Concert Plays

Fusing words and music to explore the motivations, struggles and desires of some of our greatest cultural figures

Clare is collaborating with actor Tama Matheson on a series of concert-plays that combine words and music to explore and illuminate the lives of composers and writers. Their most recent production, Don Juan - the brilliant irreverence of Lord Byron, explores the seductive and scandalous life of Lord Byron through the prism of his extraordinary narrative poem, Don Juan. Interweaving the lives of Byron and his great hero into one brilliant and hilarious whole, the play leaves the audience with a rich impression of one of the greatest creative geniuses of all time. With music by Hélène de Montgeroult, Felix Mendelssohn, Ludwig van Beethoven, William Grant Still and Isaac Albéniz, the play's premiere was featured in BBC Music Magazine.

His Quest for Peace - Andrzej Panufnik features music by Andrzej Panufnik and daughter Roxanna, Frédéric Chopin and Igor Stravinsky and follows Panufnik as he struggles to find an artistic voice in a world where free speech is forbidden. Filled with funny, shocking, and tragic incidents - including confrontations with Nazi overlords, and a high-speed car-chase that would be the envy of a Hollywood blockbuster - it explores the horrors of tyranny, the power of art, and the triumph of the human spirit over tribulation.

Film by Philip Gatward.

All photographs by Philip Gatward.