Project

O.K. – The Musical

O.K. – The Musical at Tate Liverpool

Written & Directed by Christopher Kline

Curated by:
Lindsey Fryer, Michael Birchall
and Tamar Hemmes

O.K. TEAM:
Art Director – Raphaella Davies
Art Director – Alexandra Morton
Vocal & Choir Director – Mersey Wylie
Orchestra Director – Jon Hering
Head of O.K. Media Team – Jake Ryan
Production Manager – Amy Worsley
Vocal Director Burnley – Julian Evans
Costume Designer – Charlotte Van der Haer Richardson
Sound Technician – David Berger
Videographer – Terry Gray
Additional Photography – Roger Sinek
Lighting – Frank Millington

O.K. TATE Production Team:
Lindsey Fryer
Tamar Hemmes
Michael Birchall
Mike Stout
Jacqueline Dexter
Mike Pinnington
Jemima Pyne

O.K. Super Slow Way Project Leader:
Elena Adorni

SETS AND PROPS CREATED BY:

O.K. ART DEPARTMENT:
Raphaella Davies
Alexandra Morton
Jonathon Beaver
Alice Bolton
Amelia Rose Caine
Dale Cook
Louise Crawford
Jon Edgley
Phoebe Gauther
Ian Jones
The Logan Family
Maravilha Pedro
Joana Pedro
Rochana Pedro
Rachel Pedro
Katie Waters
Naomi Wilson
Amy Worsley

O.K. BURNLEY TROUPE:
Anabell Edwards
Emily Edwards
Emma Hoskins
Hollie Hoskins
Chelsea Hoskins
Sandra Moolgoaker
Steven Taylor
Jo Taylor
Lynsey Turmore
Sarah Whatmough

YPAS:
Suziie Davis
Alexis
Charlotte
Firehue
Nosteah
Pebbles

FAMILY COLLECTIVE:
Denise Wright
Debbie Goldsmith
Jen McCool
Jacqueline Gaughan

GROUND UP:
Cath Ford
Fi K. Hornby
Annette Bailey
Brenda Burton
Sonya Connolly
Liz Ford
Lorraine Griffiths
Hayley Gruby
Cilla Higgins
Margaret Hindle
Angela Palmer
Sarah Parker
Amanda Platt
Jonathan Platt
Lisa Scarlet
Pat Stringer
Verna Walker

BLUE ROOM:
Becky Waite
Kat Shock
Laura Aquilina
Tony Carroll
Phillip Foxley
Josh Henderson
Robin Jones
Susan King
Anna Patterson
Natalie Peacock
Lynn Robinson
Tom Rooney
Lewis Scott
Veronica Watson
Kathleen Whelan

COSTUMES BY:
Charlotte Van der Haer Richardson
Sophie Barends
Marguerita Johnson
Sam Morgan
Nzuzi Musungu
Marta Pedro
Karen Scott
Tony Simonsen
Anne Smart
Jan Smith
Jessica Williams

MAKEUP TEAM:
Alex Wainwright
Kerry Roche
Lynn Hudson

O.K. BANNER BY:
VALLEY STREET TEXTILES STUDIO:
Sue Reddish
Parveen Akhtar
Jean Collinge
Yvonne Goodwin
Lorraine Hanlon
Joanne Hargreaves
Linda Hargreaves
Jenny Humphreys
Nikki Kennedy
Sandra Moolgoaker
Dulce Maria Ong Cabili
Tracy Warden
Sarah Whatmough

O.K. MEDIA TEAM:
Jake Ryan
Terry Gray
Lorraine Connor
Jack Conway
Callum McQueen

MUSIC PERFORMED BY:

