Team Viking
By James Rowland
James Rowland and Tangram Theatre Company
Vault Festival, EdFringe, National Touring, International Touring
Performed in English
As accomplished storytelling as you could hope to see. To call it a comedy about friendship, mourning and terminal illness – which on one level it is – would in no way convey what a joyous thing it is.ligent, unsettling and ebullient.
The Stage
Whatever the facts, there’s truth in Team Viking: real grief, still
raw; real heart, still healing; and a reminder that life really is for the living… beautifully calibrated.
Fest Magazine
Brilliant storytelling… among the most intimate and emotional in this year’s Festival. Beautifully written and superbly performed.
Ed Fest Mag
Equal parts sad, funny and ridiculous… a show of real courage
combined with warmth and lyricism.
Three Weeks
The best theatre I saw was Team Viking by James Rowland, a
superb Ben Moor/Kitson style storytelling show.
Stewart Lee’s Edinburgh round-up (stewartlee.co.uk)
Winner – Vault Festival Origins Award
Winner – Show of the Week Award
Winner – Three Weeks Edinburgh Award
Five years ago, James’s best friend Tom was diagnosed with heart cancer and told he had three months to live. Tom’s last wish was to be given a full viking burial by his two best mates, Sarah and James.
This is the remarkable, hilarious and heart-lifting story of how James and Sarah actually gave their best mate the send-off he wanted… and all the trouble they got into when they did.
Cast
James Rowland
Creative Team
Daniel Goldman (Director), Rosie Collins (Photographer)
James, who I’d worked with on Fuente Ovejuna and The Dragon, asked if he could come round to my flat and tell me a story. He wanted to know if I thought there was a play in there. I said sure and a couple of days later, he came round, and told me the story. I sat amazed at the story he was telling and the instinctive brilliance of his writing, even though he was improvising the whole thing. He finished. I told him that yes, I did think that there was a play there… and over the next nine months, we worked on it together, shaping it into a show that has delighted audiences for 7 years now. When he came round, neither of us knew that it would be the start of one of the most fruitful and joyous working relationships of our lives. It’s no small thing that from that first afternoon, has come a trilogy of storytelling shows, three audio plays, the publication of a wonderful book, a shared collaborative process that has been a joy to be one half of, and most importantly, a friendship that means the world to me.
Lots of people ask us if the story is true. The answer is…
All photos © Rosie Collins