Set against the backdrop of austerity Britain, this funny, feisty and heartbreaking new musical follows six unlikely friends as they stick two fingers up at THE STATE OF THINGS. Ahead of its opening next week at the Brockley Jack Theatre, composer and lyricist Elliot Clay writes a guest blog for StageFaves to tell us about the show and the story behind it.
“Welcome to a day
I grew up in a small canal town in the Midlands and, for as long as I can recall, knew I wanted to have a career in music and theatre. Like many, I’m very lucky to have parents who were willing to ferry me around to rehearsals in every part of the
But supportive parents are not the only thing needed to be successful in this highly competitive industry, and as our government seem intent on powering through with their failed austerity vision for the country - arts spending in schools is one of the first to be guillotined.
During my time at high school, I saw first-hand how the effects of these economic cutbacks hit our music and drama departments the hardest. Redundancies were commonplace, our two extracurricular orchestras were disbanded, student numbers opting to take music at GCSE and A Level plummeted and, eventually, some creative courses weren't offered to sixth form students at all.
So, now, five years after leaving high school, my childhood best friend, Thomas Attwood and I have written a brand new rock musical about our experiences growing up and our encounters with Austerity Britain both in school and at home. Which leads us to… THE STATE OF THINGS! The show follows a high school band and their fight against the system after discovering their music course is being cut. It’s a story of rebellion against authority, the awkwardness of being teenagers and learning to live and love in the age of austerity. The cast all play their (many!) instruments live on stage each night, with a score that sounds more like an iTunes playlist than Annie Get Your Gun!
Writing a new musical is always a daunting prospect whether you’re Stephen Sondheim or Stiles and Drewe. But as a brand new, young writing team, both just 23 years old, it’s even more of an uphill climb. Despite many venues expressing explicit desires to find new British musical theatre, it seems that very few are actually being discovered and given a fully-realised platform.
Hopefully, THE STATE OF THINGS will buck that trend and our audiences will be able to follow the show on its journey from the Jack Studio to… well, who knows?!
If you fancy giving some brand new musical theatre voices a chance, we’d love to see you at the premiere of THE STATE OF THINGS and hear our story about an age, class and subject matter that is too often left behind.
