Promotional PackTouring Spring/Summer 2020

Stripes uses first-class, live music and non-verbal drama to explore how to find one’s own voice in a group. Developed during R&D with primary school children Stripes follows a group of six musicians as they break free from their musical shackles and explores themes of friendship, empathy, resilience, identity, difference, change and respect. In an environment that promotes curiosity, we make it possible for discussions to be opened up around working together and being yourself.

Performed to KS2 audiences in school halls or arts venues Stripes lasts 45 minutes (with no interval) and includes an interactive Q&A session with the audience and a resource pack for schools.

Stripes is an exploration of what it means to be individual and still enjoy common ground and leaves space for the children to discuss and articulate the plot in their own words. The performance takes children on an emotional journey that engages their imagination. During the Q&A afterwards they are invited to share the links they make between the dramatic, visual, and musical cues of the play and their own ideas, feelings and experiences.

About Stripes

Stripes begins in a place of enforced unison, with every performer doing the same physical actions (protocol) and playing the same cells of Riley’s In C in unison. This peculiar monotony is broken by the outburst of the clarinet who after struggling to conform and being rejected by the rest of the group ends up playing Penderecki’s Prelude for Solo Clarinet. Most of the group leave the stage angrily, except for the cello and piano who stay to listen sadly.

The cello tries to connect using the protocol, but the clarinet runs away, leaving her to play Nigel Osbourne’s Adagio for Vedran Smailovic. She in turn is overheard by the pianist, and after another failed attempt to interact, the cello leaves the pianist alone on stage. He comedically discovers his own relationship with the piano, culminating in a fragmented performanceof part of Debussy’s Minstrels. This is heard from off stage by the recorder who picks up his final phrase, leading into the first successful piece of musical collaboration as the two improvise happily together.

One by one each performer attempts to develop their individuality whilst being rudely brought back in line by the angry French horn. The performance ends with the piano, recorder, clarinet, and cello mournfully playing together and the French horn returning to the stage playing Ah Poor Bird as a gesture of peace. After the material is passed between the instrumentalists they all perform the song together which flows naturally into the audience learning the song and to massed and repeated performance. When this ends, Riley’s In C is repeated but, as intended, with cells presented at random and in joyful harmony.

You can find a link to the promotional trailer here.

Suitable for performances in school halls or studio venues for KS2 school groups

About Hold the Drama

Our group formed from the 17/18 cohort of the Open Academy Fellows, having all been postgraduates at the Royal Academy of Music.

We are:France Leith – French HornJoe Cummings – PianoMatthew Wilsher – ClarinetClÍona NÍ Choileáin – CelloEdward Edgcumbe – CountertenorKristina Greally - Recorder

In addition to busy freelance careers that run from musical direction for the Royal Shakespeare Company to the Lion King, we have all worked extensively in creative learning and participation on a variety of projects with leading arts organisations and venues, including Wigmore Hall, Glyndebourne Opera, Spitalfields Music, English Touring Opera, and the BBC Proms.

Our shows are a non-verbal exploration and presentation of themes more usually explored in PSHE lessons. Our work isn’t interested in explicitly didactic musical goals in isolation but in using music and narrative to give dramatic, visual, and aural cues for understanding emotions. It trusts children’s interpretative instincts, and by placing repertoire at the service of the drama invites children to analyse the music through the lens of the story. Our work takes the position that the exposition of plot, narrative, and emotion can be entirely non-verbal, marrying with our belief that music, especially live, is a fundamentally emotional experience.

www.holdthedrama.co.uk @drama_hold

Feedback from audiences:

What did you enjoy most about the assembly?“I enjoyed the music part because it was really dramatic and now I know how to make music into words.”“I enjoyed the music because I learnt how to express my feelings in music.”

What did you learn from the assembly?“What I learnt is that you should always be equal and be free. Also, you can’t judge anyone by what they are wearing.” “That you shouldn’t all be the same, you should express yourself and let it out.” “That everyone can do their own thing and that I can sing.”

