Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Shakespeare the musical
Inspired by the bard’s songs, Graham Weir gives the works of legendary playwright new life
LAST year, Maynardville theatre in Wynberg Park was rebranded the Maynardville Open-Air Festival. In addition to the annual Shakespeare and ballet productions, the programme was extended to include comedy, music and an eclectic mix of one-off shows on Sunday evenings, The Sunday Sessions.
There are four Sunday Sessions events for the year – beginning on February 10, with Opera in the Park with the Cape Town Opera. One of the most anticipated shows is Songs from Shakespeare with Graham Weir and Jono Tait on March 3.
Weir’s acclaimed theatrical memoir, Dead Yellow Sands won two Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards (2016).
Weir founded the a cappella group Not the Midnight Mass in the late 1980s, with his sister Christine Weir and other singers. Songs from Shakespeare was staged in nascent form at last year’s Voorkamerfest, in Darling.
Weir said: “After Dead Yellow Sands, people kept asking me when I would perform a sung show again. I have written a number of new plays that I hope to produce soon, but this show seemed to want to get to the front of
the queue and be performed first.”
Is this music inspired by the bard or songs from his plays?
Shakespeare wrote songs into most of his plays. Very few of the songs as performed in his time are still known to us today. The words, of course, survive as they are written into the play texts. Over the centuries various composers, including Purcell, composed music for the songs in the plays. Some songs, like Come unto these Yellow Sands from The Tempest, have as many as three different, ‘traditional’ melodies – each written by different composers.
“The inspiration to write music for Shakespeare’s songs lies in the lyrics which, like all the writing, is so magnificent.
“Other than setting established Shakespearean songs to my own compositions, I have also written music for a number of the sonnets, as well as one or two passages of dialogue that appeal to me from diverse plays including the better-known plays like Macbeth, as well as probably lesser-known pieces like Troilus and Cressida.”
What was the ping moment that propelled you to create this show?
In 1998 I was approached by Brian Heydenrych, producer of the Maynardville production that year to compose music for the songs in the show and to musically direct the production. (Heydenrych is one of the producers of this year’s festival). I had a small body of songs from Shakespeare ready and waiting to be performed. Darron Araujo suggested I write more music for Shakespeare. It was a challenge I couldn’t resist.
“The programme runs for 70 minutes. I have Christine Weir, my sister, as a guest artist and together with Jono (a guitarist), we will perform a number of the songs a capella. A number of the songs were originally interpreted as ‘rounds’ and this has been my first attempt at writing this type of song.”
● Maynardville Open-Air Festival shows generally start at 8.15pm. Sunday Sessions are at 7.45pm. Ticket prices range from R140-R250 with concessions for schools, block bookings and students. Book at Computicket.
Sunday Sessions:
Opera in the Park with Cape Town Opera – February 10
Guitarist Derek Gripper, – A Conversation of World Music – February 24
Songs from Shakespeare – March 3 Gospel Classics with the Vumani Choral Project – March 10.