Matt Devitt on why he’s directing the revival of They’re Playing Our Song
There is an immutable
truth that when times are hard we turn to musicals as a way of
relieving, albeit briefly, the stresses and strains of daily life.
That being said, we at the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch have always
included at least one musical per season as part of our overall
artistic strategy – whether times are good, bad or indifferent –
as it plays to the strengths of our resident company of
actor-musicians.
candid, economics closer to home have also played a part in choosing
to revive They’re Playing Our Song in so far as it
is a full-blown musical but features only two main characters. We
feel that despite the relatively small cast, plus a few surprises,
the piece still fulfils the expectations required of a
“feel-good” musical and, under the expert creative guidance
of our musical director Greg Last, packs a “big”
musical punch.
In addition, the
story features a composer who plays the piano and whilst other
revivals have “mimed” the piano parts we have, in Dan De
Cruz, an actor with virtuoso playing skills which again informed the
choice of They’re Playing Our Song as it can
showcase the talents we have within our company cut
to the chase…
The show was written in
the late 1970s and, although we’ve updated it slightly to the
early 80s, I think the period will have a nostalgic charm
for our audience as well has having a more universal themeatic
resonance, in that it follows a creative couple trying to work out
have to have both a working and loving relationship without the one
damaging the other.
That remains an
interesting conundrum especially as our two main actors are a couple
in real life (whatever that is!) In the final analysis it still
adheres to the classic “Boy meets Girl” formula that has
served the musical genre so well for many years and will continue to
do so for many more and – just as importantly – contains some
cracking tunes.
