51吃瓜网黑料 musicologist advises on National Theatre production
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Dr Tamsin Alexander from the School of Music, English and Theatre provided expert advice for the National Theatre’s new production of Maxim Gorky’s Summerfolk.
Adelle Leonce (Yulia Filipovna) and Sophie Rundle (Varvara Mikhailovna) in Summerfolk at the National Theatre. Photograph by Johan Persson.
Dr Alexander is Senior Lecturer in the School of Music, English and Theatre and Head of the Centre for Russian Music, which is a hub for research into Russian and Soviet music and musical culture. She advised on the music for the production, sharing suggestions for possible folk songs Gorky might have had in mind and meeting with the composer, to make sure it was fitting with the setting in early 20th century Russia.
Dr Alexander said, 鈥淚 specialise in late 19th-century music, particularly popular and domestic music-making in that period, including in Russia, so the play's setting and Gorky's inclusion of mock-Russian folk and parlour song texts was really fun to explore. The composer ended up drawing on my suggestions for the types of music Gorky likely had in mind, including a recurring 'romance' (parlour song), a lullaby and balalaika music.鈥�
The - a new version of the 1904 play by Nina Raine and Moses Raine 鈥揻ollows a cast of wealthy characters at their summer homes in the countryside. It featured a star-studded cast, including Alex Lawther (Alien: Earth, Leonard and Hungry Paul), Paul Ready (Motherland, The Terror), Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders, Gentleman Jack) and Doon Mackichan (Smack the Pony, Toast of London).
Dr Alexander's knowledge helped us create a musical world that was accurate, theatrical and inventive, and was immensely crucial to the integrity of the production
Nicola T Chang, composer
Nicola T Chang, composer for the production, said: 鈥淒r Alexander's expertise was invaluable to Summerfolk, an adaptation of Maxim Gorky's original play from 1904/1905 which was produced at the Olivier, National Theatre in 2026. Her knowledge of Russian folk and parlour music informed the musical palette of the production: as so much of the story is a critique of class and identity, the music that the characters listened to and played was a crucial part of that narrative - indeed, the dialogue between Russian folk music and Russian parlour music acted a metaphor for our characters' various conflicts. Based on Russian lyrics and text, Dr Alexander suggested period-specific folk music for our actor-musicians to play, and also advised us on parlour music that composers of the time (such as Glinka) wrote and middle-class characters of Summerfolk may have listened to.鈥�
Summerfolk runs at the Olivier Theatre until 29 April.