The Arts Institute at the University of Plymouth, in association with Theatre Royal Plymouth (TRP), presents Some Call It Home. With live music and international star soloists, this hard-hitting work of art – part of the Mayflower 400 commemorations – explores how we have shaped human destiny across time by bringing to life pivotal events involving our relationship to our land from 1620 to the present.
The first performance is on Tuesday March 24, which will then be repeated the following evening. Curtain-up for both performances is 7.30pm, and both should end at 9.30pm.
Provocative multimedia music drama
A TRP spokesperson writes: ‘Join us for this provocative multimedia music drama that brings to the stage conflicting perspectives of our uneasy relationship with the land – our home, our planet.
Relationship with home
Examining our relationship with our home, Planet Earth from 1620 to the present day, Some Call It Home is created, produced and directed by Robert Taub with an original musical score composed by Jonathan Dawe and Jane O’Leary (a direct descendant of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren). Musicians from Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, along with Grammy-nominated baritone Randall Scarlata and Grammy award-winning English Soprano Deborah York will bring this scintillating musical drama to life.
Intense, thoughtful, beautiful, and uplifting
Robert Taub, creator and director of Some Call it Home and music director at The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, said: “This combination of spectacular music, extraordinary video, and compelling performances is unique. It promises to be an unforgettable evening that is intense, thoughtful, beautiful, and uplifting.”
Contemporary classical music performance
Some Call it Home responds to the arrival of the Mayflower passengers in modern-day Massachusetts in 1620. This contemporary classical music performance explores the Native American and European settler philosophies of land stewardship and land ownership, going on to examine how colonisation has affected climate change and led to migration on a global basis.
Multi-media
The musical score is complemented by a libretto and multi-media element, featuring archival material from the British Museum, photography and a video shot by a human smuggler in the Sahara Desert in 2017 that has never before been publicly exhibited.
Relationship with land and Earth
Through its libretto, score, and visuals, Some Call it Home will reflect on moments in American and British history in which our relationship with land and Earth shifted and features feature historical quotes from 1620 to the present day.
Robert Taub said: “I asked myself: what from 1620 is vitally relevant to us all today? I believe it’s our relationship to land, and the conflicts that began immediately upon the Mayflower’s arrival in the New World. The critical question is whether we care for the land, or claim it to use in any way that we see fit?
Moved and entertained
“I hope that the audience is moved and entertained, and that they leave with hopefulness of how we can all better look after planet Earth – our home – together.”
Jane O’Leary, co-composer of Some Call it Home said: “Working on the music for Some Call it Home has had special resonance for me as a direct descendant of Richard Warren, a Mayflower passenger in 1620. I am very excited to visit Plymouth for the first time in March to see the place where the boat sailed from.
A special musical atmosphere
“It’s been a fascinating experience to collaborate with Robert and Jonathan on this project, bringing to life various scenes from the past 400 years as man continued to search for new homes – across the sea, across desserts, into space. Each scene brings a new perspective to the idea of ‘home’, with its own special musical atmosphere.”
Some Call It Home – a thought-provoking Contemporary Classical Music Drama Tuesday 24 & Wednesday 25 March at Theatre Royal Plymouth, at 7.30pm
Tickets are priced from £10 and can be booked online at www.theatreroyal.com or by calling the Theatre Royal Plymouth Box Office on 01752 267222. Concessions are available.
Philip R Buttall
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