verbatim theatre: Derby in the Second World War :
Derby Playhouse
(above): Alwyne Taylor singing, me at the piano.
Chris Honer brought Rony Robinson and me together again to work on a verbatim project about Derby in the Second World War. As with Cheshire Voices five years before, a lot of the research took the form of interviews with local people who lived through the era. It was a good way for me to get to know the area in which I was now living.
Once again I was an actor-musician, which was very satisfying. But there was no composing for me to do on this occasion, since all agreed that the cornucopia of songs of the time was the best source of music for the show. Fellow cast members including my dear friend Alwyne Taylor, who gave the wartime classic I’ll Be Seeing You a beautiful bluesy treatment.
