Lieder, Leaders, & Lovers
Role: Director
Performance: Drayton Arms, London (2017)
Two threads joined together: King Size at the Royal Opera House, and my eternal question ‘why are they singing?’
King Size reinvented an evening of song as a surreal stage event, moving through a dreamlike space.
After an undergraduate finding different answers in philosophy and history, I made a list of answers to ‘why are they singing’, and came up with about 40 different versions.
I used an abbreviated version of that list to make an evening’s entertainment with six fabulous singers from Guildhall, drawing on their pre-existing repertoire. I hope they had as much fun as I did, with styles ranging from traditional Samoan songs to cabaret tunes.
This is one of my shows I’d love to revisit, because there’s a version using the unabbreviated list that’s a special one-day-long event, and I think it could be spectacular. If you’ve got a space, let me know!
“When immersed in a world of music, it is worth pausing to ask a question… ‘why are they singing?”
