Music

Philippa’s thoughts on the music of Romeo and Juliet...

Hey Dave!

I wanted to tell you about our music day last week. Rich and I met with our friend and composer Dom last week at the Battersea Arts Centre- a very exciting and also bizarre day!

Before I talk music... I have to express how I love the BAC. I’d never been before and although I didnt see a show this time, I loved the place. I think its really cool when you can walk into a theatre, feel that its somewhere a bit fantastical, a bit special where anything could happen and yet feel really really homely. I felt that if i were to curl up on one of the big sofas in the cafe and sleep for a day no one would mind, in fact i’d probably be given a blanket and extra pillows! Or if i were to deliver a Lady Macbeth monologue from the top of the marble staircase, I’d probably get into a really interesting conversation with someone about why I said a line in a particualr way... along with applause and a hot chocolate. Great place. Great atmosphere. Great.

Music. Very very exciting music chat. Its a special moment when you can sit between two very intellegant people who are talking about something you love and just absorb. I love sponge moments. I sponged for a bit then had to get involved. We talked about voices- how Dom loves the voice and everything it can do, how the voices in the cast can be the backbone of the music, the drive and the atmosphere of the show. We talked about vocal qualities; how the style of the show is not one that necessarily needs pureness of voice or perfect choral harmonies- but that wants to hear people really really sing. The rawness of singing, the heart and soul of people really belowing together and the power and energy it provides in theatre. Dom talked about harmony, about bending notes and how the voice provides the most amazing opportunity for lifting a moment by simply bending a harmony very slightly and gradually. We talked about the rhythm for the show. I know Rich has been thinking about the rhythm of the text- Shakespeare’s known for his iambic pentameter which naturally provides rhythm into the speech. Next step is to experiment with those rhythms in the music, be it with percussion or vocals or both.

 I’ve always seen this show as blue. Sounds odd but i see it steely, quite harsh, almost icy. The music fits perfectly. Courtly with scratchy guitar, choral harmonies with wild drums, classical melodies with roaring voices. I cant wait.

After our very gripping musical chat, we made a box. A big mdf box designed to fit two people in it for a brief encounter of pure entertainment. Never did I foresee my day taking me into a makeshift carpenter’s workshop! Dom and friends have created ‘folk in a box’- folkinabox.com with a slight issue that their box had disappeared!... fixed by the end of the day with a few screws, hinges, old books and PVA glue. A wonderful day I say!