The Pocket Orchestra

The Pocket Orchestra is a play written by Goodies legend Graeme Garden, with the music scored by Callum McLeod.

Subtitled "The Unlikely Lives of the Great Composers", it is a 90 minute history of classical music told through the lives of the great composers. From Beethoven to Brahms and everyone in between, classical music's biggest names are all included in this show, which features live performances from a cast of six actor/musicians who are Sebastian Bates, Emma Correlle, Karen Fisher-Pollard, Ella Smith, Paul Arden-Griffiths, Ian Harris and additionally has former Timelord Sylvester McCoy as the host (or Showman) who guides the audience through the performance.

The Director is Richard Williams, the designer David Collis and the lighting designer David Horn.

Twenty-six different composers are featured on stage during the course of the show which was performed at Trafalgar Studios 2 in London from the 26th of April 2006 until the 20th of May 2006. Features of the show include singing a laundry list to "Largo al Factotum" from The Barber of Seville, a short snippet of John Cage's 4′33″ and Sylvester McCoy playing the Spoons.

The idea was devised by Callum McLeod after putting together a concert of his fathers' favourite pieces of classical music arranged for small groups of musicians. [Interview by Sean Rafferty on BBC Radio 3's In Tune, 19th April 2006]

The official website for the show contains example excerpts from the script.

References

External links

* [http://feastcreative.com/clients/pocketorchestra/graeme-21mar06.html The Pocket Orchestra Flyer]
* [http://www.thepocketorchestra.com/ Pocket Orchestra Official Web Site]