March 2026 marked the premiere of Woven: the Musical. I was one of seven who was tasked with creating a new piece of music theatre to perform at the end of the semester. Within this project, I took on the role of dramaturg, having pitched the original idea and written the plot. Later I became co-book writer and production manager, placing me in the centre of the creative and structural development of the piece. Within this portfolio, I will analyse the creative development of Woven, my role within the group, and the management and financial considerations involved in creating the piece.
When thinking of musical ideas to pitch, I thought back on the novels I had recently read. Madonna in a Fur Coat (Ali, 2021) was a major inspiration for me, and had reminded me of White Nights (Dostoevsky, 2016) which I had read a few years ago. Both of these novels explore themes of romantic idealism and isolation, and follow the tragic relationship of a sole couple. I was drawn to these novels as they do not have a traditional ‘happy ending’. One ends in unrequited love, and the other in death. This is one of the reasons Romeo & Juliet is one of the most performed of Shakespeare’s plays, and has been adapted into so many different forms (Royal Shakespeare Company, n.d.). The Ancient Greeks used catharsis in theatre as a form of cleansing, and Aristotle wrote about the distinction of the painful things in life, compared to the pleasure we get from seeing these same things in art (Winner, 2018). I am particularly drawn to tragic narratives, as they often create a stronger emotional impact, and encourage us to reflect on complex themes.
I wanted to ensure I had a strong premise and message for our musical. I think it is important to use art as not only a form of entertainment, but of education. Some types of theatre often prioritise the enjoyment of the audience over deep intellectual engagement, but I wanted to ensure our musical provided audiences with the ability to critically reflect on morality and societal norms mentioned in the piece. I am very passionate about the use of technology and AI, and a strong believer that technology is disconnecting us from other people and the real world. From this idea I started to develop a story about loneliness and disconnection from the world around them. White Nights (Dostoyevsky, 2016) opens with our narrator stating he has “been living in Petersburg eight years now and I’ve hardly been able to make a single acquaintance”. From this I had the idea of two lonely people falling in love, stuck in our digital age. Initially, I considered setting this piece in current day, however this risked presenting the message in an overly obvious and literal manner. Therefore, if the themes lacked subtlety, it might limit the emotional impact on audiences. Instead, I chose to set my piece in a historical setting. I was influenced by the musical Titanic (Yeston, 1997), which uses a historical context to reflect contemporary societal concerns. I wanted to find an impactful moment of history where I could provide historical parallels. I conducted research into which different time periods saw the effects of the reliance on technology, and the loss of autonomy for individuals that this brings. I settled on the industrialisation of Britain in the early 19th century. A period marked by the change into machine led manufacturing, which led to mass job losses, growing poverty, and social upheaval.
When developing the plot, I initially drew on narrative structures from White Nights (Dostoyevsky, 2016) as a starting point. I discovered how helpful writing an undeveloped overview was. I could then go back and refine the plot, which allowed me to work more efficiently and creatively. After creating a full plot overview, I pitched this to my group. Initially I added moments where I feel songs should be going in the plot overview, but after a discussion with our composer Jono Chant-Stevens, he urged me to develop the plot as a story first, before finding moments for song. I learnt from researching the development of musicals that the songs of Oklahoma! were integrated to help tell the story, and songs became a continuation of dialogue (Hammerstein, 1943). It was important to me that we carried this forward with the work we created, so I removed any mention of songs and wrote the plot as a story with no scenes or music.
We experienced a confusion with our book writers once we began to write our scenes. Each of us worked from the plot I provided, but there was a disconnect between writers. We weren’t completely sure who was writing what, and there was a lack of storyline driven throughout each scene. This highlighted the importance of a structured leadership system, and from this I introduced a detailed plot outline to ensure the story beats were in the right place, and that songs were fully integrated with the plot. This acted as a useful place where we could add questions for other writers, ideas for development and influences. I also conducted extensive research into life in 19th century Britain to help myself and the writers create a historically accurate book, and adding this to the document. However, I later recognised the importance of prioritising an overall structure and strong plot first, before committing to the time-consuming refinement of detail.
