Welcome to Am I Old Yet? the podcast. Joining our subscriber group gives you access to occasional newsletters (approximately quarterly), with background stories about the episodes and the cast.
Season 9 already! And Helen is getting back to 'normal' life, performing at the Good and Deadly Poetry Society of South London. But those pesky Greek Gods can't leave her alone for long.
The cast is:
Henry - Tayo Aluko
Raven - Frances Broudie Oldridge
Helen - Flloyd Kennedy
Cyllene - Sarah Golding.
Music courtesy of John T La Barbera, from his album "In the Labyrinth".
Editing, sound design and production by Flloyd Kennedy.
SFX: Freesound.org
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SOUND OF THUNDER
Am I old yet? A seriously silly screwball comedy in which an elderly woman approaches her 80th year with degree of apprehension, shall we say. And this podcast approaches its fourth year with a lot of joy. So I'm delighted to bring you Season 9, in which we have some new actors have joined the team, and I do hope you'll check out the crowdfunding campaign to see if we can maybe throw some pennies in their buckets. In the meantime. Here we are in Episode 1 of Season 9, in which Helen picks up her poetry writing career and goes back to an open mic somewhere in London, at which she is joined by an unexpected visitor, which kind of happens to her a lot.
APPLAUSE AND LAUGHTER
HENRY: Thank you, Raven. As usual, you always get us to see the funny side. Maybe there is something to be said for hearing aids that sprout Bonsai trees.
LAUGHTER
Not sure I'd be up for volunteering to wear the mushroom flavoured t-shirt though.
MURMERED AGREEMENT.
Right. Well, it's now time to welcome our honoured guest. She's been a regular of the Good and Deadly Poetry Society back in the day - what? 5 years ago? Three? Before the pandemic, wasn't it? I've lost track.
HELEN: Yes. Early 2020 was the last time I was here.
HENRY: Well ! We're very happy to have you back with us. For those of you who don't know her, Helen Docherty is Australian, but she's made her home here in England. She a published poet, her work mainly focuses on the natural world, With, I would like to say, a lightly comic touch? Am I allowed to say that?
HELEN: You can say whatever you like, Henry!
RAVEN: As long as you say it kindly.
LAUGHTER
HENRY: Ah, you got me there Raven. That's a reference to a poem I read last week, Helen.
RAVEN:: It was a rant, Henry. No mistake about it.
HENRY: You are right again Raven. It was a rant.
HELEN: I love a good rant.
HENRY: I think you'd have enjoyed it. But that's enough about me. Tonight, it's over to you. I've invited Helen to come along this evening to share some of her gorgeous poetry. Come on everybody, big welcome to Helen Docherty.
APPLAUSE AND WHOOPING
HELEN: Thank you. Thanks very much. OK. I'm going to start with an Ode. First one I ever wrote. I'll attempt to read it with some sense of the structure defined for you, hopefully without losing the sense. So... Here it is. It's called
HELEN: And still you grow.
Tiny spider plant
A gift, gently snipped from
Your mother's outstretched arm,
Hastily wrapped in wet cotton wool,
Popped into a poly bag, and transported
home in my backpack.
Modestly at first, nestling into the
Company of a kindly Kalinchoe,
You reached downwards, roots
Thickening, searching for the dark brown
Safety of soil.
Slowly, your lime and jade striped points
Sloped their length upwards, seeking sun;
Sensing the power of meagre light through
Dark winter days.
Greedily, you guzzled the water soaking
Sweetly past your spikey leaves.
Insidiously, their tips inched higher,
Wider, subtly spreading into the space
Conceded by your florid friend.
Suddenly, one solo spike, thin and reed-like,
Secreted shyly among the foliage
Escaped its hiding place, a scape
Whose inflorescence dandles
Miniature plantlets, inspiring each other
To softly flutter into the spring warmth.
Mightily, you embark upon motherhood,
Bearing your babies with bravado
As the earth turns, and life yearns
To repeat itself, freshening the air
I breathe, a gift indeed,
And still you grow.
Thank you.
APPLAUSE INTO CHATTER WITH CROCKERY. BUZZ OF CONVERSATION IN THE ROOM
SCENE 2
RAVEN : and I just loved the one about the spider plant, so poignant, so clever how you made it about motherhood--(in the end
HELEN: Thank you. Glad you liked it...
RAVEN : I think it's just wonderful that you keep on writing like you do, coming up with new stuff.
HELEN: Oh, I don't know about that--
RAVEN: And so funny! I didn't think older people could make jokes, the way you do.
HELEN: Really?
RAVEN: No! My gran never cracked a joke. She was always so serious, she just didn't get younger people, you know.
