Troilus and Cressida
2018
Royal Shakespeare Company
An RSC Production 2018
by William Shakespeare
directed by Gregory Doran
I was honoured to be invited by composer and percussion legend Dame Evelyn Glennie to collaborate on her first theatre score.
I co-composed and sound designed this flagship RSC production which played at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon and broadcast live to cinemas.
The band included four onstage percussionists with a huge assortment of instruments including a shipping container full of oil drums and several bespoke creations manufactured especially for the production, with vocals, guitar, keyboards and woodwinds.
‘Rusted, twisted, shattered and beautiful’
★★★★★ Broadway World
‘Wonderful, epic and hugely rewarding’
★★★★ The Times
‘Epic, Mad Max style’
★★★★ What’s On Stage
‘What a glorious play this is’
★★★★ Evening Standard
Doran has engaged the virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie, aided by Dave Price, to provide a soundscape to Shakespeare’s anti-heroic portrait of the Trojan war. Glennie deploys a vast array of instruments, including timpani and tam-tams, and an overhanging mix of metallic junk even vibrates to evoke military clamour.
Michael Billington, The Guardian
The score is so phenomenally good you can feel every beat – be it a tank drum, vibraphone or an oil can, "the rhythm of war" is almost deafening at times.
Whatsonstage.com
From the very start, Evelyn Glennie’s discordant score takes charge. Her soundscape is integral to the tale, with thumping percussion introducing characters, and vibrating through the audience. It’s immersive and the whole set becomes a part of the metallic sound-world, with musicians and instruments on stage and embedded in the set. Even the chandelier of rusting copper moves and makes unsettling sounds.
ruthmillington.co.uk
