macrobert has been involved in many co-productions, some of which have been inspiring and brilliant, while others have left us feeling used and abused, says Liz Moran.
Our initial interest in co-producing work stemmed from the fact that apart from our Christmas show, macrobert was not really a producer of work. The idea of co-producing was a very attractive one, as it would involve us in the creative process rather than just the end-product. Our first co-production was with Mecklenburgh Opera; we had heard about their Terezin Operas project and very much wanted Scottish audiences to see this important work. We approached the Paragon Ensemble to form the orchestra and with the macrobert drama artist at the time, Annie Wood, created a choir of 50 young people aged 8 to16 years to perform Brundibar by Hans Krasa, and three professional opera singers sang ?Emperor of Atlantis? by Victor Ullmann.
Another very successful co-production was between ourselves and the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen, with which we have had a long and close relationship. We were both frustrated by the lack of quality work produced for the under fives age group and commissioned Annie Wood to direct a multimedia production based on Oscar Wilde?s ?The Happy Prince?. The production itself was very successful and so was the process as it brought the macrobert education and marketing teams closer together. It also supported our commitment to become a producer of quality work for young people. Our most recent co-production was with Company of Angels, whose Artistic Director John Retallack we had known for some time through his work with Oxford Stage Company. We had been working with young asylum seekers in Glasgow and wanted to develop a new touring production for young people aged 14 and over, to highlight the plight of young asylum seekers. We brought John together with Andy Howitt of Scottish Youth Dance and created ?Club Asylum? which toured throughout Scotland.
The success of these projects stemmed from regular and effective communication, clear understanding of each other?s role, mutual respect, and above all, a shared vision and passion for the project. As I suggested at the beginning, not all of our experiences have been as positive. When it has not worked we have been approached to co-produce and the driving force was really about money or to meet funding criteria ? rather than a shared creative process. In this scenario it felt a bit like take the money and run. There was poor communication, lack of knowledge about our organisation and no shared vision or passion, all leading to misunderstandings and bad feelings.
Co-production is really all about mutually supportive creative relationships and a test of any co-production is whether you ever want to work together again. We are currently embarking on our biggest production ever: ?Creation? in partnership with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. There will be professional opera singers, a cast of 150 young people aged 7 to 18, a family chorus, and a specially commissioned film all directed by our first co-producing partner John Abulafia.
Liz Moran is Director of macrobert. t: 01786 467155; e: e.a.moran@stir.ac.uk