Revels Houston

John Langstaff

When Revels co-founder John Langstaff was growing up, his family would always have a big Christmas party, a gathering of friends and family with lots of music. They would try to revive the spirit of past Christmases, the old traditions of the past, like the Yule log and wassailing. John later became a professional singer, and in 1957 he tried to recreate the spirit of those Christmas parties in a stage show in New York. It was wonderful, but it didn’t make any money, so that was the end of that. Then almost ten years later, NBC Television asked him to recreate the show as a television special (with a young Dustin Hoffman playing the Dragon). A few years later John’s daughter Carol asked if they could try another stage production, and in December 1971, they did three performances at the Sanders Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Before long Revels was a Cambridge institution.

That first Christmas Revel was a "best parts" version of the traditions of the Langstaffs’ Anglo-American Christmas Past – boar’s heads and lords of misrule and Morris dancing and mummer’s plays and ritual carols and dances and family and friends and wassail and good will toward all. It represented the folk tradition that came to John and Carol through their parents, through their family history all the way back to those first pagan ancestors who acted out a ritual to keep the sun from dying. It was a stew of pagan rituals and superstitions filtered through Medieval Catholicism, Celtic mysticism, the Victorian Gothic revival, and the melting pot of American society.

That first English Medieval show is traditionally the first Christmas Revels production done by each new Revels company, and John Langstaff usually visits each new group and performs in the first show to get them started off on the right foot.

Revels productions appeal to a modern urban audience longing for a feeling of community and a connection to tradition. The Revels founders realized there was a need in society for such material, and in 1970 they founded Revels, Inc., whose mission is "to promote public education, understanding, and appreciation of traditional music, dance, drama, and ritual through the medium of participatory theater and communal celebration." This is accomplished not just through Revels productions, but also through workshops and school programs.

As the Cambridge Revels gained experience, they started exploring other cultures, and shows were developed that centered on the seasonal traditions of France, Russia, the Nordic countries, etc. They branched out from the Christmas Revels to develop Spring Revels, Sea Revels, etc. The Revels tradition soon spread to other cities. Today, Revels' productions are held each year in Cambridge, Mass.; Houston, Texas; New York City; California (in the San Francisco Bay area); Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Hanover, New Hampshire; Seattle/Tacoma, Portland, Oregon, and Boulder, Colorado. Each Revels company is a separate entity with its own board, but all share a common vision and common artistic material. Most new Revels shows are developed in Cambridge, performed first there, then available to be licensed and performed by other Revels groups. Until recently, John Langstaff was closely involved in the development of all Revels shows. On Saturday December 13th 2005, whilst visiting with his grandchildren in Switzerland, Jack Langstaff died. He will be sorely missed by all of the Revels Family.

About 20 years ago, David Langstaff, John Langstaff’s nephew, moved to Houston and soon began organizing a Revels company here. Revels Houston was incorporated in 1990, and the first show was a spring event exploring Texas cultural roots. The first Christmas show in 1991 was the traditional Medieval show, with John Langstaff performing and Carol Langstaff as director. This year’s show will be the 16th Revels Houston Christmas show.

The mission of Revels is to provide a link from our present time and place to other times and cultures and to demonstrate the common elements that unite all of humanity. If you approach Revels in the right spirit, it is more than just a show. It will include you in a community, with the rest of the cast, with other Revels groups, with the audiences, with the traditions of the past and of our own and other cultures.