23rd June 2016

Q&A: Alex Booker takes on Coleridge

- by Milly Burroughs

Last year saw Trad Academy Sea Shanty Choir sell out Wilton’s Music Hall. This year, Peter Truin’s non-audition community choir, featuring members of all ages, will return to the venue in collaboration with director James Burke-Dunsmore for a performance of the choir’s unique interpretation of the Samuel Taylor Coleridge classic, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Those who, like me, studied this literary masterpiece at some point during their education will be familiar with the themes of isolation, suffering, transformation and the supernatural presented in Coleridge’s pivotal romantic poem. The 60-person-strong Sea Shanty Choir’s performance will explore these dramatic motifs using a variety of mediums to “transport the audience on an epic voyage through the freezing stormy southern ocean to the heat of the doldrums and back again”, including a selection of beautiful bespoke woodcuts from choir member, and Zetteler favourite, Alex Booker of Booker Print House.

With the choir’s appearance at Wilton’s Music Hall drawing closer, we caught up with Alex as he finalises the selection of woodcuts to be included in the performance.

What is the inspiration behind the new woodcuts?

The inspiration behind the new series is the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which is part of a performance by Trad Academy Sea Shanty Choir at Wilton's Music Hall, 14 and 15 July. There will also be songs sung by the 60 person choir throughout the staged performance, these are a collection of maritime working songs from, Canada, America, Sweden, Scotland, France and England. The seven-part poem is epic in scale and is the story of a nightmare journey to the South Pole told by the sole survivor. The bright-eyed ancient mariner kills an albatross, a bird of good omen, which in due course brings devastation on the ship and all its crew. My woodcuts are attempts to illustrate depictions of the gothic atmosphere, supernatural terrors, stormy seas and the hope of redemption.

How long do they take to produce?

The woodcuts are drawn by hand and cut by hand, they can take anything from three hours to six hours depending on the scale of the block, which for this series is on average 30cm x 40cm. I'm mostly working with black ink and the idea would be to have the prints scanned and projected on the back of the stage above the singing choir.

What are you most looking forward to about the performance?

With 60 or so people in the choir singing and about 25 members reading, I'm really excited about how each member could bring a new and different interpretation to the poem. We also have plans to have giant iceberg props either side of the stage which will no doubt look very powerful and slightly sinister!

For more information about the 14-15 July performances check out the event page. To see more of Alex’s woodcuts and prints visit his shop.