Download the immortal hour - Finborough Theatre

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VIBRANT NEW WRITING | UNIQUE REDISCOVERIES
August–October 2014 Season
Part of the Finborough Theatre's series'
The centenary production, and the first London production for more than 50 years
THE IMMORTAL HOUR
'A Music-Drama'
Music by Rutland Boughton. Libretto by 'Fiona Macleod' (William Sharp).
Directed by Benji Sperring. Designed by Bethany Wells. Lighting by Nic Farman. Musical Supervision by Eamonn O’Dwyer.
Musical Direction by Inga Davis-Rutter. Make-up by Abigail Gargas. Presented by Tarquin Productions in association with
Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre and by arrangement with Stainer and Bell Ltd.
Cast: Michelle Cornelius. Matthew Crowe. Lydia Jenkins. Kate Marlais. Stiofàn O'Doherty. Jeff Smyth. Thomas Sutcliffe.
Lee Van Geleen.
"A work of genius." Edward Elgar
"In any other country, such a work as 'The Immortal Hour' would have been in the repertoire years ago."
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Celebrating the exact centenary of its first performance at the inaugural Glastonbury Festival on 26 August 1914, Rutland
Boughton’s record-breaking 'music-drama' The Immortal Hour, plays at the Finborough Theatre for a limited nine
performance run of Sunday and Monday evening and Tuesday matinee performances from Sunday, 10 August 2014
(Press Night: Monday, 11 August 2014 at 7.30pm).
As befits the Finborough Theatre's location on one of London's major ley lines, The Immortal Hour is a magical faery tale
that draws heavily from Celtic folklore and mythology.
Eochaidh, King of Éire, is drawn by visions to seek the love of the immortal Faery Folk, but in doing so inadvertently
summons Dalua, the Lord of Shadows. Dalua uses his dark powers to bewilder Eochaidh and send him down a path that
few return from...with tragic consequences.
Combining Wagnerian approaches to musical themes with a folk-like approach to the music itself, reminiscent of its Celtic
roots, The Immortal Hour explores fate, desire and mortality in two worlds, as the unrequited love between the mortal
world and the immortal Faeries collide.
Following its premiere at the first Glastonbury Festival (which Boughton co-founded), The Immortal Hour was produced in
London in 1922 where it enjoyed a record breaking run of over 600 performances. Last seen in London at Sadler's Wells
in 1953, it still holds the world-record for a continuous run of any serious opera written by an Englishman.
In a month that also marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, this production – which restores the
piece to its theatrical roots – offers a unique opportunity to experience the musical culture of England as it was in the
month that the nation went to war.
Composer Rutland Boughton (1878-1960) was one of the most prolific English composers of the 20th century – and
was also well known for organising music festivals at Glastonbury, Stroud, Ross-on-Wye and Bath, and for his left wing
political views. He studied at the Royal College of Music. His many other works include the operas Bethlehem, The Round
Table, The Ever Young, The Lily Maid, Galahad, Avalon, The Queen of Cornwall and Alkestis, the ballets Death Dance of
118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone 020 7244 7439
e-mail [email protected]
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Artistic Director Neil McPherson
The Finborough Theatre is managed by The Steam Industry. Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, no. 3448268.
Registered Charity no. 1071304. Registered address: 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED. A member of the Independent Theatre Council.
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Grania, Snow White, The Death of Columbine and May Day, and many other orchestral concertos and musical poems.
www.rutlandboughtonmusictrust.org.uk
Librettist Fiona Macleod was the pseudonym of Scottish author William Sharp (1855-1905), well known for his literary
biographies of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Rossetti, Browning and Joseph Severn. Sharp used the Fiona Macleod pseudonym to
write in a more whimsical and fantastical style as befitted his membership of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,
one of the largest single influences on 20th-century Western occultism. Born in Paisley and studied at Glasgow University,
Sharp was friends with many of the leading literary figures of his day including Rossetti and Swinburne, although his
relationship with some writers – most notably W.B. Yeats – was often tumultuous as many were dismissive of Sharp’s
writing, but commended Macleod’s. The opera libretto was based on Sharp's 1908 play of the same name.
