Camelot Folk

By Rebecca Lappa
Featuring: Rebecca Lappa, Janice Jacobs, Patrick Dunn, Evan Stewart, Madi Myhre, and Jonah Mallett

Remaining shows: June 9 @ 6:00 p.m.; June 10 @ 6:00 p.m.; June 12 @ 4:00 p.m.

Picture a campfire surrounded by people sitting around it, telling each other stories, exchanging gossip, and singing songs. Now picture that campfire in the fictional kingdom of Camelot. But with electric instruments. This is Camelot Folk, presented as part of NextFest 2016.

Camelot Folk takes its name from the idea of folk music being stories told by the… Folk. In this case, it’s the folk of Camelot who are warming themselves by the fire and gossiping and singing songs about the characters we know from the Arthurian legend. The piece is folk mainly in the sense of the folk telling stories, with the musicians and vocalists leaning more towards rock and jazz as opposed to what you might imagine when you hear “folk”. While I didn’t find a clear plot in Camelot Folk (with the songs being more character-based vignettes and only a few lines of banter between the songs), the music and complexity of the lyrics were well-developed and fun to listen to.

Camelot Folk was definitely different from any other show I’ve seen before, but I can see the piece going on to be part of a midevil theme night or even being further developed into a rock musical with more plot between or as part of the songs.

The run time of Camelot Folk is 40 minutes and remaining shows are June 9 and 10 at 6:00 p.m. and June 12 at 4:00 p.m. in the auditorium at Faculté St. Jean (8406 91 street). Tickets are $10 per show, $18 for a day pass or $40 for a festival pass and can be bought online, by phone (780.453.2440), or in-person at Faculté St. Jean 30 minutes before the performance.