Guest post: Now by Laura Attridge

You never know where or when you're going to meet your ideal collaborator: I met Lewis Murphy in a stairwell after I got lost on the way to the Ladies' Room. It was the evening of Registration Day at the Royal College of Music (RCM) and a large group of new postgraduate students had retired to a nearby bar. Having left the safety of the singers' table, here I was suddenly in deep conversation with a young Scottish chap who eventually revealed he was a composer. “I'm a poet!” was my immediate response; “I've always wanted to write libretto! We should definitely, absolutely write something together sometime!” He took my phone number and promised we'd talk further, but after my awkwardly over-enthusiastic introduction, I had low expectations. A week later I bumped into him in the college canteen; “There's a project for new opera this year,” he said, “want to collaborate?” And that was that.

From the very beginning, our partnership followed a clear path: regular, open exchange of ideas throughout the creation process, relating to all aspects of the piece. Together, we developed characters: not only their individual personalities and stories, but also their distinct linguistic and musical voices; together, we set the parameters and rules of the unique world in which the narrative would take place. Not only did this method facilitate a shared vision, it allowed us both to learn from one another as we went. We also benefited greatly from the mentorship of Bill Bankes-Jones of Tête-à-Tête Festival, who was to direct the final piece alongside four other new short operas by RCM composers. In particular, his constant reminders to ground the piece narratively and linguistically proved invaluable to me: libretto is not poetry; it is all too easy to negate the need for music if the text is complete to begin with. My challenge was to leave enough space for my collaborator, to trust that our mutual understanding of the piece would lead to something bigger than the sum of its parts.

A novelty that Lewis particularly relished was that of writing, for the first time, a piece to be interpreted visually and dramatically on a stage. The possibilities this new avenue generated seemed endless. He was adamant that the venue itself should be incorporated into our plans in a way that would enhance the storytelling; since we had the luxury of the Britten Theatre awaiting us, we wrote an opening to the piece which required the characters to be spread out at every level of the space, shining torches amongst the audience. He couldn't wait to get it on its feet.

I handed over my libretto to Lewis; he in turn handed over his score to the performers and creative team. Rehearsals were fascinating for both of us: the initial glimpses into the musical realisation of the story we had spent so long creating together, the director's dramatic interpretation of the piece, the Sitzprobe that reduced me to tears as the sound world of the piece came suddenly and extraordinarily together. In the notes he sent towards this article, my generous collaborator says “Laura's text is already filled with music, which it is my job as a composer to find.” And I can tell you: I sat in that Sitzprobe wondering how he'd reached inside my head and found the music I wouldn't have the skill to write, myself.

'Now' was performed in 2014 as part of the RCM's Hogarth's Stages project, in association with Tête-à-Tête Festival. Later that year, Lewis was appointed Glyndebourne Young Composer in Residence, and I founded And So Forth, an opera and theatre company championing collaboration between emerging artists.

And So Forth

And So Forth (ASF) launched in June of this year with an event introducing our work, our artistic vision, and our team (including Lewis as Associate Composer). Alongside a concert performance of 'Now', the programme encompassed previews of ASF's inaugural piece, 'Damsel/Wife/Witch', at that point still in development. 'Damsel/Wife/Witch', an interdisciplinary theatre piece, engages with contemporary debate of gender norms through an exploration of fairy tale; it includes a song cycle for mezzo-soprano: seven songs by Lewis and me which give voice to seven fairy tale heroines telling their own stories. For the Launch event, the texts for this cycle were given to hand-picked partnerships of talented young composers and singers who were supported by ASF in the creation of seven new settings.

Our project's composers had very different approaches to their respective texts, but there was a universal question faced: what function does the music serve in each piece? How does it illuminate, enhance or explore the text? Following brilliant first drafts, I found myself writing similar feedback to them all, issuing a challenge about clarity of intention, asking what else they could 'find' (Lewis' buzzword) in the text to inform their composition. For example, if Red Riding Hood is narrating her encounter with the wolf, and she is using the present tense, both characters must be represented musically; we should hear the meeting unfolding in real time. If the wolf's own words are used in reported speech, it is even more important that he has a distinct musical voice. What happens when Red Riding Hood's music meets the wolf's music? How can we hear the progression of her temptation and inevitable transgression?

This unique song cycle was premiered and recorded live at the And So Forth London Launch.

Since the Launch, 'Damsel/Wife/Witch' has been fully developed; the song cycle, set by Lewis, forms the backbone of a script which incorporates the fine input of our third collaborator: playwright Richard Walls, with whom it has been my privilege also to work closely. Bringing together artists of different disciplines and creative industries in both its creation and realisation (our performers comprise two actors, a mezzo-soprano and a pianist), the piece epitomises And So Forth's focus on interdisciplinary collaboration. We believe that the best catalyst for unique and exciting work is the facilitation of dialogue between remarkable practitioners, not only for the purpose of creation, but also for the ongoing development of the artists themselves.

We are currently in rehearsals for Damsel/Wife/Witch, which premieres at the extraordinary Chapel at Asylum in Peckham between the 15th and 18th September, and tickets are available from £15 in advance here. And So Forth is keen to open dialogues with likeminded practitioners and companies, and for 'Damsel/Wife/Witch' to actively engage our audiences in discourse about its subject matter and its unique composition

'Danielle Winter and Adam Drew perform an extract from Damsel/Wife/Witch; photo credit: Marianne Chua

As for Now, it hasn't been forgotten. Exactly two years after our first encounter in that stairwell, Lewis and I are sitting down to develop our 13-minute piece into a full chamber opera, which will premiere summer 2016. Watch this space...

About The Writer
Laura Attridge is a young writer and director of opera and theatre, and Artistic Director of And So Forth. She trained as a singer at the Royal College of Music after studying English Literature at Newcastle University. You can visit her website here.

Damsel/Wife/Witch
You can find out more about And So Forth here. More information about upcoming performances of Damsel/Wife/Witch, including ticket sales, here.