Music and A New World

In a large rehearsal room at the back of the Globe the actor John Light is writhing on the floor. His jerky movements have the room rapt while composer Stephen Warbeck and a trio of musicians work out how best to accentuate his pain with syncopated drumming. Light is playing 18th century radical Thomas Paine who has contracted an illness on his passage from England to America. Welcome to the music rehearsals for A New World - A Life of Thomas Paine, the Globe’s forthcoming new play by Trevor Griffiths.

This is where it all comes together, play and music; Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole, Oscar-winning composer Stephen Warbeck and the play’s actors and musicians working out everything from entrances in the opening scene to how to make a creaking noise by running a finger over a drum. The music is in the folk tradition, with songs that utilise accordion, flute, penny whistle, percussion, trumpet, clarinet, tuba, cornet, concertina and voice. The music brings the play to life.

The Globe is one of the last theatres to use live musicians in all its productions, and the vast majority of the music is originally composed. The process begins six months before the season opens when the Artistic Director confirms the directors for each play and begins the discussion of who will compose the production’s music. It’s a collaborative process and the Globe always employs freelancers to ensure a wide range of musical styles.

The composer then talks to the Globe’s Music Manager about the instrumentalists they might use. There are normally five players for each production, most of whom double-up on various instruments. The pool of musicians is always expanding and the music department stays in regular contact with music colleges, theatre companies, and professional music ensembles in London and beyond. Three months before the season opens, the Music Manager sits down with the composer to choose the musicians, following negotiations with the Musician’s Union to establish a House Agreement, which is essentially a contract stating rates of pay and working conditions. This season, the Globe has employed 36 musicians. They meet for initial band calls about five weeks before the opening of the show but don’t begin rehearsing with the full company until the week before the show opens.

The Globe is a unique performance space with an unpredictable acoustic that is dependent on weather and how many people are in the audience. As the theatre is open-air, the directors have no artificial lighting or special effects to play with, and this places an even greater importance on music and costume as the only major determinants of setting and meaning other than the way the actors on stage are communicating the words of the play.

All the music at the Globe is acoustic and there are no microphones. There are no gimmicks and nothing is hidden from the audience. This way, everyone can see the process of how the sounds are made. One exception to this rule was The Frontline (2008/9) which featured an electric guitarist. Far from hiding his amplifier in the musician’s gallery, however, the director made a point of having the player walk on stage carrying it, for all to see.

Some productions stick to historically accurate instruments, but most use modern and ethnic instruments to reflect the play’s atmosphere. The theatre works with ancient instrument specialists and has even made bespoke instruments in-house. Examples include sheets of steel to make the sound of thunder, or the wind machine that is currently on display in the Exhibition.

For more about music at the Globe please click here »
Or buy music from the Globe Shop »

Back to Top