Today London Tide opens at the National Theatre, running through until June 22nd – find tickets here.
Based on Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend, it is directed by Ian Rickson, adapted by Ben Power and features original songs written by PJ Harvey and Ben Power.
Jamael Westman performs ‘Eugene Alone’, and you can listen to PJ Harvey’s demo recording below:
Here is a song draft for ‘Eugene Alone’:
Polly says, “Whenever I approached writing a song for a character I would discuss with Ben and Ian what the character is going through at that time, and what emotion needed to be expressed through the music. We would talk about what had happened immediately before, what was going to happen next, time of day or night…
As the play evolved we began to see how we could make the songs work hard for us in a way that meant that Ben could edit text from the body of the play as the song had expressed much of it.
Jamael has been wonderful to work with and understands all of the emotions that needed to be conveyed within the song.”
Ian Rickson says, “I loved watching Polly feel into the distinctive sensibilities of different characters at key moments in their lives, and find music for them. The music has a timeless directness that transcends genre and style, so evocative in our stage world.”
Ben Power says, “It’s been the most enormous pleasure and thrill to work with Polly on these lyrics and to watch her create this timeless and transcendent music. The songs in London Tide jump out of the play to express character, emotion and theme, combining Dickens’ vast portrait of the city with Polly’s extraordinary musical imagination.”
London Tide plays at the Lyttelton Theatre April 10th – June 22nd. More information here.