The Opera Group
VARJAK PAW
A Trip to Deepest Norfolk
It soon became clear in the aftermath of the Varjak Paw development week, that John, Kit and I would need some focussed time to reflect on the detailed structure of the opera. Our initial story-boarding had soon established that we would need to weave the plots of both Varjak novels together – the first Varjak Paw novel had not quite enough story and the second fleshed out Varjak’s enemy Sally Bones with a final denoument that was simply too good to leave out.
So just before Christmas, John and I travelled up to the depths of a frosty Norfolk to meet up with Kit for a Varjak Paw weekend. Around a blazing fire and well oiled by cups of tea, glasses of wine and wonderful food, we definitively nailed our dramatic structure. By then, Kit had produced a first draft of the entire libretto and while there was still a way to go in fine tuning its style and manner, it allowed us to map out five clear acts. John helped to focus the dramatic flow and the formal sequence of events and I was able to flag up those moments where I wanted the music to break free.
Kit’s open responsiveness and playful wit sustained us all weekend and reinforced a sense that his own personality – not least, his relish and love of language – should come through in the libretto loud and clear. All the characters of Varjak Paw are strongly drawn and contrasting and our opera needed to match SF Said’s colourful imagination head on, both in words and music. And plenty of opportunities for madcap humour emerged: the fabulously glamorous “Scratch Sisters”, a fat tabby slathering over mouse dishes (mice crispies, chocolate mouse…) or the sudden bounding on of a dog called Cludge that sends street cats leaping for cover. If there was one central narrative that emerged from our weekend, however, it was the rites of passage adventures of the young Varjak whose openness and plucky spirit touches everyone he encounters.
A footnote. Funny how working intensively in a world of the imagination changes your perspectives on the day-to-day mundane. All through our weekend in Norfolk, Kit’s own pets seemed to become embroiled in our opera – conspiratorial glances from his cats and the comic ins and outs of his two dogs, seemed like Varjak escapades. Started to wonder if John shouldn’t have auditioned them for our opera…