The Warwick-based Orchestra Of The Swan are presenting a show celebrating the life and work of George Eliot in the author’s home town of Coventry this month. And their artistic director, David Le Page, is revelling in the chance to perform bolder, more theatrical musical productions - as he recently explained to What’s On...

Orchestra Of The Swan has really started to spread its wings in the past few years, embracing a wider variety of musical genres, themes and performance styles than those traditionally associated with a chamber orchestra. The latest string to its bow has involved teaming up with Hambletts Productions to stage Words & Music - shows that combine musical performances and storytelling to celebrate some of our greatest authors.

The partnership has already resulted in shows about Laurie Lee and Thomas Hardy, both featuring actor Anton Lesser. The latest venture, George Eliot In Words And Music, sees the same creative team tackling the life and work of the Nuneaton-born writer who was christened Mary Ann Evans.

Similar to previous productions, the show involves a presentation of the author’s story using biographical details and a script based on her own words (taken from her novels, letters, journals, poetry and journalism). This will be performed in Coventry - alongside a selection of music played by the orchestra - by Cold Feet actress Hermione Norris.

The radical work of the groundbreaking author has prompted a similar approach to curating the music, according to the orchestra’s artistic director, David Le Page. David has chosen tunes by contemporary female singer-songwriters to feature alongside the script.

“With George, I wanted to try something completely different, being aware that she was writing under a pseudonym and in a male-dominated environment,” he says.

“I’ve arranged music by contemporary English female singer-songwriters. So we’re doing songs by Kate Bush, Bat For Lashes, Alison Moyet, Anna Calvi, Dido, FKA Twigs, Sandy Denny, Florence And The Machine and more.” He then reveals the identity of the production’s “secret weapon”: English singer, songwriter & actor SuRie.

“She’s just brilliant - she not only delivers the written material so well, she sings the songs, too. As soon as I knew she was going to be involved, I thought it was an opportunity to do something different. You wouldn’t necessarily put those singer-songwriters with George Eliot, but I think the contrast is quite bold.”

It will be the first time one of the Words & Music shows has featured a vocalist, as well as the first to contain contemporary music.

“The interesting thing about George Eliot’s writing, particularly when she’s writing autobiographically, is that it’s quite contemporary sounding. She did things in her life which would’ve outraged the society that she lived in, so that actually translates very well.

“I’ve arranged the songs for a particular band - violin, cello, bass, keyboard, oboe and drums - so it’s got a contemporary, poppy feel to it, which I think is really appealing. Also, that jolt of hearing a bit of Middlemarch or Silas Marner and then a song by Kate Bush [Running Up That Hill] is really beautiful.”

Balancing - and juxtaposing - music with the script, which has been written by Deirdre Shields, is a crucial part of the whole endeavour - and a challenge David clearly enjoys.

“Weaving the music in and out is my job as music director, so I’ll arrange or write some of the music, and try to respond to the text. Sometimes there are underscores and it’s quite cinematic; like watching a film.”

David says the cinematic approach also works well with the way the script effectively tells the author’s story, weaving together facts and fiction to get a sense not only of her work but also her life.

“That’s Deirdre’s brilliance, really. Sometimes you’re thinking ‘Hold on... is this something from Middlemarch or Mill On The Floss, or is it part of George Eliot’s life?’ They’re so closely related - and sometimes the paragraphs are back-to-back - that you’re not sure what’s biography and what’s fiction. That’s a lovely thing, and at the end of it, you know quite a bit more about George Eliot, and will probably want to investigate her work much more.”

Another element David relishes - and believes the orchestra, actors and audience do, too - is that the musicians are on stage and part of the action, rather than being hidden from view in the pit.

“The actors seem to really enjoy that we’re on stage with them. I think they like that interaction - it feels like a novel way of performing.”

The Words & Music shows are something which David feels are a good fit for the orchestra going forward, as it looks for new ways to connect with wider audiences.

“We’ve definitely got our minds on a much more theatrical model. And we’re playing places that the orchestra doesn’t usually play, so it’s really nice to be in a completely different environment - and on stage, not in the pit!”

The model, which ticks a variety of boxes, is a direction David believes the orchestra has been headed for a while.

“I’ve been very keen for us to fly the nest in Warwickshire. We love playing here, but we needed to find something that we could do that no one else was really doing - no other orchestra, anyway - and then take it all over the country and play to as many people as possible.

“I think the Words & Music model we do with Hambletts and Deirdre has really allowed us to do that. For me personally it’s creative -  making the arrangements and writing a lot of the music - and it’s also very creative for the orchestra. It’s very dynamic in terms of performance, and you’re being watched all the time, so you’ve got to be in a musical character, responding to the text. I think it’s good for everybody.”

David also likes the idea that the shows are helping to change expectations of what an orchestra might be, taking it away from being a static, formal affair to something more welcoming to a wider audience.

“I always recognised that although orchestras and classical music are a terribly powerful thing, sometimes the rituals and the things people are expected to do when they go and see concerts can be a bit restricting.

“I’d like people to come and think ‘Oh, an orchestra can be a different thing.’ It doesn’t have to be a certain number of players; it can look like this and doesn’t have to wear that… it can be really connecting and communicating with the audience in quite a contemporary way.

“That was my intention when I took over as artistic director eight years ago. It’s not that I don’t enjoy that other side of it - I can always see the worth in that - it’s just that, for me personally and for the orchestra, it felt like this was a necessary step to take; to feel different and to look different. The Words & Music shows are a way to grow our audience, so that people might think we do interesting things and come back and see some of our other concerts.”

Orchestra Of The Swan present George Eliot In Words And Music at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre on Friday 16 May

By Steve Adams