Tue 1 June 2010
Performance
A Fairytale Evening
PUSHKIN CLUB PROGRAMME
Language: In English
Charlotte Pyke and Tessa Grobel combine a love of music and story-telling to bring you an evening dedicated to the colour and atmosphere of Russian folklore, with music and singing enhancing the narrative.
Charlotte spent some of her childhood in Russia and then trained at theatre school in St Petersburg, before returning to work as an actress in London. Russian folk tales have made a lasting impression on her- the colourful characters and dramatic landscapes are of a world as much steeped in magic as in realism, giving the tales a quirky and surprising feel. At times humorous and at times serious, both beautiful and violent, the tales don’t always carry a clear message, more often hinting at life’s contradictions. The cunning fox outwits the trusting wolf, Baba Yaga chases her prey in a pestle and mortar, a tanner rescues a maiden from a dragon, an old man shoots his evil wife, two strapping lads leap out of an empty sack and lay a feast of kingly plenty. Interspersed with music and song by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Medtner- themselves all composers who took inspiration from Russian folklore- there will be readings and film excerpts of stories including The Snowmaiden, Baba Yaga, and Ruslan and Ludmila. Actresses Tilly Gaunt, Laura Pyper and Charlotte Pyke will read excerpts from the tales in English, soloists Maya Sapone and Robin Bailey, accompanied by pianist Tessa Grobel, will sing in both English and Russian, and the wonderful Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian will weave a spell with her voice and the harp, improvising music to paint a colourful scene of romance, adventure and vastness of the Russian landscape.
Biographies
Charlotte Pyke read Russian and English and Manchester University, before training as an actor at The St Petersburg Academy of Dramatic Art, and LAMDA. Amongst other theatre work she appeared in Philistines and Burnt by the Sun at the National Theatre, and has appeared on television in Spooks, Holby City, Heartbeat and The Bill.
She has done literal translations of several Russian plays, including The Government Inspector (N. Gogol) and Philistines (M. Gorky) for the National Theatre, and Enemies (M. Gorky), The Suicide (N. Erdmann) and The Bath-House (V. Mayakovsky) for the Almeida Theatre. She also translated Uncle Vanya and The Seagull, both to be staged at the Arcola Theatre.
Tessa Grobel studied English and Music at Leeds University where she was the University Orchestra’s pianist and performed in venues around Leeds, including Ripon Cathedral.
She completed a postgraduate course in piano accompaniment at The Royal Academy of Music and has had a busy performing schedule since then. Recent performances include the Leeds Contempory Music Festival (recorded for the BBC), St James’ Piccadilly, a performance with Nicola Benedetti and Mendelssonn’s Piano concerto No 2.
As a Bluthner Piano Artist with her duo partner Maya Sapone, she has performed at The Lansdowne, St James, Piccadilly, The Opera House, Jersey and Festival Chateau De La Follie, Brussels.
In addition to her performances Tessa set up the organization ‘Music In Offices’, and directs the Liberation Music Agency, which puts on classical music festivals. In May 2009 it was the Jersey Liberation Music Festival, and in July 2010 it will be the inaugural Surrey Hills Music Festival, where she will perform with her piano duo partner Wu Qian, and opera singer Lucy Crowe.
Tilly Gaunt
Tilly is currently appearing in The Count of Monte Cristo, directed by Alan Lane, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. She could recently be seen playing Wendy in Peter Pan, and as Nora in A Doll’s House, both for Northern Stage. Theatre credits include Noises Off, on tour & in the West End, Ruby Moon at Northern Stage, Twelfth Night at the Nuffield theatre, Memory of Water at Guildford/Nuffield, and The Real Thing, Lovers and War. TV credits include several episodes of Holby City, The Bill, People Like Us and the BBC comedy Moonmonkeys.
Laura Pyper
Laura recently played Jane Fairfax in the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. Before that she played Cressida to great acclaim in Troilus and Cressida at the Globe theatre. Other theatre work includes Don Juan in Soho at the Donmar Warehouse, Blackwater at the Finborough Theatre, The Pot Of Broth at the Samuel Beckett Theatre.
Other TV work includes Spooks, Silent Witness, IT Crowd, Omagh, Last Van Helsing, Holby City, The Bill and a regular part in the series Hex.
Film credits include Isle of Dogs, Headrush and Reign of Fire.
Maya Sapone
A versatile performer with exceptional vocal flexibility and improvisational skills, Maya Sapone is an opera singer with an international background which embraces the culture of three continents: Africa, Europe and Asia.
Maya performs both in the UK and internationally. Her area of activity ranges from opera to world music, from classical to contemporary, film music, improvisation and experimental theatre.
Born in Gabon (West Africa) to a Thai mother and an Italian civil-engineer father, Maya was raised in a multicultural environment and lived in several African countries, in Italy and in the US. After graduating from Trinity College of Music in London, Maya obtained further vocal training in Italy and Spain.
An artist of Blüthner Piano, Music in Offices and a permanent member of Vocal Motions Elastic Theatre, Maya is also one of Voicelab’s vocal talents and a graduate of Pulse, Southbank Centre’s special training course for professional singers directed by Mary King.
Maya’s critically acclaimed performance of “MEDOUSA, a miniature opera” directed by Jacek Ludwig Scarso at the Tête a Tête Opera Festival 2009, Riverside Studios, has received an excellent 4 Star review from THE TIMES which described her as “Fabulously Hot-Blooded”.
Further engagements include Elastic Theatre’s new dance-opera production at the Riverside Studios; collaboration with City University and Brazilian composer Mario Ferraro on his research project on Contemporary Opera; performances with ILAMS – The Iberian and Latin American Music Society including ‘Songs to Die for’ – a new project on Latin American art music in collaboration with leading Iberian pianist Helen Glaisher-Hernández.
Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian
Citing the likes of Laurie Anderson, Matthew Herbert, Magritte, Chaplin and Alexei Sayle as inspiration, Cevanne straddles the popular and experimental worlds with a cheeky grin. While her pop music has been snatched up by BBC Introducing, her world music has taken her to the Queen Elizabeth Hall (Bhangra Latina) and The Stables (KuDaMix Orchestra), and her classical compositions have earned her a commission from the London Symphony Orchestra and a nomination by Sound and Music for a British Composer Award 2009.
A grandchild of Armenian refugees and Lancashire coal workers growing up on Britten’s doorstep might be expected to learn an unusual musical language. Since graduating from Cambridge University with a 1st-class degree, Cevanne has flitted across musical worlds with ease – whether writing for internationally renowned pianist Alex Wilson or for the community-based Festival Chorus; whether working with the London Mozart Players’ residency in Swavesy village or the British Council in the Universities of Jordan.
This year, she has produced her debut album of experimental pop sounds, inspired by a spell of partial deafness. The album, [Big Ears], was mentored by Kuljit Bhamra MBE, supported by Escalator and Arts Council and features Zoe Rahman. Its première will be broadcast by the BBC at Latitude Festival this July. Diverse cultures are embedded in her approach: they are not add-ons.
Naomi Stay (Illustrator)
Naomi Stay is an artist based in North London. She grew up in Kent and studied at Kent Institute of Art & Design and later at Goldsmiths College.
Her pencil, ink and gouache illustrations gather inspiration from the endless landscapes and seascapes of Kent, and the folklore and fairytales read to her as a child. Naomi is currently illustrating her first children’s book, ‘Violet Olive Boogie Woogie’.
