Reflecting on the Flying Dutchman Tour
The anchor’s down and the sails are packed away on The Flying Dutchman Tour. And, what a ride it was!
We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who joined us on this amazing journey, our wonderful cast and creatives, fantastic community choirs, brilliant venues, fabulous audiences and everyone else who helped make it happen! But we’d also like to take a moment to share some of the highlights, wonderful photography, and reflect on the adventure we’re leaving behind before we embark on our next.
A quick OVERVIEW of The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman was created and produced in partnership with Manchester Camerata. Based on an original concept by Lucy Bradley, poet and novelist Glyn Maxwell’s English libretto and award-winning composer Laura Bowler’s 8-piece chamber orchestration combined to create a fresh and radically rethought version of Wagner's classic.
A haunting political tale exploring the psychology and realities of living on an island with hardening borders, The Flying Dutchman was a bold reimagination of an epic fable. Discussing his take on adapting stories, Glyn Maxwell said:
The joy of adaptation is meeting the old gang again. And if you think of adaptation in a creaturely, biological sense, you are hoping that a story, whether it’s Alice or Cyrano, The Wind in the Willows or The Flying Dutchman, can adapt to the strange new environment known as the Here and Now. They can, they do, they are immortal stories, and it’s just a matter of allowing them to breathe the local air.
Featuring recordings of community singing groups from across the UK alongside a cast of world-renowned opera singers and players, this was an intensely powerful and involved musical storytelling, which brought The Flying Dutchman to life as an urgent, contemporary tale for our times.
REACHING AUDIENCES AT VENUES ACROSS THE UK
We performed The Flying Dutchman in extraordinary and eclectic venues across the UK with many performances sold out. Venues included:
Turner Sims, Southampton
SS Great Britain, Bristol
Pavillion Theatre, Worthing
Grand Junction, London
Trinity Market, Hull
Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool
Speaking in a recent interview on the collaboration with Manchester Camerata, Director Lucy Bradley had this to say:
The Camerata are an exceptional group of musicians and it has been really thrilling to work with them over the last years. They are bold, courageous, collaborative and great fun to be around. I continue to be in total awe of them and their ability to do many things at once.
You can still access the full digital program here and buy Glyn Maxwell's poetic, beautiful, unflinching libretto, published by Live Canon, online here.
Media Response
“It’s The Flying Dutchman — but not as we know it… Philippa Boyle is powerful and poignant as Starlight, while Pauls Putnins balances human warmth with raw desperation as the Mariner.”
Rebecca Franks, The Times
“Music Director Tim Burke and all the Manchester Camerata players were incredibly tight, and their doubling as chorus was effective and impressively effortless.”
Nick Boston, bachtrack.com
“A fearless, ambitious re-telling of Richard Wagner’s epic tale and score… Pauls Putnins' Mariner… a glorious voice as deep and as powerful as one might imagine the ocean on which he suffered.” Simon Bishop, Stage Talk Magazine
“'cannily and colourfully remodelled by Laura Bowler in association with Robin Wallington' - 'Bradley's inventive, tightly wrought production'” Opera Magazine
“Maxwell’s new storyline is the Wagner rewrite of the decade...A thrilling concept” Plays International
PHOTO GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS
We absolutely love the photography from the tour, so here’s a selection! All photography by Alex Brenner.
A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE WONDERFUL CAST AND CREW
What a team! We’d like to extend a huge thank you to the cast and crew that brought the whole production to life and made the tour an unforgettable experience for the team and audience alike.
CAST:
Starlight - Philippa Boyle
Captain Dee & Music Director - Timothy Dawkins
Helm/Mari - Carolyn Holt
Mariner - Pauls Putnins
Players/Chorus - Manchester Camerata
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VIOLIN:
Caroline Pether
Katie Stillman (30 June, 1, 12, 22, 23 July)
Marie Schreer (4, 5, 7, 8 July)
CELLO:
Colin Alexander
Waynne Kwon (7, 8, 22,
23 July)
DOUBLE BASS:
Roberto Carrillo-Garcia
FLUTE:
Amina Hussain (30 June,
1, 4, 5, 18 and 19 July)
Sarah Whewell
CLARINET:
Greg Hearle
Cathal Killeen (7, 8 July)
HORN:
Mark Bennett
Dave Tollington (12, 13, 14 July)
PERCUSSION:
Alex Henshaw
ACCORDION:
Djordje Gajic
Associate Artists:
Annie George covering Mari/Helm
Toki Hamano covering Mariner
Catherine Hooper covering Starlight
Masimba Ushe covering Captain Dee
Community singers from the Wellbeing Choir at Bristol Old Vic, Blackpool Grand Theatre, Hull Freedom Chorus,
London’s GrandJunction, and MAST Mayflower Studios Southampton
CREW:
Director - Lucy Bradley
Set & Costume Designer - Ana Inés Jabares-Pita
Associate Designer - Anna Kelsey
Associate Music Director - Robin Wallington
Assistant Director - Jennifer Lane Baker
Orchestrator - Laura Bowler with Robin Wallington
Words - Glyn Maxwell
Lighting Designer - Neill Brinkworth
Sound - Matthew Fairclough
Associate Designer - Anna Kelsey
Assistant Director - Jennifer Lane Baker
Costume Supervisor - Nicola Cox
Repetiteur - Maria Struckova
Production Manager - Lisa Hood
Technical Stage Manager - Max Juan-Balch
Stage Manager - Esther Malkinson
Sound Operator Assistant - Harvey Sillitoe
Production Image - Laura Whitehouse
Programme Design - Malcolm Reid
Press & Marketing - Mobius Industries
We look forward to seeing you for our next national and international adventures in opera - Peace At Last and OperaCocktail.