Made possible with generous support from
music Julian Joseph Richard Taylor words Tertia Sefton-Green
Artistic team
Performed by
Clare Whistler Director David keefe music director
Cleveland Watkiss Richard Sumitro Puppeteers from Little Angel Theatre and children from 7 primary schools in Enfield and Hackney with their Trench Brother puppets
Neil Irish Designer Catherine Thomas Puppets
Synopsis The British West Indies Regiment (BWIR) soldiers describe how they signed up to serve England and fulfill their duty.Their main tasks are digging trenches, stocking ammunitions and transport provisions, but they are not allowed to fight. Eugent explains he sailed to Halifax in Canada, where because they were dressed for the tropics, and the weather was freezing, they all got frost bite. The Indian Army arrive ready to settle before a big battle the next day. Daulat Khan serving with the 59th Scinde Rifles, meets Norman Manley, a black British soldier with the Royal Artillery and recounts a letter he has just received about his friend Manta Singh who saved the life of his wounded Lieutenant, but was himself wounded and died in hospital. Norman tells his own story of how he was promoted to being
a Sergeant (non-commissioned Officer), but met with such racism that he asked to give up his stripes and change regiment. He is now a gunner. An Officer asks for any letters as the post is leaving.The Letter Song is sung. Herbert Morris from the BWIR has shell shock and can’t cope with the noise of shells. Daulat is unsympathetic because he’s not on the front line fighting, but Norman argues it’s not his fault the BWIR aren’t allowed to use weapons and that without their work behind the scenes, the Indian and British Armies wouldn’t have what they need to get on with their job and fight.Together they sing about how they all stand as one, each with their own tasks, but all working together to win.
Shelling is heard and everyone is ordered to put their heads down and wait. The Battle Song tells of how the Sikh soldiers prepare to fight for Victory. Herbert cannot take any more and tries to run off. A soldier tries to stop him, and is shot. All the soldiers mourn him and the waste of so many lives lost. The whistle blows heralding the signal to go over the top. Everyone leaves. All of the characters depicted were real life soldiers except for Daulat Khan who has been fictionalised.
As we observe 100 years since the beginning of the First World War we also remember the hundreds of thousands of men ... who came to Britain’s aid in the fight for freedom. Their contribution has often been overlooked but it is reassuring to know this is now changing with new projects, such as Trench Brothers …which commemorates the lives of minority ethnic soldiers. David Cameron, Prime Minister
Music Words
Julian Joseph , Richard Taylor Tertia Sefton-Green
Performance at Gayhurst Community School
27th November 2014
Hardit Singh Malik Letter Song by Katherine Gilham and students TRENCH BROTHERS TEAM
Director Music Director Stage Manager Designer’s Assistant Director’s Assistant CAST
Norman Manley Daulat Khan Herbert Morris Officer Winston Puppeteers
Clare Whistler David Keefe Lizzy Chapman Laura Cordery Nikki Herwanger Cleveland Watkiss Richard Sumitro Naomi Akinyemi Mantas Noreika Kate Powell, Alice Stanley
Soldiers Chewar Ahmad, Harold Aidoo-Poku, Naomi Akinyemi, Mustafa Akkoyun, Taye Allen-McDermott, Leah Anthony, Elliot Atkins, Romaine Barnes-Wallace, Moaya Barrett, Jumana Bellalem, Layla Blake, Demi Boller, Stanley Boyd, Daniel Burrell, Robin Christopher, Lewis Clift, Kezia Cotterell, Morgan Czernuszka, Ali Dag, Demorio Daniels Douglas, Tomie De Fillippo Santos, Robert De Monchaux-Irons, Trinity Dirnberger, Selen Dogan, Eliza Eaton, George Eaton, Archie Eratt, Pau Fandos Jonsson, Malachi Farrell, Zareen Feroz, Arianne Fraser, Edie Friedlander, Evin Ganidagli, Alba Gibbs-Joffe, Charlie Gipson, Son Hai Tran, Leah Hamilton-Warren, Megan Harding, Demetri Harris, Jason Ilunga, Fatiha Jalil, Colin Joao, Hania Khan, Finn Kilbride, James Knox-Hope, Anouk Lazarek Munster, Daniel Lee, Nadekah Liburd, Gez Lilley, Maksymilian Markiewicz-Korotyniec, Jemimah May, Arran McPherson, Leda Millar, William Milloy, Sonny Mogford, Christian Moss, Sharaye Nelson, Mantas Noreika, Deleon Ofori, Molly Parker, George Payne, Joseph Pearman, Maya Pollock, Mason Rees, Flynn Richards, Tiargo Richards-Watson, Olivia Riley-Wright, Eva Rooke, Cydney Rowe-Power, Lila Roylance, Lola Ruddy, Coumba Sall, Finbar Sancha, Max ScottWarner, Aaliyah Seedat, Ravell Senior, Alex Shaw, Jorge Sheahan, Sumeet Singh, Kamil Suleyman, Tahir Suleyman, Khadeejah Timbo, Lori Tomlin, Shabaz Uddin Robbani, Tolga Uguz, Archibald Williams, Paige Willis, Saffron Woods, Daniel Yohannes Additional Recorded Music performed by: The Julian Joseph Jazz Academy Artistic Director Julian Joseph Associate Music Director Trevor Watkis The CYM Hackney Choir Conductor: Katherine Gillham Trumpet: Martyn Lewington, Oboe: Helen Kelly, Clarinet: Gemma Norford Voice Sitar Tabla
