Q&A with Susan Bickley
Director James Conway speaks with mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley about the difference between performing and directing and how this has influenced her direction of Argento’s A Water Bird Talk.
JC: As a performer, what have you come to value in a director?
SB: As a performer I’ve been extremely fortunate to work with some truly inspirational directors ……my favourites being those who regularly choose to work in theatre as well as opera. Before ending up studying music and singing I had always wanted to be an actress and so being involved in opera has ticked all boxes! Directors who also understand the nature of the music are very valuable…it’s surprising how many come with a CD booklet of text but haven’t really taken the integration of both art forms into consideration!
JC: What was it like directing another singer?
SB: What a very interesting situation to be in……to be on the other side of the table! I hadn’t really planned to do any directing but was delighted to be asked by James Conway….and perhaps starting with a one person opera is a good idea! My first reaction was to think ..‘oh I’m not sure I’d be up to that..’ but frankly, in these times when singing work is virtually nonexistent, it seemed the perfect time to take on a challenge. I was very lucky to be working with such a talented and receptive singer as Julien. We had fun, along with our wonderful pianist Ella and I think I was able to use some techniques learnt from directors I have worked with……obviously in a very simple way, given my newness to the role!
JC: You are used to learning pieces from the perspective of the role you are singing — did you come to know A Waterbird Talk in a different sort of way?
SB: I did approach working on ‘Waterbird’ differently to something I would be singing. The text was my first job…to work out what Argento was meaning, to read the play it was based on and to then listen to it and get a grip of what was happening musically. Then to imagine what ‘ the lecturer’ would be doing and where and how on the stage. If it was a role I was singing I would have probably done things the other way round…getting to know the notes and studying the text second. Singers all have different ways of getting to know what they are having to learn. As a performer who has learnt the skill of interpreting someone else’s ideas….composer, librettist, director or conductor it was most interesting to be suggesting my ideas to someone else for a change!
JC: What do you like best about A Waterbird Talk? When does it speak to your heart?
SB: It’s an interesting piece….Waterbird……a rather good vehicle for an actor/singer to show a wide variety of emotions. There is some humour and some great sadness as well as anger and frustration. The music isn’t easy to learn but actually sounds very lyrical at times as well as dramatic. The offstage role of the harridan wife could be seen as a bit of a misogynistic cliché, she’s clearly made this man’s life a misery…but I have to say i have come across marriages that are not dissimilar in nature so there is definitely an element of reality! Fortunately Julien is also an excellent pianist and as the score requires ‘the lecturer’ to play, if he possibly can, that has been a real bonus.
JC: I know you have recently done your own one-person show, based on music of Berio. What do you reckon to be the particular challenges of a one-person show?
SB: I have had several experiences of being the sole singer in a piece, the most recent of which was to perform Berio’s Recital for Cathy. It is scored for a singer and accompanist and chamber orchestra who are offstage and was written for his wife Cathy Berberian. It’s a piece of music theatre….a monologue from a singer giving a recital in which she gradually loses her mind while singing about 42 very short extracts from her past repertoire. What a piece! Very tricky to learn but covering the full gamut of emotion. We last performed it in the British Museum amongst the Elgin Marbles! I loved doing it…..but when you’re on your own there certainly is a responsibility to keep the audience engaged….you can’t relax for a moment!
JC: How has this period of relative silence been for you? Has it clarified for you why you are a performer, for example? Is there anything you would like to say about the community of freelance artists, if you perceive that there is a community?
SB: Well this year has been the most extraordinary time for everyone in the arts. Freelancers, in particular, have really suffered as there has been little or no financial support and many have had to take other jobs to survive. That is all very well…..but when you have trained for years and spent a fortune on study it is heartbreaking not to be able to use those very particular skills. And they are skills that need to be nurtured and practised….a difficult thing to maintain while working for Amazon, say, on night shifts. I count my blessings…..I had a lot of work cancelled, here and abroad, but I have a husband who works full time so we are not on the breadline. However, many young artists, some married to other performers and with families to support, have really suffered. So those companies, like ETO, who are now managing to mount some performances, albeit in compromised ways, will be the saviours for those young singers, actors, technicians etc starting out. It will be the future for the time being, I suspect. And while it might make us more resourceful and imaginative, the fact that the industry that is art and performance has been neglected for the most part is devastating for those that work in it.