REVIEW OF BENJAMIN BAGBY:BEOWULF

BENJAMIN BAGBY: BEOWULF
Koch Vision

This is really remarkable- so remarkable in fact that any self-respecting geek looking forward to the Zemekis/ Gaiman Beowulf needs to at least see this commanding performance of the work in it’s original tongue. Benjamin Bagby using only his voice and angle-saxon harp recites all 1062 lines of the epic in its original Old English during a January 2006 performance at Dunkers Kulturhus in Sweden. But if recitation sounds boring trust me, this is not your eighth grade English class. Rich with color and power Benjamin Bagby:Beowulf will have you hanging on every word. An interview with Bagby and discussion with Beowulf scholars John Miles Foley, Thomas Cable and Mark Amodio form the special features but you’ll find yourself returning to the performance far more often than the attempts to examine it.