Allan Withington’s latest community based musical project has seen him bring together local musicians, choristers, dancers and even a puppeteer to bring to life the story of King Arthur Riothamus.

Mercenary soldier

The event was held in the beautiful 13th century village of Monflanquin in the Aquitaine province of south west France, and retold the tale of the mercenary solider in the declining fifth century Roman Empire, who may or may not have been the inspiration behind the legend of the British King Arthur.

Le Roi

Fresh from his success in leading Manger Musikklag at the World Music Championship in Kerkrade, Allan had been putting the finishing touches to the interactive theatrical production, and was joined by his great friend Martin Winter for the performance of ‘Le Roi Arthur Riothamus.’

The musicians, dancers and choir provided the open air accompaniment as wonderful giant puppets (above) played out the storyline, interacting with the packed local audience.

It was wonderful to see such a large audience show up for this interactive production and even the old Roman weather Gods contributed to make it a great success!Allan Withington

True life adventures

Allan told 4BR: "The music and storyline was based on the true life adventures of Arthur Riothamus and there couldn’t have been a better place to hold the event than here in the beautiful medieval village of Monflanquin."

He added: "With so many buildings dating back to thirteenth century, it provided an ideal setting for a fascinating story. It was wonderful to see such a large audience show up for this interactive production and even the old Roman weather Gods contributed to make it a great success!"

Plans are already underway for a new production in 2015.