Holy Trinity Choir sing for new play Ben and Imo opening at the Swan tonight
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STRATFORD’S Holy Trinity Choir have lent their vocals to the soundtrack for new play Ben and Imo, which opens at the Swan tonight (Wednesday, 21st February).
Written by Mark Ravenhill and directed by Erica Whyman, the two-hander play explores the relationship between Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst.
Explaining the choir’s involvement, a spokesperson for the RSC said: “In the play the character of Imo arranges for a choir from Aldeburgh (the town where Britten lived and worked with Imogen Holst on Gloriana) to perform some carols for Ben a couple of days before Christmas.
“We thought it would be a great idea to approach one of our local choirs to record the carols that will be used in the production.
“We are grateful to the Holy Trinity Choir for working with us. They have been rehearsing for the past few weeks, and a recorded version of the carols will be played at every performance.”
The carols performed are The Cherry Tree Carol and I Saw Three Ships, in an arrangement by Conor Mitchell, the show’s composer, in the style of Imogen Holst.
Tim Raistrick from the choir explained: “The recording last week took nearly two hours on the stage of the Swan Theatre as the RSC wanted you to have different permutations of voices and the two carols sung at different speeds so they had alternatives to use.
“As the singing is going to be augmented with some instruments which weren’t there for our recording, musical director Douglas Keilitz had to wear headphones through which he could hear a ‘click track’ denoting the speed we had to follow.”
Young chorister Oliver Jupe, eight, speaking on behalf of the choir said: “It was great fun taking part in the RSC recording, and quite an honour, too.
“We’ve been practising since the start of the year and hope everyone enjoys the performance!”
The choir has a long association with the RSC and can trace its origins back centuries although, in its present form, from 1854.
Interestingly, the boys of the choir sang in the first performance of Britten’s War Requiem in Coventry Cathedral in 1962.
The RSC also often used boys from the choir in their productions although this stopped at the end of the 1960s.