Has the project changed how you think about or treat other people?“Yes. It helps me a lot for treating people the same way you are treated.”“It has changed me because it was a great experience.”“Yes, as some people feel upset about what I done and now I know how they feel.” “Yes, because now I know how to treat people with music.”

Praise from partners and school staff:‘I had the privilege of seeing Hold the Drama perform to Years 3&4 at Waltham Forest. The children were enrapt from beginning to end and it was incredibly moving to see the whole group burst into spontaneous song as they recognised one of the pieces played. The play is a fantastic vehicle for children to explore important themes around identity, friendship and collaboration.

At a time when the emotional wellbeing of children and development of resilience couldn’t be more pressing, every primary school in the UK would be wise to include ‘Stripes’ as an essential part of their mental health programme.’ Louise Keller. UKCP & BACP Registered Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist

‘Hands down the best thing we’ve had in this school, it was absolutely beautiful’ – Teacher, Hillyfield at the Park

‘The depth of discussion that this performance sparked was amazing. Highly talented musicians and performers- incredibly engaging. Thank you, Hold The Drama’ - Riverley Staff member

‘Thank you Hold the Drama for such a thought provoking piece of theatre that cleverly and uniquely explored issues around mental health using music’ – Riverley Staff member

‘Thank you from Willow Brook to Hold the Drama for a thought-provoking interpretation of issues about well-being and inclusivity through their performance of a production called Stripes.’ – Willow Brook Primary staff member

What a wonderful performance. It was full of beautiful and unexpected music, performed with commitment and virtuosity. Thanks to the

approach taken by Hold the Drama, the children were able to connect directly with the emotion, expression and meaning of the pieces in a way

that I have rarely seen before. It was completely unnecessary to ‘explain’ the music, and so refreshing to see a performance for primary school

children that treated them as intelligent, emotional beings who are capable of having their own responses to music.’ Julian West, Head of Open

Academy, the Royal Academy of Music’s creative learning and participation programme.

Joseph Cummings

Joseph's fascination with the piano began at an early age when, as a hyperactive child with a short attention span, his parents would sit him at the piano as a means of entertaining him.

Since then, Joseph Cummings has graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and has recently finished a fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music. Joseph works mostly with

music for the stage as well as using music as an educational tool. He is currently working for the Royal Shakespeare Company as musical director and mentor to schools across the UK

producing versions of Matilda. In 2016 Joseph cofounded Voices Across Time, Joseph also works with the Wigmore Hall as repetiteur for community events as well as their dementia

friendly choir ‘Singing with Friends’. Joseph is repetiteur to the International Adult Autistic Choir and arranges many of their bespoke pieces which allow the individual talents of the

choir members to be showcased. He has also recently worked on projects with leading arts organisations such as the Oxford Lieder Festival, Dartington Musical Festival, Royal Opera

House, Leeds Lieder Festival and the National Theatre.

Frances Leith

Frances is a freelance horn player and teacher based in London. Her musical interests are broad, ranging from classical to musical theatre and film scores. Most recently she joined the

dep list for the Lion King, West End. She has played with London Sinfonietta on a number of occasions, and recently performed with rock band, Procol Harum. She is also a member of

the Coriolis Wind Quintet. Alongside playing, Frances enjoys teaching for Camden Music Service (St Mary and St Pancras Primary School), academic tutoring, and leading and assisting in

community and education projects. The latter has included work with BBC Proms, English Touring Opera, and the Wigmore Hall. Away from music, Frances is a keen Netball player for

a league in Highbury.

Edward Edgcumbe

Music has helped Edward make sense of the world for as long as he can he can remember. After beginning his musical life as a chorister at Southwark Cathedral, he now freelances his

way round London as a countertenor, touring Spain, the USA, and China, and performing at Kings Place, Palais de Versailles, and Wigmore Hall. Best of all, he’s loved working on

projects including Glyndebourne’s Raise Your Voice (where he wore a flower garland as Oberon), the Royal London Hospital’s School Ward (where he played Batman’s nemesis), and as

part of Music for Thought (where he didn’t dress up but did make some incredible music with some extraordinary people). He and his orange bike, Nemo, like cycle lanes, stopping at

red lights, and occasionally cycling to the Loire Valley.

