sound

Judith Howarth, soprano and David McKay, ‘M’
in association with the National Theatre of Scotland
with James Brining, director and Jessica Cottis, conductor

Philip Glass – 1,000 Airplanes on the Roof
A science fiction music drama in one act
Text by David Henry Hwang

 Commissioned by the Donau Festival Niederösterreich, the American Music Theater Festival, City of Philadelphia, and Berlin, Cultural City of Europe 1988

Synopsis

 New York City. The character “M” recalls encounters with extra-terrestrial life forms, including their message, “It is better to forget, it is pointless to remember. No one will believe you.” Are the surrealistic details an accurate recollection of a voyage through space, part of a drug-induced nightmare, or the beginning of a mental breakdown?

1000 Airplanes on the Roof was premièred on July 5, 1988 at Vienna International Airport, Hangar No. 3.

1000 Airplanes on the Roof is a work of epic proportions.  Its representation of a man clinging onto his sanity, constantly running from the memory of the transformative experience which means he will never be the same again and exploring delusion, paranoia, modern urban life and the supernatural is painted on a huge canvas.  It is non-linear, it is perplexing and troubling, hard to define both in form and content.  In these respects it seems perhaps removed from the sphere of most people’s “ordinary” experience.  Not many of us admit to having a close encounter, still less actually having been abducted by aliens.  Yet the intensity of the musical and dramatic language gives the piece an energy and vitality which makes for an exciting and visceral experience.

Adapting the piece to work in three entirely different locations – a hangar holding Concorde in East Lothian, a Barn in Aberdeenshire, and in Glasgow Concert Hall, has been an amazing and challenging experience. All three have, for various reasons, demanded different solutions. Tonight’s is the most intimate: a video especially commissioned for this performance from Jonathan Charles which brings us very much face-to-face with M.

But for all the inter-galactic hysteria and the furious energy of the piece it remains, for me, intensely human.  It portrays a man bearing witness and needing to communicate something of profound significance to his fellow human beings.  His fear and doubt, his vulnerability and his fundamental need to connect resonate for me just as powerfully as his extraordinary story leaving us to question notions of “normality” and the richness of existence of someone who may be unhappy and disturbed but always fully “alive”.

I hope you enjoy what has always been an exciting and unpredictable white-knuckle ride to the outer reaches of musical and theatrical form.  We’ve certainly enjoyed making it.

James Brining, Director

 Director – James Brining
Set Designer – Colin Richmond
Lighting Designer – Simon Wilkinson
Video Designer – Jonathan Charles
Stage Manager – Calum Wyllie
Assistant Stage Manager – Susan Scott

 Red Note Ensemble

Flute & Piccolo – Ruth Morley
Flute – Laura Baillie
Wind Synthesiser – Richard Ingham
Bass Clarinet – Peter Furniss
Soprano Saxophone – Gareth Brady
Soprano, Alto & Tenor Saxophone – Chris Caldwell
Keyboard – Oliver Rundell
Keyboard – Judith Keaney

Part of  the New Music Scotland Showcase & Conference