{"id":1069,"date":"2011-05-07T16:50:03","date_gmt":"2011-05-07T16:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bridgetothestars.net\/news\/?p=1069"},"modified":"2011-05-07T17:16:06","modified_gmt":"2011-05-07T17:16:06","slug":"clockwork-director-talks-to-sraffies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/clockwork-director-talks-to-sraffies\/","title":{"rendered":"Clockwork Director talks to Sraffies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in April we reported that Clockwork<\/em>, one of Philip Pullman’s novels had been adapted into an Opera by Visible Fiction and the Scottish Opera; and would be touring through Scotland in June.<\/a><\/p>\n

Our compatriots over at Citt\u00c3\u00a0gazze managed to get an interview with Douglas Irvine, Visible Fiction’s Artistic Director, about the project and his thoughts on it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

First of all, could you give a brief presentation of yourself?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m the Artistic Director of Visible Fiction, a Scottish company dedicated to bringing arts performances and activities to young people and adults. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also recently adapted and directed a new production of Philip Pullman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcClockwork\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 which has been co-produced by Visible Fictions and Scottish Opera.<\/p>\n

How did you come to choose this book for a stage adaptation?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I first read the book about ten years ago and was so delighted by the story, its themes, theatricality, structure, characters and playfulness. I knew that it had potential for production for the stage. However, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how it could be staged, what form it would need to take, and why. So I stored it at the back of my mind.
\nScottish Opera and Visible Fictions had been talking for some time about collaborating together to create a touring theatre production and a colleague there mentioned the book to me as something I might like to read and consider turning into an opera.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know it and love it!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And so our story started\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

There were a few adaptations of Clockwork those last years. Have you seen any of them? Did you use an existing script or did you adapt the book by yourself?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

No, I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen any of them. I knew that in order to bring our version to life, I would have to create a version that suited our purposes and so we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t use an existing script. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve adapted the novella and worked closely with the composer, Dave Trouton, who has created the score.<\/p>\n

The book used to be a stage play written for his pupils by P. Pullman when he was a teacher; it presents a theatre-like structure with three parts. Did this help in the adaptation process?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that it was originally a play for Pullman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pupils\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 That makes a lot of sense. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve adapted often for the stage and to be honest, it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hinder nor help. Pullman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story is so intricate and beautifully clean \u00e2\u20ac\u201c complex and rich with nothing extraneous. It is an example of a master storyteller in charge of his craft \u00e2\u20ac\u201c playing with form, structure and narrative.<\/p>\n

There were challenges though. I needed the piece to be told within 70 minutes (with no intervals) while making sure the 3 part structure stayed intact. The biggest challenge of adapting it was trying to be loyal to Pullman and all the aspects that make Clockwork so intricate and beautiful but also knowing that nothing could be removed from the story. Like clockwork itself, if you remove a detail from the story it just won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go!<\/p>\n

The story is partly about storytelling. Fritz does not finish his story and is blamed for it. What’s your feeling about it, as a (stage) writer? Any compassion for his fate?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s funny but Dave (the composer) and I both understand the plight of Fritz – and Karl too. Undoubtedly as a writer\/creator of work I think we do have to demonstrate responsibility for what we do (to a certain extent!) and for the work we put into the collective. But how often do we all procrastinate, leave things to the last minute, struggle with the hard work of creating, yet at the same time love \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmaking it up as we go along\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Fritz undoubtedly has my sympathy and so does Karl for this aspect of their respective plights.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot of comments from the author about the story in the book. How is this translated in the stage play?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

These comments are crucial to the story \u00e2\u20ac\u201c adding layers of humour, charming morality comments and context. In our version, meta-characters or storytellers are ever present in the production, guiding our audience through the complexities of the tale(s) and structure \u00e2\u20ac\u201c adding wry looks, song and comment, changing character in front of our eyes and manipulating and bringing the story alive for our delight.<\/p>\n

You involve puppetry in the show. Most of the latest Pullman’s adaptation used such tools. What is the asset of puppets in theatre? How will you use them?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Puppets are so magical, as a puppeteer literally breathes life into them. Puppets allow us to say and show things in ways that aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t normally possible \u00e2\u20ac\u201c bringing in layers of meaning and mystery that other theatrical forms can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.
\nOne of the driving forces behind the production (and the story) is the idea about how we breathe life into the inanimate. Just like Dr Kalmenius does in the story, our storytellers bring various things to life \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but where Dr Kalmenius uses clockwork, we use a variety of theatrical devices including puppetry.<\/p>\n

Can you speak about the set? How do you plan to translate on stage the mysterious landscapes where the story takes place?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to answer in the written form! Kenny Miller (the set designer) and I have placed this idea of animating the inanimate at the heart of our production \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and so we have created a theatrical world which allows the various influences of form to be celebrated \u00e2\u20ac\u201c music, song, puppetry, kamishabai and animation.<\/p>\n

Adaptations usually allow their director to give their own vision of the adapted book. How would you describe your personal vision of Clockwork?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I just want to be as loyal to the magic of Pullman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s original as I can be.<\/p>\n

Is it different for actors to play in a stage play adapted from a book? Do they tend to read the book in addition to the adaptation?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The cast have all read the original book \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always useful to have as much information as possible when approaching characterisation. An actor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s job is to understand a character and their motivations and to portray them as accurately as possible \u00e2\u20ac\u201c whatever source that character has come from \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and then make that clear for an audience.<\/p>\n

Have rehearsals led to some script modifications?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, they have. As things are brought alive in physical form, you realise that certain lines and songs aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t needed or other things are, or there are better ways of expressing ideas and information. The composer too, while writing most of the score before starting rehearsals, has been adding and changing material.<\/p>\n

Did you have any exchange with Philip Pullman?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

No we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, though his representatives have been very supportive of us creating our own new adaptation.<\/p>\n

Will you use live music or recorded music? What role do you give to music in your play?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We are using live music \u00e2\u20ac\u201c cello and keyboard. Since in the story a song is crucial to the plot, music is very important to the piece and is shaping the form of our production. Ballad opera and Singspeil opera have both influenced the whole adaptation with recitative, arias, duet, choral work and spoken dialogue existing side by side.<\/p>\n

If you had to sum up the show in one single sentence to have people come and see it, what would it be?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of Pullman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most wonderful stories, told in a theatrical and magical way with a moving and playful score.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The interview is available in French over at Cittagazze’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in April we reported that Clockwork, one of Philip Pullman’s novels had been adapted into an Opera by Visible Fiction and the Scottish Opera; and would be touring through Scotland in June. Our compatriots over at Citt\u00c3\u00a0gazze managed to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adaptions","category-other-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1069"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1080,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions\/1080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetothestars.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}