An interdisciplinary critical inquiry into the working dramaturgy of The Ravel Trilogy.

This book frames the playtexts of The Ravel Trilogy—Bolero (2014), Concerto (2016), and Solo (2018)—alongside a series of reflective essays and provocations on contemporary dramaturgy and musicology from academics and artists in drama, music, linguistics, and fine art. It contextualizes the themes and approaches of the trilogy and serves as a critical companion to a body of devised work, stimulating a debate about dramaturgy and composition and inviting discussion about post-dramatic theater's relationship to music.

This publication marks the culmination of the trilogy and its critical legacy, exploring the work through the dual lenses of postdramatic theater and research questions articulated and addressed by the practice-research undertaken by its co-creators. The dramaturgical context for The Ravel Trilogy and the reflective essays around it allow the editors to explore the relationship between theater and music, raising questions about practice-research and notions of creating playtexts from musical scores. In this volume, Michael Pinchbeck and Ollie Smith reflect on making and performing The Ravel Trilogy and the process of researching, devising, and presenting work inspired by music where score becomes script and dynamics become stage directions.
 

Michael Pinchbeck is a reader in theater at Manchester School of Art and senior research lead for the Department of Art & Performance at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Ollie Smith is a contemporary performance maker based in Nottingham, and a lecturer in drama and theater at the University of Lincoln, UK, specializing in collaborative devised theater and live art practices.

List of Figures


Preface


Foreword: One Thing and Another: Notes on Pinchbeck & Smith’s The Ravel Trilogy
Alexander Kelly


1. The Exposition
Michael Pinchbeck and Ollie Smith


2. The Development
Michael Pinchbeck and Ollie Smith


3. Bolero


4. Bolero: A Matter of Language
Arianna Maiorani


5. Concerto


6. A Score of a Score of a Score: Examining Concerto Through Ravel’s Composition
Kevin Egan


7. ‘Breathe with Your Arms’: A Conductor’s Experience Working on Concerto
Paul Jenkins


8. Solo


9. Enhancing Embodied Music Cognition Through Music Theatre, with Particular Reference to Solo by Michael Pinchbeck and Ollie Smith
Litha Efthymiou and Alan Taylor


10. Conducting and Composing, Poco a Poco: How We Are Moved Through the Immersive, Theatrical Experience Machine of Solo
Rachel Baynton


11. Solo, Concerto, and Current Approaches to Presenting Classical Music
Adrian Curtin


12. Tutti – We Can Complete It Together
Rhiannon Jones


13. Afterword: The Recapitulation
Michael Pinchbeck and Ollie Smith


 


Notes on Contributors