HELEN: Oh, well that's a shame.
HENRY: [IN THE BACKGROUND]. Raven? Has anyone seen Raven?
RAVEN: Yes, she didn't understand how difficult it is these days, why we have to make fun of things, just to stay sane, you know?
HELEN: Oh... Right. So difficult for you, these days. Who knew?
GODDESS THEME (MUSIC)
CYLLENE: Excuse me. Oh I am sorry to interrupt--
HELEN: Yes? Oh! Do I know you? You look familiar...
CYLLENE: We have not met before. I am Cyllene. But you know some people in my family. May I speak with you?
HELEN: Of course. Oh - uh - I'm so sorry Raven. It's been lovely to meet you.That's very kind of you to say such sweet things. Would you excuse us a moment please? I'll see you later.
RAVEN : [MOVING AWAY] Oh, not at all. Henry!
HENRY: There you are!
HELEN: Cyllene you said? Now who do you remind me of?
CYLLENE: Perhaps I look like my half sisters, or my aunt? I believe they spoke to you, mmm. Perhaps a year or so ago? About the ... situation... when one is One is chosen?
HELEN: When one is... Oh, you mean The Chosen One?
CYLLENE: I believe so. I'm sorry to interrupt your evening, but I need to speak with you. It is important.
HELEN: Now, you're not from here, exactly, are you?
CYLLENE: No. I am from Greece - originally.
HELEN: And your Aunt, she came to see me with her daughter, Seffi?
CYLLENE: That is so.
HELEN: Ok. So what on earth are you doing here? Is anything wrong?
CYLLENE: Well, no. And - possibly yes. We are not sure. I've been asked to deputise for Persephone. She has to spend some time in the underworld, or - you know - no winter. But we wanted to be sure that you are alright? Are you alright?
HELEN: I'm fine. Why do you ask?
CYLLENE: Because we heard - we heard that my parents were looking for you--
HELEN: Oh! Are they really? Gosh!
CYLLENE They want to stop you from using your powers.
HELEN Oh! Is that all?
CYLLENE: Absolutely. Just that. They want all interference with the 'natural course of things' or - something along those lines to cease. Would you agree?
HELEN: What do you think?
CYLLENE: I think not. From what I hear, you are very brave person. And wise.
HELEN: Well, not so much, really. But stubborn. I'll admit to that.
CYLLENE: So what are you going to do?
HELEN: I do think your parents have a very good point. What is the use of interfering? There are always unintended consequences.
CYLLENE: This is true.
HELEN: Then what? If there's nothing we can do to reverse the damage to the weather systems, and we can't stop humanity from adding to the problem, what is the point of trying?
CYLLENE: I agree, in principal. But we think--we believe--
HELEN: We?
CYLLENE: er... Demeter, and Artemis, and ... er... Hermes...
HELEN: Ah... Hermes...
CYLLENE: And we agree that there are possibilities. For making a difference.... On a much, much smaller scale.
HELEN: Well, that is good to hear. And I agree.
HENRY: [COMING INTO THE ROOM] Helen? We're about to start up again.
CYLLENE: I have to go now. Will you agree to meet with me again? Perhaps your favourite coffee shop?
HELEN: Of course? When?
CYLLENE: Tomorrow. Lunch time. And if you see my parents
HELEN: Not a word. Don't worry.
HENRY: Helen! Oh. Oh hello,.. I'm Henry. I don't think you've been here before have you?
CYLLENE: No. First time. Very interesting... er.
HELEN: [WHISPERING] Poetry.
CYLLENE: Poetry. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Good bye.
HENRY: Wha--? Oh! You're leaving? Oh. That's a shame. Wow. Beautiful woman. Just... beautiful. Don't you think, Helen? Wow. Friend of yours?
HELEN: I know her family. And yes, she is. But still, she reminds me of someone...can't quite place it...
HENRY: Oh, I do hope she comes back next month...
HELEN: Hmuh. Not likely. But you never, never know.
HENRY: No, you don't.
RAVEN: Henry! It's time!!
HENRY: Right. Mmmm. Right! Helen! Are you ready for the next set? Loads of questions for you. Ooh.
HELEN: Oh goodie.
MUSIC
That was episode 1 of season 9 of "Am I Old Yet?" The cast was as follows. Henry was played by Tayo Aluko, Raven by Frances Broudie Oldridge, Helen by me, Flloyd Kennedy, and Cyllene by Sarah Golding. The music throughout is from John T La Barbera's album "In the Labyrinth". I do hope you'll share the links to the podcast and tell your friends about it—if you're enjoying it, and if you're not, don't. And of course, if you have any pennies to spare to drop into our bucket, our crowdfunding bucket (links are in the Show Notes) so that we can pay the actors and buy that other brand new microphone that I am lusting after so that we can start recording together in the same room rather than on Zoom, even when people are just down the road.
