goodbye psychedelia; hello child soldiers, love letters, self-determination, insemination, shark mutilation...

This is just a quick snapshot of where things are at.

(the Ablutions cast and crew after the last show of the tour, in Chippenham)

Goodbye Ablutions. It was a glorious, strange little tour; probably the show I've felt most personally attached to since way back when we did By the Bog of Cats at university. Lots of amazing reviews, one award, and currently booking our tour next spring.

In the meantime, this is what I'm doing at the moment:

Like Enemies of the State - Be Frank Theatre - a new show about child soldiers in the DRC, based on the playwright's own journey there - on in Stockholm this month and in London in the Autumn; I've just started working on the compositions and sound design.

Touched... Like A Virgin opens in Edinburgh next week. I'm won't be there with it, but my arrangements will be and I'm in the rehearsals this week as Musical Director.

As understudy to their excellent Musical Director/Songwriter, I'm joining Kilter Theatre's The Last Post at Towersey Festival this month.

Kill the Beast's brilliant The Boy Who Kicked Pigs is doing great up at Edinburgh at the moment - great audiences and reviews. It features lots of music by me, with help from Joe Campbell; another work that feels quite close to my heart.

Timezone Theatre's stark, radical take on Taming of the Shrew starts rehearsals this week for their run in London next month. I've just joined them as composer/sound designer.

the boy who kicked pigs returns

Very excited that Kill The Beast's The Boy Who Kicked Pigs, that had an amazing & critically acclaimed initial run in Manchester last year, is coming to London in a matter of weeks to play at the famous Jacksons Lane theatre, before heading up to Edinburgh's Pleasance this summer.

I'm editing the tracks at the moment. The soundtrack was composed primarily on an old casiotone keyboard, which had a gloriously editable sound though produced mad amounts of hiss and kept switching itself off. The score was composed after listening to a lot of old Hammer Horror soundtracks, as well as loads of Bernard Herrmann, who is kind of the master of simple, unresolving diminished melodies and harmonies that swing between disconcerting & lush - I'm always trying to do that...

This was what working on the score back then looked like - note the League of Gentleman box set, their music was another key inspiration -

After watching a runthrough last Sunday, this is what working on it now currently looks like -

You can hear a bit of the music in this teaser trailer - but more importantly, you can see a snippet of the show, which is a really well-written black comedy, created by a group of great performers complimented by fantastic design:

Get your tickets here - http://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/whats-on/event/2013/the-boy-who-kicked-pigs/

soundtrack to medical melodrama

Doing some more research for soundtracking Kill The Beast's The Boy Who Kicked Pigs, on at the Lowry in Manchester later this month. Today: the music of medical melodrama -

General Hospital was brought to you by Wizard Room Deodorizer...

newspapers, cops, operas