland, ME). She's performed on stages and festivals all over New England, including the Del Close Marathon in New York City. With training from Improv Boston, Upright Citizens Brigade, Second City, and many memorable workshops, Jen continues to hone her skills whenever possible.
TARA McDONOUGH
Tara has been improvising on stages from California to Europe for significantly more than half her time on this planet so far, and has no intention of making different choices any time soon. She is the founder and producer of the women's comedy collective You Should Smile More and has performed with Stranger Than Fiction, Yes&Co, and The Un-Scripted Theater Company, among others.
MARK MICHAEL ADAMS
Mark Michael Adams has been writing and performing Beat Poetry, Spoken Word and Flash Fiction in the seacoast area for almost three decades. He placed 3rd in the NHWP Flash Fiction competition in 2017. He appears on the first Portsmouth Poet Laurate, Ester Buffler's CD "High on Poetry." and is an aspiring voice over talent.