We had a meeting with our lecturer Matthew Bugg, who provided us with the idea that the way our work can be the most interesting and impactful is to provide significant contrast. At this point in time, we hadn’t established what social class our female character, Frances, was in. Matt recommended that we create a significant class divide to create a more interesting conflict, either Frances being lower-class or upper-class. These differences acted as quite significant plot points, so we needed to ensure we decided quickly so we could edit the plot and existing script. We decided to try both ideas I wrote a version of the opening scene where Frances is upper-class and a part of the temperance movement, trying to warn our protagonist, Peter, against the ‘perils of drink’. Sophie wrote a version of this same scene where she was of a lower-class and stronger in her sense of self. We pitched each to the whole team, and decided on my scene, where Frances is of a higher class. This meant rewriting most of our scenes we had already written to create a new storyline. Although this pivot in plot provided more interesting contrast and conflicts, I feel upon reflection that we fell into cliché with our character and plot choices. For example, our plot fell into the trope of lower-class man teaches upper-class woman what life is ‘really’ like, and they secretly fall in love. In the future of Woven, I would like to further explore the idea of Frances being of the same class as Peter, as this would solidify the camaraderie of the pair, and bring the piece back to the original idea I had for the central couple. I also found that the theme of class became the more recognisable one, and took away from the anti-technology message I originally wanted to focus on.
The first time we got the opening scene up on its feet, multiple lines didn’t feel natural, weren’t needed or just didn’t make sense. We cast two strong actors as our leads who were open to play in the space. Our director Josh Cullen took an approach from Stanislavsky (2013) to direct the show. Using this method solidified the actors intentions, and worked to ensure we created full, strong characters. He helped establish their objectives in the scene, and told them to improvise, advising to never make the same choice twice. Using improvisation in our rehearsals allowed for a more natural dialogue, and helped identify any ineffective lines, which I later refined within the script.
I took on the role as the production manager in the rehearsal process. This was appropriate as I was already top of the chain in command when creating the work so far. I created the rehearsal schedules and ensured we had the appropriate rooms available for the type of rehearsal we needed to conduct that day. Considering accessibility adjustments was a key part of my role, providing coloured scripts for our dyslexic cast members and ensuring minimal room changes for our musical director, Tuuli-Maija Jaarinen, who was using crutches at the time. Professionally, this reflects in the industry’s move to be more accessible and inclusive in contemporary theatre. Timetabling was one of the biggest difficulties of the week. Finding rooms available for us at appropriate times, big enough for the size of our cast and set, whilst also working around the first and second years’ timetables, and ensuring everybody got appropriate breaks was testing. To avoid any unprofessionalism and to maximise efficiency in the rehearsal, I always established a lead for each space, usually myself, Josh, Jono or Tuuli, and a goal for each rehearsal, whether song learning or a specific scene focus. In a professional context, any inefficiency would result in added financial costs, therefore careful production planning would be essential to keep costs down.
Although this production of Woven was created with limited finances, a professional production would require a significantly greater investment. Key costs in professional theatre include scenery, costume, technical elements, and venue hire (Aveline, 2002). Specifically, Woven may come across added costs in historical accuracy of costuming and set, as well as instrument hire for the band and actors. I opted to keep a lot of the action written in and around the pub in act I, as this reduces the cost of complex set, transportation, and makes the piece more viable for smaller scale venues. However, this may limit how impactful the overall piece is, meaning the production will have to rely on strong directorial and performance choices. The show would be well suited to platforms such as the Edinburgh Fringe, who provide a wide variety of support for new emerging theatre makers and low budget productions (Edinburgh Fringe, n.d.). This also provides financial risk with such a competitive festival, and success is reliant on ticket sales and effective marketing, both of which require upfront costs. Our funding could be sought through organisations such as the Arts Council England, who provide grants for original theatrical work, however their funding is highly competitive and requires a lengthy application, based on your own artistic vision, examples of the work and supporting documents from others (Arts Council England, n.d.).
The development of Woven taught me how complex creating new music theatre can be, and the difficulty of balancing creative ideas and practical demands. Taking on roles such as dramaturg and production manager helped me develop my confidence with leading a project and a team. My role of book writer helped me develop my creative skills and taught me how to form a whole piece from idea to performance. Looking at the future of the piece helped me learn about the financial side of creating theatre, and informed my early decisions on the piece. If I were to continue to develop Woven, I would focus on strengthening the original message, whilst exploring new character dynamics and applying more structure to the process from the start. Overall, this project has helped me understand the importance of every team involved in creating a new piece of music theatre, and highlighting the balance of creative ambition and practical constraints within theatre making.
Bibliography
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