Thanks for listening.
Actress
Frances is a vocalist, actor, voice actor and audio producer. She has just published her production of 'The Chavman Chronicles' written by Db Morgan and available on Audible, in which she also plays Mullins and Tracy Hummer as well as providing much of the background music.
The movie ‘Blood Highway’ based on real events is now out on Amazon Prime. Frances plays Francesca Rose, wife and mother placed in a home suffering from dementia. She appears as an apparition in a frightening sequence to her trapped pregnant daughter as she fights for her life in an overturned car.
Also, look out for Frances as Shelly Bass in ‘MorrisMen’, an urban revenge feature film due for release in 2023.
Upcoming projects for 2023 include the film 'Something Snapped’, as well as the release of a new album entitled ‘Consequence of Love’ plus a pop video.
You can access her back catalogue of music with Tracing Arcs on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon.
Actor
Tayo Aluko is a playwright, a stage and TV actor, and a singer born in Nigeria, and living in Liverpool. His one-man play about Paul Robeson, titled CALL MR ROBESON, has taken him as far afield as the North West Territories of Canada and Australia and New Zealand, and to New York’s Carnegie Hall. A second play, JUST AN ORDINARY LAWYER, deals with Black liberation struggles worldwide, and has also been performed on three continents. He has initiated an international project titled MAPPING “GREATNESS,” in which people of the Global Majority worldwide film themselves performing his poem GREATNESS IN A TIME OF COVID in many languages, as a response to Imperialism and the global pandemic. His audio play PAUL ROBESON’S LOVE SONG is available online. He continues to write drama which demonstrates how Black History is everybody’s history, every day of every year, and is a history of resistance, resilience and triumph.
Author, Actor
Flloyd Kennedy (aka Fairy Bessie), Australian-born actress, performance poet, singer-songwriter, director and voice/speech/accent coach, took part in the British folk revival in the late 60s, performed street theatre, cabaret and fringe theatre in Scotland throughout the 1980s and 90s, returned to Australia where she undertook research into the performing voice (specifically Shakespeare) for her doctorate. She has performed, directed, and taught voice and acting skills at colleges and universities in the UK, US and Australia. Now resident in Liverpool, UK, Flloyd tours her one-person versa plays with music around the world, performs her songs and poems at open mics in and around Liverpool. She also coaches student and professional actors, private individuals and community and corporate groups through her private studio Being in Voice. She is artistic director of Thunder’s Mouth Theatre (theatre of poetry, passion and philosophy), a Certified Teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork and is an Associate Artist with ISAAC (International School for Acting And Clown), She has now published two collections of poetry, songs and essays, Sunsets & Kites and Home is Where I Hang My Hat. Her songs are available on Bandcamp, as well as all major online streaming services.
Composer/Guitarist
John T. La Barbera, film score composer, producer, guitar and stringed instrument virtuoso and concert artist, has won several awards and commissions from The Jerome Foundation, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Martin Gruss Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer, UMass-Dartmouth, and ASCAP.
His film scores include: Children of Fate (Academy Award Nomination 1992); The Old Guitarist starring Dominic Chianese; The Bounty Hunter; Sacco and Vanzetti ; Sister Italy; Pane Amaro; What's up Scarlet; Neapolitan Heart ; Finding The Mother Lode: Italian Immigrants in California; La Festa and Tarantella .
His silent film scores include Assunta Spina, (1915, Naples), ‘A Santa Notte (1922, Naples), Chaplin’s The Immigrant (1917) and The Adventurer (1917), The Black Hand (1906), The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) and The Adventures of Lieutenant Petrosino, (1912), Regeneration (1915)
In Theater, his expertise as composer, arranger and musical director was valuable in the off-Broadway productions of Souls of Naples, (Theater for a New Audience) starring John Turturro and the stage adaptation of Sicilian playwright Luigi Pirandello's short stories in Kaos, (New York Theater Workshop) directed by Marta Clarke. Folk Opera, Stabat Mater-Donna di Paradiso, was commissioned and performed at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
He has appeared on recording and performance projects with many great artists including folk singer Judy Collins, actor Dominic Chianese (Uncle Junior- Sopranos), Hollywood film sou… Read More
Begin at the very beginning, with Episode 1 "Kind Like Sharon". Or pick it up at Season 6, which is the beginning of Helen's life as a Super Hero!
