A SENIOR lecturer of the University of Chichester has been commissioned to compose and direct the music for the opening production of this year’s summer festival at the Regent’s Park open air theatre in London.
Dr Rod Paton of the Department of Music will work on popular show Running Wild, in a co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre, which is to be coordinated by famed artistic directors Tim Sheader and Dale Rooks.
The play, originally presented last summer at the Cass sculpture park in Goodwood, is based on the best-selling novel by Michael Morpurgo which draws on a true story of a young boy rescued from the 2004 Indonesian tsunami by an elephant.
Dr Paton said: “Morpurgo’s re-telling of the story draws in major current themes surrounding the destruction of the rain forest, the killing of orangutans, and the illegal development of the palm oil monoculture – our troubled relationship to the living world.”
Main character Will, on holiday with his mother after his father’s death on the killing fields of Iraq, is on an elephant ride when the tsunami strikes.
The elephant, Oona, bolts into the forest before the wave hits and Will develops an extraordinary relationship with the animal upon which his survival depends.
Dr Paton’s music, which is integral to the production, is made up of a series of vocal calls, chants, hockets, rounds, and songs using an original devised language, accompanied by hand held percussion and blended with choreography.
He added: “The musical style and the devices employed in the score reflect our own interdependence and need for sustainable communities.
“Though original, the music draws on examples of traditional music from the rainforests of Cameroon and other indigenous traditions and will be sung by an ensemble of young people from the Greater London area working alongside the professional actors.”
The production also uses life-sized puppets which, together with the music, provide an emotive force to the telling of the narrative.
To find out more about Dr Paton and his work at the University of Chichester visit www.chi.ac.uk/staff/dr-rod-paton.