Raaheel Husain Jasdeep Singh Degun Gurchetan Singh Gill
Teachers Annie Molloy Deborah Vittori Ella Jones National Army Museum Workshops Charles Neville Artefacts Handler Rez Kabir Costumed Interpreter Little Angel Theatre workshops Laura Halliwell Puppet Workshop Leader Judith Hope Puppet Workshop Leader Kate Powell Volunteer BIOGRAPHIES Cleveland Watkiss Norman Manley Cleveland Watkiss is winner of multiple awards, including Best Vocalist in the Wire/Guardian Jazz awards three times, and Best Vocalist at the London Jazz Awards in 2010. For over 25 years, he has appeared with many of today’s leading artists from around the world, from Art Blakey and Stevie Wonder, to The Who, Goldie, Bob Dylan and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Recently, Cleveland was cast as the starring role in Julian Joseph’s two groundbreaking Jazz operas, Bridgetower and Shadowball, to considerable acclaim. A keen music educator, Cleveland has worked as voice instructor at workshops around the UK and designed the vocal curriculum for BA students at WAC. He continues to perform in many of the major concert halls, festivals and clubs around the world, to critical acclaim. Richard Sumitro Daulat Khan Richard Sumitro plays Rashid in the forthcoming horror film, The Hoarder, starring Mischa Barton and due to be released next year. Other roles include: Ali Mossop for the Young Vic in Hobson’s Choice, directed by Richard Jones; Ollie in Heroes & Villains for Vertigo Films; Estha in The God of Small Things, BBC Radio Four; Pinocchio at Theatre Royal Stratford East. Richard has also worked extensively for the Unicorn Children’s Theatre. Clare Whistler Director Clare Whistler trained and performed as a professional dancer and choreographer for 20 years, mainly in the USA. She has worked as a Director for Scottish Opera, Opera North, and Glyndebourne, and internationally from Denmark to Argentina. Clare has also directed many arts projects, making performances with people of all ages and abilities in schools, prisons, opera houses, museums and for many site specific places, and was Artistic Director of Glyndebourne Youth Opera for 8 years. Clare’s recent work at Southbank, includes with Voicelab: Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem and a new piece for the National Youth Orchestra. For HMDT Music, Clare has directed Hear Our Voice (Bloomsbury Theatre, Fürth Stadtteater, Prague State Opera) and Confucius Says (Hackney Empire) winner of the RPS Award for Education in 2008 and Shadowball (Hackney Empire). David Keefe Music Director David Keefe studied piano accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and musical direction at the Royal Academy of Music. He divides his time between musical theatre productions and education projects involving young performers or for young audiences. Credits include Street Scene, The Human Comedy (Young Vic/The Opera Group) and The Secret Garden (Tour), TIN (Miracle Theatre), Laika the Spacedog and Borka for ETO and Shadowball and The World Was All Before Them for HMDT Music. Neil Irish Designer Trench Brothers is Neil’s fourth design for HMDT Music, previous productions being Confucius Says, Shadowball and The Brown Bomber. Other productions have been for Opera Holland Park, English Touring Opera, Almeida ETO Opera Festival, Opera North, Mid Wales Opera, W11 Opera, Czech National Opera, Opera Theatre Co Dublin, Opera Comique Paris, New Zealand Opera, Garden Opera, Linbury Theatre ROH, BAM New York. Neil has also worked for both set and costume departments for BBC TV.
Trench Brothers Trench Brothers brings the First World War to life for primary school children through the experiences and personal stories of the Indian Army, British West Indies Regiment and black British Soldiers, commemorating their contributions using puppetry, music, artefacts and cross-curricular learning, and culminating in large-scale performances in each school of a new music theatre work.
