Push! - Presentation

Synopsis

Hear music from this piece:

Track 1 | Track 2 | Track 3 | Track 4

PUSH! is an attempt to explore a process which is one of the most extreme and yet most normal and natural that a human being can go through - the process of giving birth. We try to look at this universal subject with fresh eyes, cleansed of the cliched images of birth found everyday in the cinema and on television.

In particular, we developed the concept that each mother, during the final stages of labour, enters a dream-like state - a strange world all of her own, and that the midwife crucially must understand where this place is and in effect 'be there' in the world with them. This is the dramatic key to the opera.

The opera takes the form of a series of birth experiences. It follows a variety of mothers on a journey which can be by turns terrifying, hilarious, shocking and awe-inspiring. Intercutting these are scenes featuring a heavily pregnant mother, Soozy, her partner Fox, and the various thoughts and experiences they go through in the final stages of pregnancy.

There is no direct link between Soozy and the other labouring mothers, but there are enough connections and parallels to suggest that they might either be Soozy's own imagination, or be possible outcomes of her own pregnancy. The opera ends with Soozy arriving at the labour ward to begin her own journey.

Our labouring mothers in summary are:

Nimmy, a very young mother and a football fan. She is in labour, but is still wearing her football top, scarf and hat. Judith, Nimmy's mother, only 28 herself, scolds her daughter harshly for her predicament, despite the latter's cries of pain. Midwife Sal enters and orders Judith to be quiet before guiding Nimmy onto the football pitch where the cheering crowds wait for her to 'take the kick'.

Cara, a well-bred woman in her thirties, lies in her birthing pool. One by one, her three lovers Roger, Luciano and Sandy enter, declare their undying love and ask if they are in fact the father. She sends each of them packing before sinking into an underwater world of despair. Two divers enter in full diving gear to bring Cara back from the depths. But it is only when she hears the voice of her baby speaking to her that Cara recovers and rushes joyfully to the surface.

Mary, as large as a balloon, has a chorus of babies speak to her. She tells them how a kind doctor helped her fall pregnant with all 3-4-5 of them. The babies joyfully jostle and chat with Mary. The builders arrive as Mary prepares to undergo a Caesarian section.

Angela is sitting quietly. Midwife Stevie holds her hand uncomfortably. Angela is about to give birth to her dead baby. She wonders whether she will feel pain, and imagines the kind of life her son would have led.

Maddy is in the labour ward with her prison guard. She is still in handcuffs. Her baby tries to speak to her but she blocks it out. She is in a state of some despair, not helped by the abusive guard. Nik, the midwife orders the guard to leave and joins Maddy on an horrific journey into a lonely darkness. Maddy lets out a wild animal scream and we realise she has no choice but to give up the baby for adoption.

Ellie is surrounded by all her family who are arguing over the right way for her to give birth. Ellie blanks them all out and finds in the room the ghost of her dead father, who takes her on her favourite ride at the fairground. Things whirl almost out of control until the midwife joins Ellie on the ride and guides her safely back to the ground.

Instrumentation

Violins (2), cello, double bass, flute (doubling piccolo, tenor recorder, descant recorder and maracas), clarinet (doubling bass clarinet and cabasa), bassoon, horn in F, B flat trumpet, bass trombone, percussion (doubling harmonica in C), honky-tonk piano (doubling harpsichord), accordion

Composer's note
David Bruce

The collaborative process is one that I always find has an element of magic about it. Having previously written two 15-minute pieces of music theatre, I have learned to trust my instincts and enjoy, rather than panic about, the initial struggle between composer and librettist to wrestle the object into being. It seems almost mystically to arise, usually shortly after the moment of greatest crisis.

The hardest part of the process has been my having to analyse my own view and position on opera and libretto, in order to explain it to Anna, who came relatively fresh to the whole world of opera. I showed her some librettos of works I loved, before realising that these would in no way help her to understand the kind of libretto I needed! Thankfully she was willing to experiment and even to throw away numerous entire scenes if I found I was not able to work with them.

Our big breakthrough early on was establishing the idea that our various mothers would each enter a 'world of their own' at some critical moment in their scene. This felt musically necessary to me as a way of allowing a vivid and distinct colour to dominate each section - be it the football stadium of Nimmy or the underwater world of Cara. But it was also at this point that Anna's writing seemed to lift off. Opening my email to find the dazzling, vivid, hilarious, terrifying worlds of Mary, Cara, Angela and the rest has undoubtedly been the highlight of the process so far.

Librettist's note
Anna Reynolds

The Genesis Opera Project has been a revelation to me as a writer. Entering the world of opera has been a new experience and, contrary to expectations, an eye-opening one. Working with my composer has been very nearly always a pleasure - it's challenged me to work and stretch my mind in new ways, and that's always a good thing. I have learned by doing, and working with a very patient if demanding composer. The workshops at Aldeburgh in December helped as well. The exposure to singers, experienced librettists, composers and producers was extremely useful, and having the chance to work the libretto with actors and a director made me understand the specific needs of the piece much more. Difficulties? Accepting the role of the librettist/libretto in the bigger picture - understanding that the words need to serve the composer and the music more than simply sounding right, or being about dialogue or character. We also chose to be adventurous with the structure of our piece, rather than presenting a traditional form, so that has been more . . . challenging. I've loved working in a new medium.

Joint statement
by David Bruce and Anna Reynolds

In writing this piece, we have tried to create an unusual and original operatic structure, and, as such, we have found ourselves constantly re-evaluating what we are doing. Much of our work has involved balancing the impact of the varied scenes, characters and events in the work. Our aim has always been to create a piece which offers a universal sense of the birth process, whilst allowing us into a series of private and uniquely individual worlds. That means, for example, attempting to portray different types of births (water-births, Caesarian sections, still births, ecstatic births, stressful births, ordinary births, lonely births) without allowing any one type to dominate, as well as, of course, portraying different types of women. We also wanted to allow room for the role of the midwife, a unique profession whose implications are almost as dramatic as those of the expectant mother. We therefore found that a new scene in the libretto would create implications throughout the work. As the music was composed, that too threw up new questions and suggestions for the overall structure. Throughout the process, we have argued all these points through in great detail and have changed tack on numerous occasions. Several scenes have been discarded; new ones added; some previously fragmented scenes are now continuous; and so on. In this sense, while the already composed sections are likely to remain largely unchanged, there remains plenty for us to discuss and develop in the remaining sections of the libretto - which is something we both look forward to, should the project go ahead to the commissioning phase.