Review: The Woolly Tellers - 'Definitely Not Respectable'

We joined The Woolly Tellers for their show ‘Definitely Not Respectable’, an evening of songs and spoken word retelling the history of Victorian Nottingham and the old Malt Cross music hall, which still stands today on the city’s infamous St James’ Street. From the famous musical stars that entertained on the city’s stage, to stories of Nottingham slums and gangs, the show explores the rise of the music hall in popular Victorian culture and mixes in some well-known songs along the way!
 

Performing with The Story Tellers of Nottingham before forming The Woolly Tellers five years ago, Mick and Dave are a fountain of knowledge on Nottingham's history, and it was enlightening to hear about famous stage acts who had performed at The Malt Cross at the turn of the 20^th century. Names such as Sam Torr, George Lashwood and Vesta Tilley were the celebrities of their time, some even breaking into American audiences – today’s Michael McIntyres, Jimmy Carrs and Eddie Izzards. Audiences could expect male impersonation, risqué comedy and the more obscure ‘freak’ shows, including a visit from Joseph Merrick, more famously known as the ‘Elephant Man’. 

We particularly enjoyed hearing about the funny story behind Market Street’s unassuming name. Connecting the brand-new Theatre Royal and Nottingham’s Old Market Square, when the narrow street was widened in 1865 city developers proposed for it to be named ‘Theatre Street’ as the road ran up to the theatre from the market stalls at the bottom. Taking a dislike to this, stallholders disagreed, claiming ‘Market Street’ is a better name since the street obviously ran down from the theatre towards the square. The spat ended when the market vendors swapped the plaque at night just before it’s grand unveiling and ‘Market Street’ became the name that stuck.

Before the end of the evening we were invited to singalong to some old music hall favourites like My Old Man (Said Follow the Van) and Oh I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside. Songs you might have not sung since school, these nostalgic ditties lifted the atmosphere and the whole audience joined in with gusto.

The Woolly Tellers always bring a fantastic evening of history and spellbinding storytelling, whether their stories are comical, heartbreaking or tinged with suspense. Dotted with intriguing information about the local area, familiar streets take on new layers of meaning once their stories have been told, and you’ll be left looking for clues of yesteryear or the ghosts of Victorian carriages after you leave.

All profits raised from the night went to the Street Pastors charity based at the Malt Cross.

The Woolly Tellers have two more events coming up at The Malt Cross - The Benefactors’ Bash: A Night at the Music Hall on Friday 27^th July and ‘Dark Tales and Dire Deeds’ on Wednesday 31^st October. A Very Victorian Murder takes place at Annie's Burger Shack on Wednesday 26th September.

---

This blog was written by Lydia Jones and Sophie Gargett at Visit Nottinghamshire