London Fortean Society

  Tuesday 30 July 2024 The Legacy of The Wicker Man Since 2010 author and performer David Bramwell ( The Odditorium, The Haunted Moustache, No 9 Bus to Utopia ) has been performing as Lord Summerisle in Sing-Along-A-Wicker-Man , a show that attracts more than its fair share of Pagans, despite the film’s portrayal of them as a homicidal cult. Since the advent of monotheism, Pagans have been portrayed as purveyors of the dark arts. What led us to demonise a way of life that honours nature and gave us such beloved festivals as May Day, Halloween and Yuletide? In this entertaining and thought-provoking talk Bramwell unravels the history and cultural significance of The Wicker Man and undertakes a quest to understand its relationship with Paganism now. Along the way he interviews druids at Glastonbury, rewrites the “unholy trinity” of folk horror, participates in May Day rituals and meets The Wicker Man ’s Robin Hardy and musician Julian Cope, revealing an island still alive with ritua