IMC 2025 Interview: Theatre Director & Storyteller Daisy Black
As IMC 2025 draws closer, and the administrative team pull together the nuts and bolts of the conference, we would like to take a moment to share and celebrate the IMC voices of those who make valuable contributions to the congress. We know that IMC would not be the incredible, immersive experience that it is without the contributions and efforts of every delegate, bookseller, artist, craftsperson, performer, and events/excursions leader at the conference.
In our latest interview feature, we had a conversation with the talented Daisy Black.
Daisy is a medievalist, theatre director, and storyteller. She works as a lecturer in English at the University of Wolverhampton and is one of the BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinkers. Her storytelling weaves medieval narratives together with English folk song. Often moving, occasionally political, frequently feminist, just a little queer and regularly funny, Daisy’s stories underline the relevance and vibrancy of medieval narratives for today’s world.
How did you get into storytelling?
"I first saw performance storytelling at Sidmouth Folk Festival in 2015, and was amazed by it. I used to work in theatre before I ran away to become a medievalist, so I was intrigued by a performance form that could evoke whole words without sound, lighting, actors, costume or any of the other things I expected from theatre.
When I want to learn a skill, I promise somebody I don’t want to let down that I will do that skill for them in a year’s time. So I promised Roberta Magnani I would tell a version of The Man of Law’s Tale at her wonderful ‘Woman at Sea’ conference in Swansea in 2016. That story became my first full-length storytelling show, Broken Shells.
What is your favourite story to tell?
"It changes depending on how I am feeling. In terms of sheer fun, it’s currently a raucous story, Dane Hew of Leicester. It’s ridiculous, daft, has a lot of audience involvement and involves multiple murders of the same monk. But I also really love telling my ‘epic’ shows, Broken Shells (which I have been telling so long it’s now like wearing a comfy favourite jumper), and my new show, Yde and Olive.
In terms of emotional journey, Yde and Olive is really satisfying to tell, and it has such a beautiful, cathartic ending. It’s also taken on such important political resonance in these dark times for trans and queer folks. It feels very emotionally raw and important to show how medieval people were also acknowledging questions of gender and identity, sometimes with a lot more compassion than today’s leaders."
Who is your favourite storyteller?
"I have many! Debs Newbold, Tim Ralphs, Simon Heywood, Shonaleigh Cumbers, Jan Blake, Carmel Page…they all have different performance styles from each other, from the highly theatrical to sitting quietly and telling stories like a friend beside a fireplace."
What are the challenges in adapting medieval tales for a modern audience?
"I am currently writing a paper on this. The key challenges for me concern cultural assumptions present in medieval texts that modern audiences, quite rightly, find contemptible or alienating. Misogyny and racism are the key problems, especially when medieval characters are presented as villains or untrustworthy and their gender or race is used to explain this orientation – ideas I am careful to challenge in my storytelling. Sexual politics is a big one, too. Several things that form norms in medieval stories, such as a courtly lover’s persistent wooing of a reluctant lady, register with modern audiences as harassment or stalking. I find naming and calling these things out is very effective in the performance.
I think these cultural changes are very much good things, and makes adapting these medieval stories more interesting. I recently challenged myself to produce a feminist telling of one of the most depressingly misogynist medieval stories I have read, in which three husbands test their wives’ obedience, and the two wives that fail are beaten. I did this by developing the characters of the three wives, and having the third wife obediently fulfil her husband’s daft command, by jumping on the table to such an enthusiastic extent that all three men ended up covered in kicked-over dinner. Just deserts in both senses of the word."
How do IMC audiences compare to other audiences for your stories?
"They are very well informed! IMC audiences are similar: they understand every cultural reference and get every little in-joke I make about literary traditions. I also love it when people tell me that seeing stories, they have studied critically in performance made them reconnect with their emotional responses to them. It is both a delight to tell for medievalists and utterly intimidating, as of course they will know if I get anything ‘wrong’!"
How do IMC audiences compare to other audiences for your stories?
"In some ways, very similar. The adrenaline, fear and thrill I get from performing are identical to how I feel giving an academic paper. I will always be very nervous and need several loo trips before both. I do feel slightly more pressure when I perform: everyone has had several days of thinking about and discussing new ideas, so I really want to give them a space to rest and engage emotionally as well as intellectually for an hour or so."
How did you first learn about the IMC?
"Through my PhD supervisor and other medievalists."
How many International Medieval Congresses have you attended?
"Goodness, I don’t know…. possibly around 9 by now?"
What do you wish you had known before your first IMC?
"Be brave and talk to the scholars whose papers caught your imagination: it’s so good to meet new people doing exciting work. There is joy (and friends) to be found in the evening activities – the round tables, board games, story circle, open mic events, performances, etc.
Bring your own travel cup with a lid so you can safely run with hot tea between sessions. You will need more bag space than you imagine you will for the book fair and wonderful medieval craft fair. It can be a bit hard to find a community while dashing all over campus, so I tend to spend at least one day early in the conference going to all the papers in one themed session. They are usually scheduled in the same room all day, so you can get to know people and start more in-depth discussions.
Pace yourself and don’t burn out – it’s OK to miss sessions so you can rest. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Take every opportunity to hold an owl if the occasion arises."
What is your favourite thing about the IMC?
"The community, and all the creative things going on as well as the papers."
What is your favourite IMC Memory?
"Running what (I believe) was the first ever panel on medievalism in tabletop gaming at the conference with my friend James Howard. We had no idea if anyone would come. It was wonderful (and a relief!) to find our room packed with people who were just as geeky about this as we were."
Most surprising thing you’ve learnt at the IMC?
"Watching the practical fighting display from Leeds Royal Armouries and realising the battle scenes I’d had in my head when reading medieval romances were completely wrong."
How has the IMC helped you?
"It has given me so many new friendships, ideas and collaborations. I would not be as happy in my career without the people I met at IMC."
What keeps you coming back to the IMC?
"The enthusiastic and curious community. It really is a festival of knowledge."
Describe the IMC in 3 words
"Source of academic joy (I realise this is four, but storytellers make a profession out of talking too much)."