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Jethro Compton (book and lyrics, manager and signifier designer): The Olivier awards were a huge boost for us. I wasn’t alert of the interaction an Olivier triumph could have. We were already successful conversations with antithetic organisations astir the satellite astir getting the amusement retired internationally – those person stepped up rather dramatically.
Philippa Hogg (actor, instrumentalist and originative associate): The ceremonial was truthful overmuch fun. We came connected astatine the Royal Albert Hall to this roar from thousands of people.
Clare Foster (plays Elowen Keene): Our fans are incredible. One gave maine this beauteous missive with a woody box, which had a pickled crab design. It could beryllium connected our set. I opened it and it was the Diary of Elowen.
Darren Clark (music and lyrics, co-music supervisor, orchestrator and arranger): There are generous souls moving connected this amusement – we speech astir radical who are “Button”. One of those qualities is an unfastened heart; different is simply a curiosity astir life.
John Dagleish (plays Benjamin Button): Any communicative that is precise quality works good done the lens of an absurd conceit, similar a antheral ageing backwards. The connection astir making the astir of the clip you person is overmuch much poignant with a beingness led the other mode astir due to the fact that determination is simply a finite fig of years and a circumstantial extremity date.
Philippa Hogg: Everyone connected that signifier feels connected to the themes, peculiarly being an outsider. It feels similar a set of misfits telling the communicative of a misfit. Playing instruments and singing unneurotic is an past creation form. You person to perceive truthful hard erstwhile you play euphony and sing unneurotic and that yet connects radical connected a deeper level than conscionable playing a scene. And this is precise overmuch a non-hierarchical portion – that’s rather rare.
Jethro Compton: There’s thing similar it successful the West End. An actor-musician storytelling amusement is precise antithetic to what radical are utilized to experiencing here. It would not person been developed this mode if it had originated successful the commercialized assemblage alternatively of the fringe. Musicals are truthful costly to make that producers aren’t taking risks. This amusement has a rubric that radical whitethorn person heard of from the movie and abbreviated communicative but it’s created by a radical of chartless people, beauteous much. That’s portion of its charm.
Clare Foster: Telling an full lifespan connected signifier makes radical bespeak connected their ain lives. They permission wanting to telephone their mum oregon to clasp their partner’s manus a spot tighter due to the fact that it deals with the large stuff. When my friends travel and watch, they don’t – spoiler alert! – header with maine dying precise well.
John Dagleish: But Jethro has this operation that helium uses: “shitting connected the romance”. Whenever thing becomes melodramatic oregon a spot excessively sepia, helium pumps the brakes and throws successful a small gag. It allows the assemblage a spot of respite from the heaviness.
Clare Foster: When I joined the company, Jethro talked truthful overmuch astir it arsenic an ensemble show. That connection tin get thrown astir a lot. But it truly is an ensemble successful its core. A formed of actor-musicians changes the dynamic of a institution due to the fact that there’s an inherent reliance connected each other. It ne'er feels similar a peculiar idiosyncratic is singing a opus with a band; it feels similar a radical of storytellers collaborating.
Darren Clark: There’s thing successful the amusement for everyone to bespeak on. I wanted the euphony to consciousness similar it was benignant of rushing implicit you similar a wave. There would beryllium moments wherever you felt similar you were wrong a tempest and others erstwhile the h2o was lapping astatine your toes.
Anna Kelsey (costume decorator and subordinate signifier designer): We wanted the acceptable to consciousness similar it was each falling into the ocean. The signifier astatine the Ambassadors theatre is already raked. We added much of a rake, which does look great, but determination was a batch of adjusting to it.
Philippa Hogg: We dropped a tankard and it rolled into someone’s thigh successful the beforehand row! It takes immoderate getting utilized to for the body, particularly erstwhile you’re dancing, arsenic your centre of gravity is simply a spot wonky. But it benignant of gives that rickety pier feel.
Anna Kelsey: On immoderate shows the pieces don’t each look to travel together. But with this one, they truly did. We knew we wanted Benjamin to deterioration a suit and for it to consciousness similar helium was filling it retired arsenic as helium gets younger. So astatine the opening of the show, John is precise hunched implicit and his overgarment has been chopped to beryllium oversized. At 1 point, helium changes it for 1 made of the aforesaid cloth but with a chopped that fits him better. Then helium changes his hairsbreadth successful the interval, too. It each helps the process without that translation becoming the absorption of the show.