Director Benji Sperring recently directed the professional world premiere of Ivor Novello’s Valley of Song at the
Finborough Theatre. Directing includes Eugene Ionesco’s The Bald Prima Donna (Old Red Lion Theatre), Maurice
Maeterlinck’s The Blind and The Intruder (Old Red Lion Theatre and Tabard Theatre) which received an OffWestEnd
Award nomination for Best Design, Assassins (Palace Theatre, Manchester), Sweet Charity (King's Theatre, Southsea),
The Monk (Barons Court Theatre), Fun Like Stalingrad (Hen and Chickens Theatre), Six Characters In Search Of An
Author and Under Milk Wood (Caccia Studio, Eton), Find Me (David Russell Theatre, Portsmouth, and Woking Festival),
Little Shop of Horrors (Dance House Theatre, Manchester), In Camera and Party Time (John Thaw Studio Theatre,
Manchester).
In 2006, the Finborough Theatre began the Celebrating British Music Theatre series with a sell-out production of Leslie
Stuart’s Florodora. Productions since then have included sell-out rediscoveries of Lionel Monckton’s Our Miss Gibbs,
Harold Fraser-Simson’s operetta The Maid of the Mountains, A "Gilbert and Sullivan" Double Bill featuring Gilbert’s play
Sweethearts and Sullivan’s opera The Zoo, Dame Ethel Smyth’s opera The Boatswain’s Mate, Sandy Wilson’s The
Buccaneer, Oscar Asche’s Chu Chin Chow, Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley's The Roar of the Greasepaint – The
Smell of the Crowd, Ivor Novello's Perchance to Dream, Gay's The Word and Valley of Song, Gilbert and Sullivan's The
Grand Duke, Edward German's Merrie England and Paul Scott Goodman's Rooms: A Rock Romance.
THEGREATWAR100 series is a new occasional series of works about – or written during – the Great War to be presented
by the Finborough Theatre from 2014 to 2018 to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. The Immortal Hour
will run concurrently with Rolf Hochhuth's epic retelling of the outbreak of the First World War, Sommer 14 – A Dance of
Death.
The cast is:
Michelle Cornelius | Etain
Theatre includes Jesus Christ Superstar (National Arena Tour), Avenue Q (National Tour), The Enchanted Pig (The Young
Vic and New Victory Theater, New York), Stiles and Drewe’s Peter Pan (West Yorkshire Playhouse), South Pacific (National
Tour), Dancing In The Streets (National Tour), I Can’t Stop Loving You – The Music of Ray Charles (US Tour), Elton John
and Tim Rice’s Aida (Disney Theatricals), Hair (Raimund Theater, Vienna), Macbeth (National and Middle East tour),
Ghost Song Shakespeare (Courtyard Theatre), The Vagina Monologues (Henley Fringe Festival), Gaddafi: A Living Myth
(English National Opera), Mitridate Re Di Ponte (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Carmen (O2 Arena), Porgy and
Bess (Bregenz Festival), Idomeneo (De Vlaamse Opera) and Aida (Earl’s Court).
Television includes Being Human, Little Miss Jocelyn, Andrew Lloyd Webber: 40 Musical Years, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and
Footballer’s Wives.
Matthew Crowe | Tenor Immortal, Manus
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music.
Theatre includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Petersham Playhouse), The Great British Musicals (St James Theatre), The
World Goes Round (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Titanic (Southwark Playhouse), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
(Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells), Spread A Little Happiness (Salisbury Playhouse), Ruddigore (Tabard Theatre), South
Pacific (National Tour), Project Playwright and The History Boys (Northern Stage, Vermont).
Lydia Jenkins | Soprano Immortal, Fountain Spirit
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music.
118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone 020 7244 7439
e-mail [email protected]
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Artistic Director Neil McPherson
The Finborough Theatre is managed by The Steam Industry. Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, no. 3448268.
Registered Charity no. 1071304. Registered address: 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED. A member of the Independent Theatre Council.
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Theatre includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Petersham Playhouse), The Great British Musicals (St James Theatre), The
World Goes Round (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Honk, Ruddigore and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Tabard
Theatre), Jekyll and Hyde (Union Theatre), The Pirates of Penzance (Kilworth House Theatre), Ed – The Musical
(Trafalgar Studios), Iolanthe, The Zoo, The Pirates of Penzance, The Turn Of The Screw and The Mikado (Buxton Opera
House).
Kate Marlais | Alto Immortal, Maive
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music
Theatre includes In The Can (Theatre503), Unsung (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), Beauty and the Beast (Clwyd
Theatr Cymru), The Great Gatsby (Riverside Studios), The Busy Body (Southwark Playhouse), The Wind in the Willows
(Taunton Brewhouse Theatre), Cinderella (Liverpool Playhouse), The Human Comedy (The Young Vic and Palace Theatre,
Watford), Tactical Questioning (Tricycle Theatre), Bel Ami (White Bear Theatre Club), Dick Whittington (South Hill Park
Arts Centre), In Touch (Trafalgar Studios), Cinderella (Salisbury Playhouse), The Turn Of The Screw (Royal and Derngate
Theatres, Northampton and National Tour), My Fair Lady and Anything Goes (Cambridge Arts Theatre), Rent (Broadway
Theatre, Catford) and Sleeping Beauty (Theatre Royal Margate).
