THE CONDUCTOR Based on the novel "The Conductor" by Sarah Quigley Adaptation by Mark Wallington and Jared McNeill Music Daniel Wallington Directed by Jared McNeill With Joe Skelton and Deborah Wastell PRESS KIT Photograph : Bettmann/Corbis
STATEMENT OF INTENT In 1941, Nazi troops surround the city of Leningrad, in what will come to be known as the Leningrad Blockade, a siege of more than 2 years, and one that will claim more than 1,000,000 lives. In the midst of this devastation, composer Dmitri Shostakovich works tirelessly to complete his 7th Symphony, a symphony for the people. The symphony is played across the front lines of the Russian resistance, and today serves as the sound that lifted an entire city in their darkest hour, instilling renewed faith in our willful capabilities as individuals, as well as the dignity and power that art may serve. It is essentially told, and intimately, between the music and two performers. This is not so much a war, as it is a story hope, and of enduring faith. Shostakovich says of his work : This is how I hear war. And it is there, in his music, in the discord, and in the moments of beauty springing out from chaos, sometimes rigid, and other times flowing so free. In a world very much engaged in a similar conversation, I think it is still there in the music, as well as the story behind. Jared McNeill
EXTRACTS 1. Listen. He's working on something new. A requiem, I think. The people say his music knows their pain. The work of a visionary. Dear Shostakovich. My adversary. My inspiration. What it must be to bear the burden of genius. I hate him. Of course I have no heart. I gave my heart to Shostakovich years ago. 2. The people will love it. The party too. Shostakovich This is how I hear war. It's why you re staying in Leningrad, isn t it? What better way to capture the essence of battle, than to sit right in the middle of it. Then you must stay. You must finish it. 3. Apparently there may be trains to transport the elderly out of Leningrad as soon as next week. The situation is becoming more dangerous by the day.
MOTHER I won t go. It s for the best, mother, surely you can see that. MOTHER I refuse to leave you. Mother, please-- MOTHER I won t go. I refuse to be evacuated like a refugee. This is our home. We are all we have. Nothing but this. Maybe they will keep us safe.
BIOGRAPHIES JARED MCNEILL director Jared McNeill trained at Fordham University at Lincoln Center in New York City where he graduated with a degree in Theater and Visual Arts. His first professional rôle was taken that same year, in Chisa Hutchinson's She Like Girls at the Lark Theatre. Jared McNeill played various roles in Peter Brook's 11 and 12, The Suit, and The Valley of Astonishment. He has performed in August Wilson's Fences at the Long Wharf Theatre and McCarter Theatre, and in various chapters of Tarell Mccraney's Brothers/Sisters Trilogy at Pittsburgh's City Theater, as well as San Francisco's Marin Theater Company and American Conservatory Theater. He has toured with Young Jean Lee's The Shipment, and played in a New York production of Bertolt Brecht's Life of Galileo, during which he performed musical numbers on the trombone and harpsichord. Recently he has been on tour with Battlefield, directed by Peter Brook and Marie-Helene Estienne.
DEBORAH WASTELL actress Deborah Wastell (United Kingdom) trained at The Bridge Theatre Training Company and then followed that up with a variety of short courses at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and The Actors Centre in London. Theatre credits include Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, one woman show A Shadow That Remains Cast, Dotty in Once Upon a Marriage at Theatre 503, Colquhoun in 2022 at The Brockley Jack, and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. She played Mrs Goodman in Feature Film Ghost Stories, due for release Autumn 2017, and has appeared in several short films, internet virals, rehearsed readings, and corporate training videos.
JOSEPH SKELTON actor Joseph Skelton is an actor and writer from the Peak District. As an actor, he has appeared as Prospero in The Tempest; a Three Inch Fools national tour in summer 2015 and Easter 2016. The Druid s Horse, which he wrote and performed, was produced by Roundhouse Radio (May 2016) and won the Roundhouse Radio s Best Celebration of the Arts award. His writing credits include The Noctambulist, Edinburgh Fringe (2014, ***** Broadway Baby). Joseph received the Darren Funnell prize for playwriting for his script At the Cistern (2014). Short plays: Fat Jewels was performed at the Southwark Playhouse and The Old Red Lion (March/ June 2016), and Zoe and the Fox at The Arts Theatre (March 2016). A full-length production of Fat Jewels will be appearing in London in autumn 2017.
CONTACTS Hosted by La Compagnie des Divins Animaux 63 boulevard de la Libération 94300 Vincennes France Production Agnès Courtay Tel. : + 33 6 61 94 40 01 Email : agnes.courtay@gmail.com Technical Thomas Becelewski Tel. : + 33 6 23 75 70 09 Email : becelewski@yahoo.fr