John Dagleish: With Benjamin, we didn’t privation to bash a send-up caricature of an aged man, a Julie Walters “two soups” benignant of thing! We wanted to find thing existent that wasn’t based connected constitution oregon prosthetics – thing that would beryllium believable without being excessively showy. So we discussed this thought of value successful his question and a dependable similar I’ve been shouting each night, a shallowness of breath.
Anna Kelsey: We did speech astir him having a moustache astatine the apical of the show. We chopped it due to the fact that nary quality ageing usually done the amusement is aided by thing similar that. Also uncovering a spot wherever John could really instrumentality it disconnected was challenging!
John Dagleish: I’d forgotten astir the moustache! It would person felt much similar you’re doing a “bit”, alternatively than selling this arsenic authentically arsenic we could merchantability it.
Anna Kelsey: There was this thought that the swirling ensemble are called strangers. We talked astir them being benignant of washed up retired of the ocean. The ensemble colours were timeless tones of the earth, oversea and coast. But for the main characters I referenced items similar beingness buoys, sportfishing floats, manmade colours of the coastline – truthful Benjamin’s got a spot of yellow, Elowen has orange.
Philippa Hogg: The mystical quality of Benjamin Button, and the folkloric mode that we archer the story, has truthful overmuch information successful it. Elowen sings the enactment “for a idiosyncratic tin beryllium aged and yet beryllium young”. We each person that childlike quality successful america but past young children tin person these moments of profound wisdom. You think: wherever the hellhole did that travel from? If anything, the amusement has made maine deliberation the accepted conception of ageing is simply a load of rubbish.
John Dagleish: Benjamin is simply a precise omniscient but naive quality erstwhile he’s born. Jethro described it like, he’s already had each of the experiences but helium conscionable doesn’t retrieve them yet. So you’re playing this benignant of childish naivety but with immoderate consciousness of maturity and contented down it arsenic well. And then, arsenic the younger man, I get to play it with a wealthiness of acquisition arsenic good arsenic an impetuous midlife situation benignant of vibe.
Jethro Compton: If you effort to marque the information that helium is calved aged successful immoderate mode believable oregon realistic, it doesn’t work. I deliberation the 2008 movie mentation went incorrect successful that they made him baby-sized, truthful the full happening is simply a spot weird. The much absurd we made it, the much we leaned into making it a fairytale, the quicker the assemblage could judge it and determination on. Benjamin is calved aged and falls successful emotion with a younger woman. But I was precise conscious of not wanting it to beryllium creepy oregon sinister.
Clare Foster: There’s thing that’s a small spot ick astir the conception but Jethro and Darren person done specified a large job. I don’t deliberation you ever truly consciousness the ick!
Jethro Compton: Largely that comes down to the ages of the actors that we formed but besides that Elowen is the driving unit of the relationship. Benjamin is not pursuing her – she precise overmuch pursues him. She doesn’t attraction what property helium whitethorn oregon whitethorn not be, she’s lone funny successful who helium is arsenic a person.
Clare Foster: The shaper Richard Darbourne, who I did Guys and Dolls with 10 years ago, messaged maine and said: you should travel successful for this. His substance said: “High stakes, large heart, you devour that crap for breakfast!” It was 1 of those beauteous uncommon auditions where, successful the room, it conscionable felt similar the close fit.
Philippa Hogg: Before we spell connected signifier we bash a carnal and vocal warmup past travel unneurotic successful a large circle, arms astir each other. Anyone from the formed oregon unit past has the accidental to dedicate that show to idiosyncratic oregon thing they person experienced that makes them deliberation of the show. So we person a absorption for the adjacent mates of hours.
John Dagleish: Jethro sent maine immoderate recordings of the earlier accumulation and I fell successful emotion with the euphony immediately. I retrieve the archetypal time of rehearsal erstwhile I joined the company. What you would usually bash is beryllium astir a array and person a read-through. But we fundamentally had a play-through with each of these astonishing actor-musicians. Within the archetypal 2 songs, everyone was successful tears.
Darren Clark: I would accidental there’s astir apt betwixt 10 and 15 songs that were chopped implicit the years. We’d constitute a mentation of something, past instrumentality a small spot of that and constitute different 1 and truthful on. It’s similar making whisky, it’s astir distilling the idea. My beingness changed truthful overmuch during the play of penning it. I became a father, I got married. A batch of the beingness that I person present is encapsulated wrong those years of making the show. I enactment the essence of my acquisition arsenic a begetter into immoderate of the lyrics.
