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The Gloucester Mummers originated much like other mumming groups – unexpectedly and in a rather unorganized fashion. Members of the Gloucester Folk Club, which had been ended, were all gathered in the back room of an Inn in August of 1969. A few of the members had performed in a Mummer’s play one summer earlier and one member stood up and proclaimed, “we could do that!” |
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Christmas Eve of 1969 marked their first performance of a run that has yet to be ended. |
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Knowing little about the actual form of mumming, they hired Alex Helm, an expert on the subject, to run workshops for the actors. Helm introduced the players to a more historical aspect of the trade by giving the group scripts of old mumming plays that had been performed in Gloucester much earlier. |
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Most people would assume if a person is in a group he or she
willingly joined. Such is not
necessarily true for the players seen in the Goucester Mummers. Many members actually confess to being “shanghaied
or conned into membership”. In one
instance a member asked one of his friends to join him at a rehearsal to
watch it. This member then asked the
guest “could you just read these lines for me ‘cos I’ve got to rush out the back?” the original player was
gone and his friend now had the part. |
From: http://www.folker.demon.co.uk/Mummers/mummers_hist.htm