Clíona Ní Choileáin

Clíona began playing the cello at the age of four after realising the instrument came with a guaranteed seat at every event. A graduate of Royal Northern College of Music and Royal

Academy of Music, Irish cellist Clíona is now based in London. She is a member of the Mila Piano Trio who are recent prize winners at Verao Classico in Portugal. When not performing

classical music, Clíona records with digital music producer Wilma Archer. Passionately interested in music education and outreach, Clíona teaches whole class cello for London Music

Masters in central London, and also teaches for Camden Council. Clíona is also an early years musician at Wigmore Hall Learning, and works freelance for other organisations across

London. Clíona is the Head of Participation and Learning at Romsey Chamber Music Festival, leading workshops, masterclasses and assemblies for schools and music services in

Hampshire. In her spare time Clíona drinks copious amounts of tea and practises yoga.

Kristina GreallyKristina has personal experience of the effect memorable musical performances can have on children, having been inspired to learn the recorder by her primary school music teacher. She is the recipient of the Adams Prize from King’s College London, and the Max Edwards, Frank Britton and Roy Burcher Prizes from the Royal Academy of Music, She has performed at Wigmore Hall, Handel House, the Grange Festival and on BBC Radio 3. Kristina places special importance on music in the community, and has performed in and worked on outreach projects with Wigmore Hall, Glyndebourne, Age UK and Resonate Arts. In September 2018, Kristina began a PGCE in Secondary Music at Watford Grammar School for Girls. With her remaining energy she trains for her blue belt in Krav Maga, an Israeli martial art form.

Matthew WilsherWhen Matthew was eight years old, his mum got sick of him playing the recorder and instead asked him to try an old plastic clarinet that she’d found under her bed. Thus began a twenty year long musical journey of chamber, orchestral, solo and workshop music making. After graduating from his Masters degree at the Royal Academy of Music, Matthew became an Open Academy fellow and Chamber Music Fellow with his wind quintet, Moriarty Winds. Before studying at the Academy, Matthew did Music and French at the University of Bristol, which included a year studying at Bordeaux Conservatoire, but now lives in London where he has worked with esteemed conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Sir Trevor Pinnock and Semyon Bychkov, performed with orchestras such as the London Sinfonietta and the Philharmonia, and performed in venues such as Cadogan Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. Matthew is also passionate about music education, having worked on a huge variety of projects including everything from exploring the music of outer space with toddlers at the Wigmore Hall to writing full-length operas about the Fire of London with English Touring Opera and an entire primary school in Camden. When Matthew isn’t playing the clarinet he likes to run, swim and cycle , but is yet to do his first triathlon. He also enjoys making cheesecakes.

Practicalities:• Our performances run for 45 minutes (with no interval) and include a warm-up and post-show Q&A.• The best venue is a school hall or studio theatre.• We only require 45 minutes prior to the performance to get in. • We require access to a piano or Clavinova, 4 music stands and 3 adult-sized chairs (if necessary we can tour our

own Clavinova and music stands at an extra cost)• Target audience

▪ Schools: between 120-300 students, from years' 2-6 and year 7.▪ Families: suitable for families with children aged 7-11

• We provide a follow-up teacher’s pack, focussing on both the PSHE and musical aspects of the show• Stripes prompts a huge range of responses from children. We very much expect and welcome this and ask that

teachers allow the exploration of those emotions during the performance.

Stripes is available for Schools, Music Hubs and Venues Spring and Summer 2020

For more information and bookings please contact Frances Leith on holdthedramaplayers@gmail.com or 07549523001

www.holdthedrama.co.uk @drama_hold