Jethro Compton: We partnered with caller producers for the West End. There were definite challenges successful scaling up the show. We redeveloped it, with a caller formed but for 2 of the institution from erstwhile we did it astatine Southwark Playhouse.
Anna Kelsey: One of the challenges we had backmost past was however blistery the actors got. We had a batch much layers of costume. Our coastal notation images included heavy sportfishing jumpers which I emotion the look of but it’s truthful impractical arsenic the actors were conscionable connected the determination each the time.
Philippa Hogg: Before moving to Southwark Playhouse Elephant, we enactment it connected astatine Southwark’s Little signifier with a formed of 5 successful 2019. I retrieve thinking: however the hellhole are we going to bash this tastefully? For Benjamin’s entrance, determination was a large creaky puppet made of driftwood that benignant of flew isolated into antithetic pieces and past James Marlowe played Benjamin until the extremity erstwhile we had a kid puppet made of buckets and bits of formation plastic. Benjamin and Little Jack didn’t spell to oversea successful the earlier version; they went to the mines.
Anna Kelsey: We got loads of costumes from car footwear fairs and foundation shops. There was nary clip for anyone to permission the signifier for a costume change, with each of the euphony to consider.
Darren Clark: Guitar is my location instrument. I knew that determination would beryllium tons of guitars with Celtic people tunings. And fiddles, mandolin and the cello which feels similar a quality voice. There’s thing rather similar a solo cello playing thing beauteous and mournful. And past I’d ever had this imaginativeness of 2 sets of drums. I wanted to beryllium capable to seizure immense and epic, arsenic good arsenic intimate and beautiful. That’s the mode beingness operates: we person large moments and tiny moments.
Jethro Compton: We did a week of previews successful Salisbury earlier we went to London. That archetypal accumulation was self-financed and self-produced – I built the set, drove the van, did excessively galore jobs myself.
Philippa Hogg: For the archetypal performances, we rehearsed successful Cornwall. We had a mates of cottages successful Bude. It truly informed the consciousness of the amusement due to the fact that each nighttime we were connected the beach. We had 2 actors playing Elowen. So I played her successful portion one, which takes you to the property of astir 35, and past Rosalind Ford played her successful portion two.
Jethro Compton: We rented retired a abstraction supra a bowling alley successful Bude for a week. We enactment the full acceptable together, rehearsed it for a week, past did a archetypal sharing. An invited formal rehearsal basically. A fig of section radical were there, including my begetter who played with a ukulele radical beforehand past stayed to watch. The formed size was hugely different, but its bosom was the same.
Darren Clark: It’s a profoundly flawed abbreviated communicative but I saw the imaginable successful it. Jethro added the hostility of Benjamin trying to fell a secret.
Jethro Compton: Fitzgerald’s communicative is yet a fairytale. That folklorish prime acceptable truly good with the satellite of a Cornish people musical. I didn’t peculiarly bask speechmaking the communicative – it’s precise dated, cold. But I liked the information that I didn’t similar the story. In my experience, adapting thing that you deliberation is simply a spot flawed allows you much state due to the fact that you’re not excessively respectful to the material. Sometimes you request to beryllium unafraid to interruption it and marque thing new.
Darren Clark: When it was a amusement for 5 performers, often lone 2 of those radical were playing instruments successful immoderate number. That archetypal mentation had tone and soul, but it didn’t person the extent of the communicative we wanted to tell.
Philippa Hogg: I’d conscionable worked with Darren connected different amusement and successful 2018 helium asked maine to grounds a demo for Benjamin Button. It was The Moon and the Sea. I was like, wow, thing peculiar is going connected here.
Darren Clark: I had been alternatively severely burned by a erstwhile task that made maine privation to trial my collaborators earlier getting involved. So erstwhile Jethro sent maine a lyric I restructured it entirely, acceptable it to euphony and sent it back. I thought, if this feline tin instrumentality this, past he’s the benignant of feline I privation to enactment with, due to the fact that it’ll beryllium each astir the story. He came backmost astir immediately, added his ain suggestions and the opus grew adjacent earlier we had officially signed a contract.
Jethro Compton: After making a batch of enactment acceptable successful America, I wanted to bash thing person to home. I thought Cornwall would beryllium a bully mounting but had ne'er made a philharmonic earlier … I was terrified astir however to adjacent begin!
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is astatine the Ambassadors theatre, London, and the formed signaling is disposable to watercourse from 16 May
English (US) ·