Photo: Ros Kavanagh
NO matter his international ranking and demand, Bill Whelan remains close to Limerick. His latest opus is ‘The Train’, a musical for which he has written every chord. He is working with Arthur Riordan on lyrics to tell the true-life story of 1971’s defiant Contraceptive Train to Belfast taken by the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement (IWLM) to purchase prophylactics.
Apparently The Pill was smuggled back in Anadin packets.
‘The Train’ will have its world premier at Lime Tree Theatre next Tuesday 29 in a run of five nights. It is created with and directed by the mighty Lynne Parker of Rough Magic Theatre, poking gentle (or not) fun at the strictures, mores and impossible Ireland of its times.
“I was 21 when it happened,” this composer from Barrington Street recalls. “I remember it very well as my wife [Denise] and I were courting and used to go a lot to Gag’s restaurant in Baggot Street where IWLM use to meet. It was close to UCD, used by activists and journalists and not expensive to eat in, just good food. There were always posters ups, marches advertised”.
Whelan muses about the Ireland of the day, how very close in time it is – four decades ago – when women were not allowed to sit on juries nor take out a hire purchase agreement without their husband signing.
But rather than take signature sounds back to “the music of protest of the ’70s or America folk, I decided against that. I did not want pastiche folk”.
He speaks of his compositions as being “rhythmically different, a jazz inflection to it. This is a contemporary score”. On to invoking saxophones, keyboards and arrangements to which the eight actors/ singers are choreographed. Cathal Synnott is musical director to the band of four.
Whelan adores working with Lynne Parker, her own musical chops honed on past success such as ‘Peer Gynt’ and his writing pal Riordan’s ‘Improbable Frequency’: “She is very experienced, herself being a musician [piano and singer] and this is fresh for me, working with a director like that and a very, very lovely experience”.
He underlines that this project as been “great fun. Even though it approaches serious subject matter, ‘The Train’ has a lot of humour and good, healthy satire on the Church, institutions and the State”.
Lime Tree, September 29-October 3, 8pm
