ROUGH GIRLS - THE SOUNDS OF BELFAST

BY KATIE RICHARDSON

All of the musicians involved have added so much. It is so exciting to have live music in the production - it adds so much life to the piece and each individual brings a unique musical skillset and style, creating a soundscape that could not be achieved without them. As a team know we want to create an electric atmosphere in the theatre with all of the elements combined. Theatre is so collaborative - all the designers, the cast and the entire team are a source of inspiration. We are making the music in the room so as we move through the rehearsal process we have the opportunity to really try and understand the play and work with the rest of the team to collaboratively add colour to each moment.

The music in the show is partly inspired by the sounds of Belfast at the time, the dark creaking of factories and the bleakness of war punctuated with the comic relief of the music hall. But the main source of inspiration for the music are the women in the play as their strength, resilience, grit, hope - and sometimes lack of it - drives the soundscape.

The football becomes an escape for these women from the many challenges in their lives - much like music and the arts does for so many of us. There is a lot of singing in the piece. It is firmly in there as a means of expression and release - it isn’t there necessarily to sound pretty - although the sound of eleven women’s voices singing out fills me with so much joy and strength and drive. It is even more poignant when you consider that they lived in a time where they didn’t really have a voice - they still weren’t allowed to vote and certainly didn’t have much of a say in important matters or decisions. The divisions of class made it even more difficult for many of them to be taken seriously and have the freedoms that some of us are privileged to take for granted today.

As well as there being a lot of singing in the piece there is also a lot of percussion and we have been so lucky to work with the incredible Emma King as our percussion director. As an MD it is a treat to draw on the expertise and collaborate with such a highly skilled musician. She has been integral to so many of the big moments in the play and she has brought something so incredibly special to this production. We worked with a lot of junk percussion - for the factory scenes we focused on using metallic tones and textures and then for the matches we played with wooden scraps and sounds. It was really fun to make music from found objects and mix organic with electronic.

The arts help us to express ourselves and access and process difficult emotions. We have had such a difficult year without live music and theatre. It is vital to have them back - not just for the performers and teams involved but for the audiences and communities who experience them. There is so much pain and inequality going on in the world. In this time we need creativity more than ever.

The play means a lot to every single one of us working on it. I have always been passionate about working for more equality in the arts and music particularly - last year co-created an initiative called Safe in Sound to amplify underrepresented voices in music and have difficult conversations about harassment and abuse in the industry. In music there is still so much gender inequality with pay gaps, less radio play, fewer commissions, imbalance on festival and awards lineups and shockingly common experiences of harassment, bullying and abuse.

It is essential to encourage and empower a new generation of female and nonbinary composers and creators - as well as drawing light to the ones already making great work but maybe not getting the attention they deserve.

really hope there will come a time when it doesn’t feel so rare and special to see a stage full of so many women - I hope it becomes something we can experience often. But for now it is - it feels amazing to be on stage with them and rehearse with them and work with them and tell their stories.

Katie Richardson

Musical Director, musician, composer