Television includes Zanichelli and City Survival Guide.
Stiofàn O'Doherty | Dalua
Productions at the Finborough Theatre include The Grand Duke.
Trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and is an Associate of the London College of Music.
Theatre includes Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat (Adelphi Theatre), Salad Days (Bristol Old Vic), Once Upon A
Mattress and Patience (Union Theatre), Noctropia (Hampstead Theatre), Keeping The Faith, Sweeney Todd: The Demon
Barber of Fleet Street, The Relapse, A View From The Bridge, Victory and Twelfth Night (Embassy Theatre) and Orpheus
and Eurydice (Royal Opera House).
Film includes Cocoon, Dress Rehearsal, Moments Before Goodbyes, O Euchari In Leta Via and Waiting On A Train.
Jeff Smyth | Eochaidh
Trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and the London College of Music.
Theatre includes Fiddler on the Roof (National and Ireland Tour), Spring Awakening, Carousel, Little Shop of Horrors and
Notes To Self (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland).
Thomas Sutcliffe | Midir
Trained at the Guildford School of Acting.
Theatre includes Wicked (Apollo Theatre), Curtains (Landor Theatre), Kiss Me Kate (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford),
West End Switched Off (St. James Theatre) and New Musical Theatre (Leicester Square Theatre).
Film includes The Oliver Complex and Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
Writing includes The Mill On The Floss (Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham).
Lee Van Geleen | Bass Immortal, Minstrel
Productions at the Finborough Theatre includes Valley Of Song.
Trained at the London School of Musical Theatre.
Theatre includes Pacific Overtures and H.M.S. Pinafore (Union Theatre), Applause and My Favourite Year (Bridewell
Theatre), Great British Musicals (London Hippodrome) and ‘Tis The Season (Jermyn Street Theatre).
Recordings include Valley of Song (Tarquin Productions and The WestEnders).
The Press on director Benji Sperring
“Three cheers for the Finborough Theatre for bringing us Valley of Song, a charming piece of Welsh whimsy...if there is
any justice in the world this deftly directed and magnificently performed production should be snapped up by theatres far
and wide.” Classical Music Magazine on Valley of Song
"Yet arriving at the ideal juncture of the Great War commemorations, [Benji Sperring's] premiere puts the case
commendably well for an old-fashioned show that’s hugely nostalgic." Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph on Valley of
Song
“This is why we must thank director Benji Sperring...for bringing life to this otherwise forgotten musical. It’s not every
day you get to experience the professional premiere of a show from someone of Novello’s reputation and calibre.” Musical
Theatre Review on Valley of Song
“Benji Sperring's imaginative production.” UK Theatre Network on Valley of Song
“It is the images I shall remember from Benji Sperring's production… a fascinating collector’s item.” Michael Billington,
118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone 020 7244 7439
e-mail [email protected]
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Artistic Director Neil McPherson
The Finborough Theatre is managed by The Steam Industry. Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, no. 3448268.
Registered Charity no. 1071304. Registered address: 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED. A member of the Independent Theatre Council.
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The Guardian on The Blind and The Intruder
“Benji Sperring’s orchestration of both the stage space and the evocative soundscape is jam packed with expressionistic
meaning.” Honour Bayes, The Stage on The Blind and The Intruder
PRESS NIGHT: MONDAY, 11 AUGUST 2014 AT 7.30PM
PHOTOCALL: BY ARRANGEMENT. PLEASE EMAIL [email protected]
Finborough Theatre, The Finborough, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED
Box Office 0844 847 1652. www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 August 2014
Sunday and Monday evenings at 7.30pm. Tuesday matinees at 2.00pm
Tickets £18, £16 concessions.
For more information, interviews and images, please contact
Neil McPherson on e-mail [email protected] or 07977 173135
Download press releases and images at http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/press-resources.php
118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Telephone 020 7244 7439
e-mail [email protected]
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Artistic Director Neil McPherson
The Finborough Theatre is managed by The Steam Industry. Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, no. 3448268.
Registered Charity no. 1071304. Registered address: 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED. A member of the Independent Theatre Council.