Will Coleman (storyteller)

Will Coleman performing in GogMagog in St Mabyn in 2014

Will Coleman is a Cornish film-maker, author, musician and educational consultant.[1] Coleman is a former director and musician with Kneehigh Theatre[2] and founder and director of Golden Tree Productions, an organisation that develops cultural projects that promote Cornwall and its history.

In 2009 Coleman’s Tales from Porth CD-Rom commissioned by the Cornish Language Partnership won a Media Innovation Award for best DVD/CD Design for a CD-Rom which introduces the Cornish language to children.[3] Coleman won the 2011 Govyn Kernewek film award. “The Govyn Kernewek is an annual £5,000 commission for a short film that uses the Cornish language in an interesting way”.[4]

Coleman's short film Horn of Plenty won an award in 2012, when MPs were invited to enter a film made by one of their constituents into a ‘Film the House’ competition. Dan Rogerson entered the film and it came second overall.[5]

Coleman has investigated the Cornish Plen-an-gwary, medieval Cornish amphitheatres and produced a book about them with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Arts Council.[6]

In 2014 Coleman toured Cornwall in GogMagog with Bec Appleby, Jenny Beare and Steven Kelly, a story rooted in Cornish culture.[7]

In 2016 Coleman and his team created "The Man Engine" in the form of a Cornish miner, at 33 feet high, the largest puppet ever made in Britain.[8][9] The project was commissioned to mark the tenth anniversary of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape being added to the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites[10] and was first unveiled in Tavistock on 25 July 2016.[11] The name references the Man engine a mechanism of reciprocating ladders and stationary platforms installed in mines to aid miners' journeys to and from the working levels.[12] The giant puppet traveled to each of the ten World Heritage Site mining areas accompanied by Bal maidens and miners who animated the puppet with ropes;[13] traveling 130 miles ending at the western tip of Cornwall on 6th August.[14] Coleman said “the figure was designed to be a reminder of thousands of years of mining history in Cornwall and the region’s geology”.[15]

The Cornish folk song Black and Gold (Cornish Du an Owr) has English lyrics written by Coleman .

Books

References

  1. Will Coleman: Golden Tree Productions | Will Coleman, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  2. Cross Channel Film Lab: One and All | Cross Channel Film Lab, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  3. Dead Cornish?: Dead Cornish?, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  4. West Briton: Storyteller Will Coleman has been named as the winner of the 2011 Govyn Kernewek film award. | West Briton, accessdate: August 4, 2016
  5. West Briton: Cornish Film maker wins award!| West Briton, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  6. BBC News: Search begins to unearth Cornwall's medieval theatres - BBC News, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  7. Western Morning News: Futuristic treatment for energetic tale of giant Gogmagog | Western Morning News, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  8. Cornish Mining World Heritage Site: The birth of a colossal ‘Man Engine’ heralds in Cornish Mining’s ‘tinth’ year | Cornish Mining World Heritage Site, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  9. Plymouth Herald: The Man Engine comes alive | Plymouth Herald, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  10. Daily Mail Online: UK’s largest mechanical puppet begins its journey across Cornwall's World Heritage site | Daily Mail Online, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  11. The Cornishman: Here's where to catch the Man Engine on its last week in Cornwall | The Cornishman, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  12. BBC News: Giant miner puppet walks through Cornwall - BBC News, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  13. Business Cornwall: https://www.businesscornwall.co.uk/latest-news/2016/07/man-engine-for-historic-journey/, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  14. ITV News: Country's largest mechanical puppet to travel across Cornwall | West Country - ITV News, accessdate: August 3, 2016
  15. The Guardian: Mechanical puppet to tour south-west England to highlight mining past | UK news | The Guardian, accessdate: August 3, 2016
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