Words & Ideas

The Beowulf Manuscript: A Performed History

A history of fire, pillage, and persecution reaching back over a thousand years.

Dates 06 - 13 Oct
Time 4:00pm (70 minutes)
Venues Waterside Forge

$24.50

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Wheelchair Accessible

A metal hammer hovers above a glowing metal rod which rests on an anvil. In the background, an ornate metal helmet rests on a pile of rags.

Felix Nobis, a white man with grey hair and short stubble stares broodingly at the camera. In between the camera and Felix is a blurred outline of what seems to be a claw reaching for him. Felix wears a navy linen shirt, with the collar un-buttoned.

Words & Ideas

Image Credit: Jaimi Houston

Created and Performed by: Felix Nobis
Produced by: Ryan Hamilton

Join Beowulf scholar Dr Felix Nobis as he explores the history of how the oldest complete work of literature in Old English survived over a thousand years before being discovered as a result of a house-fire in London.

Dr Felix Nobis has been performing his translation of Beowulf for years to sell-out audiences around the globe. Now, he turns his attention to the history of Beowulf itself, and how the manuscript travelled from a monastery in the eighty century to becoming the only complete story we have from Anglo-Saxon Britain.

Beowulf tells the story of a mighty Scandinavian warrior coming to the aid of a beleaguered Danish king, suffering at the hands of a blood-thirsty monster. This is a story of loyalty, compassion, and courage which has entertained for centuries.

This journey from oral tale to cultural cornerstone illuminates the way we value stories, how we tell them, and what they mean to us.

"As a translator and narrator of the Beowulf story, Felix Nobis has found a style that’s high but not inflated, true to the poetry of the original and enthralling to a contemporary audience."
Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney

About Felix Nobis

Felix is a poet, playwright and actor. He is also a Senior Lecture in the School of Music and Performance at Monash University and holds a PhD in medieval storytelling traditions.

Felix’s television credits include the ongoing roles of Dr Simon Lloyd in the second series of MDA and Rob Griffin in JANUS (both ABC). Stage work includes The Tempest with John Bell at Belvoir Street, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Revenger’s Tragedy for Sydney Theatre Company, and Hellbent for Red Stitch Theatre Company. Film work includes Flirting with Nicole Kidman. In 2007 - 2009 Felix toured Australia and America as the narrator of the arena spectacular Walking with Dinosaurs – the live experience.

As a poet-performer Felix has toured his own translation of the medieval epic poem Beowulf as a one-person show throughout America and Europe. The translation was adapted for radio for ABC Radio National’s Poetica program, for which he has also produced a number of radio program. His poetical narrative Once Upon a Barstool was commissioned by An Chomhairle Ealaíon (Irish Arts Council) and premiered in Cork, Ireland. It enjoyed a successful season at La Mama Theatre, and a tour of regional Victoria in 2009. A collection of Felix’s poetry has been recorded and released by the literary journal Going Down Swinging, by whom he was also commissioned to compose a new poetic narrative poem Kein Zeitung am Tisch (2014). Felix has been Affiliate Writer with Melbourne Theatre Company, and was awarded the R. E. Ross Trust Script Development award for his verse play Boy out of the Country (Currency Press). This play toured Melbourne and Regional Victoria and was included on the VCE Theatre syllabus in 2016 and a new production was recently staged in Sydney.

Duration: 70 minutes
Event Accessibility: Blind or Low Vision Rating: Partially Accessible
Age suitability: PG
Content warnings: Violence.

Waterside Forge
60 Maribyrnong St, Footscray, VIC, 3011

Wheelchair Access

Waterside Forge is wheelchair accessible. Can roll into builkding through the front door.

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