The project, which aims to visit fifty schools across London between 2014-17 is for 2-4 Year 5 and/or Year 6 classes. Each participating school first receives an artefacts handling session delivered by the National Army Museum in which they try on uniforms and handle a range of objects from weapons to letters, helmets shattered by shells, to magazines. Next is a visit from a First World War soldier, either from the Indian Army or the BWIR, and then a day making Trench Brother puppets with artists from the Little Angel Theatre. Supporting these visits is use of the Trench Brothers on-line Education Zone offering contextual background information to the First World War with an emphasis on ethnic minority Commonwealth forces together with over 90 newly commissioned lesson plans, activities
and downloads in every curricular subject for teachers to use, mapped to the 2014 curriculum. Each school is given a specific soldier to research and an on-line tool kit or questionnaire to help their research, after which every child writes a letter home from their soldier.These letters are edited into one letter per school/ soldier and then the children set the letter to music in a composition session with a professional composer. As far as possible, a range of composers are involved so that at the end of the project, fifty new Letter Songs will have been created in a range of musical styles. The final phase is the performance, which schools prepare for by learning songs from the new music theatre piece by renowned jazz
composer Julian Joseph and award winning composer Richard Taylor, as well as their own Letter Song.The production is put together in each school in only one day: an action packed morning in which the HMDT Music team of Director, Music Director, Stage Manager, professional singers and team of volunteer puppeteers from the Little Angel Theatre arrive with a set, costumes and props to rehearse with the students and their puppets before giving the performance you are about to see.
HMDT MUSIC
Biographies
HMDT music, twice winner of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Education (2004 and 2008), is a leader in developing inspiring arts projects and commissioning new performance works, which support other areas of learning, enriching participant experience, increasing skills and raising aspirations. Large-scale success include Shadowball, a ground- breaking schools’ baseball project and opera by Julian Joseph celebrating the Negro Leagues players; Confucius Says involving 3000 students from nine schools in the creation and development of a new opera by Richard Taylor, linked to the Beijing Olympics and Hear Our Voice, an international project based on children’s Holocaust writings, which toured to, and was performed by, students from Prague, London and Nuremberg.
Julian Joseph Composer A towering figure in contemporary jazz as a pianist and composer, Julian’s stage works include Bridgetower (City of London Festival and English Touring Opera), Shadowball and The Brown Bomber (HMDT Music). As well as four albums and works for small band, his large-scale compositions include The Great Sage (London Jazz Festival), ‘Mountain of Hope’, The Reverend: Back Home to Glory, A Ballade of Love, Guardian Angel, and an arrangement of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for big band, (City of London Festival) and Symphonic Story: The Great Exception, performed by the Halle and BBC Concert orchestras. A regular presenter on Radio 3, Julian is also Artistic Director of the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy run by HMDT Music.
Core programmes include The Saturday Programme comprising The Music Box (under 4s), CYMH Instrumental School, I Can Sing! Music Theatre School and The Julian Joseph Jazz Academy, which provide music training opportunities and a means of sustaining and ensuring skills progression from large-scale school projects. One Spirit is a rehabilitation project working with young offenders in Feltham, engaging them in developing life skills through music, alongside mentoring both inside and upon release, to help prevent reoffending.
Trench Brothers is a First World War project for primary school students conceived by Adam Eisenberg and Tertia Sefton-Green. Story byTertia Sefton-Green. Trench Brothers is an HMDT Music project. ©2014 HMDT Music. Trench Brothers Theme © Julian Joseph Music. Courtesy of
visit www.hmdt.org.uk call 020 8882 8825 email info@hmdt.org.uk Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/HMDTMusic
Richard Taylor Composer Richard’s stage works include The Go-Between (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Ludd and Isis (Royal Opera House), Confucius Says (HMDT Music), Jonah Boy (Stephen Joseph Theatre), Whistle Down the Wind (worldwide). For BBC Philharmonic Orchestra The Man who Planted Trees 2013 and Services No Longer Required 2014. Richard has scored for over 60 plays regionally and in the West End including recently Macbeth and Afterplay (Sheffield Theatres), King Lear and Yerma (WYP) and Tom’s Midnight Garden (Manchester Library Theatre), winner of the TMA Best Production Award. Tertia Sefton-Green Librettist/Creative Director Librettist and Artistic Director for Hear Our Voice, HMDT Music’s international project about children’s Holocaust writings, Tertia’s work as Creative Director includes developing and managing HMDT Music’s large scale projects The Hackney Chronicles, Shadowball, On London Fields, Confucius Says and The Brown Bomber as well as vocal coach on the I Can Sing! Music Theatre programme.
HMDT Music Adam Eisenberg General Director Tertia Sefton-Green Creative Director Rebecca Redfern Music Manager Helen Kelly Projects Coordinator Parmjit Singh Researcher Stephen Bourne Researcher DesignRaphael Ltd Graphic Design Clive Barda Photographer Tony Clark, James Joseph Audio Production National Army Museum Tristan Langlois Head of Learning Sam Doty Senior Education Officer Jasdeep Singh Project Officer Little Angel Theatre Sarah Schofield Education Officer Sets by Hugo Sterk Printing by Schwartz
Second Floor 22 Aldermans Hill London N13 4PN T: 020 8882 8825 F: 020 8882 6253 E: info@hmdt.org.uk W: www.hmdt.org