Composing a new British musical: Go[-ing] between musicality and theatricality – an interview with Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor has composed extensively for the theatre (music for over 50 plays), radio and television. He has been Musical Associate of the National Youth Music Theatre, Composer-in-Residence at the West Yorkshire Playhouse (Performing Rights Society funded scheme) and Artistic Associate at Opera North. His musical The Go-Between (book by David Wood) was a co-production between the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Derby Live and Royal & Derngate, Northampton. It was directed by Roger Haines and it was performed at the West Yorkshire Playhouse from 9 September to 1 October 2011, at Derby Live from 6 to 29 October 2011 and at the Royal & Derngate from 2 to 19 November 2011. In this interview, Richard Taylor talks to George Rodosthenous about his compositional approaches to The Go-Between, the journey from rehearsal to performance and the inherent ‘Englishness’ of the work. Taylor explains that, historically, ‘the great stories have inspired the great scores’ and that he prefers ‘stories that challenge us and make us wonder why we’re here and if what we’re doing while we’re here is worthy’.