The Musicians: Initial Ideas

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Our end of year play has been decided and wow. The script we are performing is called 'The Musicians' by Patrick Marber. Let me give you a quick summary of the play;

The Orchestra of Ridley Road School have travelled to Moscow after entering into the European Festival of Youth. The school orchestra are to play Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony before an audience of professionals. Disaster strikes when their instruments are ceased by customs. Thankfully, Alex, the Russian boy who cleans the hall, is a die hard pinball wizard fan who comes up with a plan to save the orchestra from humiliation. 

'The Musicians' is written by Patrick Marber who is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor and screenwriter. Marber wrote 'The Musicians' for the National Theatre's new writing programme for teenagers in 2004. 

I can honestly say that I absolutely and completely adore this script and I am so glad that this was chosen as our last play we will do together in College. After reading the script through I decided that it would be rude of me not to go for Alex. His character is so well thought out and written that I loved his character straight away. 

I think that one of the hardest parts any play to perform is the opening section, it sets the tone for the entirety of the performance. Alex is the first person the audience sees and it's not a little opening let me tell you. The opening segment begins with Alex belting out Pinball Wizard by The Who in his imaginary concert that's all in his mind. I think the character of Alex will massively push me out of my comfort zone as he is a polite and charming character that always appears very happy. He is the central character of the play and the person who makes everything okay despite the language barrier between himself and the orchestra. I think one of the biggest challenges of all will be being able to keep up a Russian accent for the whole of the play! However, I think I've watched enough Killing Eve to be able to nail it. Alex has so many layers to his personality and you can tell when reading the play that he is a person who would do anything for anyone. He just wants to be happy and have friends (whilst also maybe being a member of the Who) and I can honestly say that it would be one of my favourite characters to ever perform. So … time to scrub up my act and start preparing to sing my lungs out to Pinball Wizard.

Mood Board for 'The Musicians'

In my mind, what I am envisioning for the Musicians and the set are lots of chairs and music stands with sheet music on so it looks the part. This will shock the audience more when the orchestra come on without instruments as everything is there bar them. I imagine there to be very warm lighting on stage, the way you would usually imagine an orchestra show. In terms of Alex, I think it would be fabulous to have a podium in the middle of the stage for him to stand on with a spotlight on him for the opening segment. I love this script because although it is quite clear that Alex isn't a fan of classical music, he is more than happy to help the school orchestra out whilst they are stressed. In my mind this play is almost one big metaphor for how music can bring people together no matter of the language you speak, where you come from or who you are.

I think that this plot is a lot about teamwork and how to be there for each other as a company in difficult times when the whole world feels like it's against you.

Costume Mood Board

As for costume, I have quite a lot of ideas. All of my ideas on the left are costume for women because I feel as though men would just wear a white shirt with a dicky bow and some suit trousers. As for women, I would not want them to wear anything too flashy that would distract the audience from the actual performance. I researched into orchestras and what musicians wear to them and there is a very monochromatic colour pallet. I would have the conductor (man or woman) in a white shirt and the musicians in black to show the audience clearly who the conductor is. The women of the orchestra would look very elegant with long sleeve black dresses and neat hair so that they still look elegant but they are comfortable and focused on their instrument alone and not distracted by anything too flashy. As for hair, I think that is where individuality comes into play. Rather than having everyone with the same hairstyle, I can envision people with all different hairstyles that are still neat and tidy. I think there could be a bit of fun brought into the costume with jewellery and earrings (like the ones above!) I look forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with and cannot wait to get started on this show!