Ahead of our Youth Company production of Uprooted, Jessica Duchen spoke to Hannah Conway, Hazel Gould and Jo Spurling about the background and creation of the opera.
How did Uprooted come about?
Hazel: Hannah and I have worked together for some years with her company, SoundVoice, using research from academic groups, and our big initial project was about voice loss. After that, we had a partnership with the Champions Project, looking at the impact of temporary accommodation on children. It’s harmful in all sorts of ways, from health risks like mould, which is life-threatening in some cases, to lack of space to play and a lack of proper nutrition, and there isn’t a huge amount of legislation around it. Through that, we met and worked with the brilliant Jo Spurling, who runs Bee Squad in Manchester, which deals with child homelessness.
Later, Jo contacted us with a new thought. She’d noticed the legal and legislative protections around badgers, compared to those around human beings. If a badger mother is expecting cubs, the set cannot be unsettled; you can be prosecuted for it. That’s positive, but that protection doesn’t exist for human beings. You can rehouse a pregnant woman many miles away from her support networks and the children’s schools. Jo said she would love to do a project about this. Then Karen Gillingham happened to contact Hannah soon afterwards to see if she had an idea for a new youth opera.
Jo, how do you feel about this issue becoming an opera?
Jo: It was not something I’d considered as an opera – but why not? It’s almost perfect, because it’s storytelling in such a powerful way for a new audience that may have not thought about these issues before. Wanting to raise public awareness was part of it too. It seemed like a perfect opportunity.
How did you create the story?
Hazel: We wanted a story that’s engaging for the young people participating in it. When I’m working on projects for young people, I look at how young adult fiction often finds thoughtful ways to explore big social issues. So I wanted to explore who that child would be, what the situation would mean to a child, and how this comparison with animals might feel.
I did a lot of work via Bee Squad with people who have been through the housing system. We also had some workshops with the young people and talked to them about the ideas. They were interested in Brock needing a magical ending: not a magical fix or a silver bullet, but something otherworldly. They responded to the issue with a sort of righteous incredulity: ‘Surely there must be someone who can help them?’ ‘There must be a way for them to get a house?’ But I spoke to a homeless charity in Buckinghamshire County Council about the story, and they said that it feels exactly like something that could happen here, or anywhere else.
Was there anything that you had to avoid?
Jo: We’re trying to challenge the perception that people are homeless because they’ve made poor life choices. The issue is bigger than that. We needed to show a family in a situation external to their control and we made sure that throughout the story, the audience would stay on the family’s side.
Hazel: Participants in community pieces are donating their time, so I want them also to find it fun and engaging and have some good numbers to sing. There could have been another, darker version of this piece, but I wanted to ensure there was some light and playfulness to it as well.
Hannah, how did you create the opera’s sound world?
Hannah: I started by making a theme using the notes ‘B-A-D-G-E-R’ (the R is ‘re’, as in the scale ‘Do re me’). The first theme you hear is built from that and it runs all the way through the piece. It doesn’t just represent the badgers: it’s used also for dawn breaking at the start, and the recurring idea of change and light. I wanted the sound world to be a bit sassy. The badgers and Brock have quite a bit of attitude and strength in their themes. The badgers are a little bit magical and mysterious, while Brock has a fiery temper, but also real tenderness. This role is written for any gender or voice, because we didn’t know whether we were going to cast a boy or a girl.
What would you like the audience to take away from this performance?
Hazel: I don’t think our piece can aspire to call for new legislation – though wouldn’t it be great if it did? Chiefly, however, this was an exercise in empathy.
Hannah: The audience might not have thought before about the human stories behind what happens when a family is made homeless, so I would like them to consider those realities. I also want them to enjoy watching an incredible group of young people perform. And I want them to be emotionally touched. I’m always trying to write music that that pulls on people’s heartstrings.