THE CHOIR WITH NO NAME:
Mersey Wylie (Director)
Ema Quinn (Manager)
Anastacia Marshal
Andrea Heffernan
Bob Fulton
Chantelle O’Toole
Chris Hughes
Daniel Willcox
Debbie Divine
Emma Folan
Emma Howes
Frank Warenn
Gareth James
Jane Smith
John Partington
Joyce Huston
Kenny Ashton
Louis Roberts
Michael Murphy
Michael Roach
Patricia Macdonald
Paul Aylward
Phillip Wellbelove
Rosehannah Heathfield
Shirley Fellows
Stephen Foley
Stephen Ainscough
Sylvia Morris
Tony Simonsen
Alison Hobbs
Becky Waite
Beth Cropper
Diana Ford
Ellie Markham
Emily O’Brien
Emma Moss
James Thorne
Janet Lawton
Jenna Gill
Jo Lea
Lucy Melkowski
Martin Herr
Matt Bown
Max Wall
Paul Brown
Pauline Carney-Broster
Sue Kay

THE O.K. ORCHESTRA:
Jon Hering – Piano and Conductor
Elena Adorni – Violin
Rory Ballantyne – Trumpet
Jan Booth – Cello
Nick Hunt – Trumpet
Mark Jones – Flute
Simon Jones – Double Bass
Loaf – Guitar
Laura Parsons -Viola
George Rix – Violin
George Roberts – Flute
Paul Sheard – Drums

O.K. CAST:
Alice Bolton
Alice L. Chilton
Daniel Lynch
Crystal Quinney Barella
Victoria Podemska
Paul Robertson
Julia Szewczak
Marcus Turner
Robyn Elizabeth Whittle

ROYAL COURT THEATRE COMMUNITY CHOIR O.K. CAST:
Karen Askew
Glennis Brown
Paul Davenport
Barbara Davenport
Margaret Gill
Marguerita Johnson
Joan Pinnington
John Prescott
Melanie Robson
Anne Smart
Dee Spencer

Photos by Roger Sinek, Jake Ryan, Terry Gray, and Lorraine Connor

Thank you to Francesco Manacorda, Laurie Peake and the entire Tate Liverpool & Super Slow Way Teams as well as to Tracey Brown, Pete McDevitt, and Jan Schofield of City of Liverpool College, Alicia Foley & Andrea Bushell of Calico, and Waltraud Boxall.

Tate Liverpool
1 April – 1 May 2017

Project period October 2016 – November 2017
Performances April 27, 29 and 30th.

Curated by
Lindsey Fryer, Michael Birchall and Tamar Hemmes

Commissioned by
Tate Liverpool, CAPP and Super Slow Way

In collaboration with people from Liverpool and Burnley
View all Collaborators

Download playbill

Exhibition Community Performance

The production of O.K. – The Musical at Tate Liverpool was based around the creation of the “O.K. Theatre” and a functioning community theatre company which worked together to produce all elements of the musical as well as the theatre itself. Occupying the 650m2 top floor gallery for six weeks, the white cube space was transformed into an entire working theatre replete with stage, green room, costume and makeup studios, production office, set and prop storage, craft areas, and a wood shop.

A team of 150 people from Liverpool and Burnley collaborated in acting, singing, playing instruments, set design, lighting, costume- and prop-making in order to restage the history of Kinderhook from “The Beginning of the World” to the present.

Participating groups from Liverpool included The Choir With No Name, a choir for people who have been affected by homelessness, Blue Room, Bluecoat’s inclusive arts programme for adults with learning disabilities, and members of YPAS (Young Person’s Advisory Service), The Royal Court Theatre Community Choir, and Tate’s Family Collective. Groups from Burnley included Valley Street Textiles Studio, who produced a quilted banner for the musical, and Ground UP, a community led arts and crafts group. Meanwhile, self-assembled groups of artists, designers, technicians, university and college students, and other community members formed the various theatre departments, cast, and orchestra for the production.

The project investigates how communities form, tracing the roots of Kinderhook’s settlement all the way back into prehistory, and how eras ranging from the landscape’s formation to the rise of Mohican culture to colonialism and its ghost stories continue to have repercussions today. The wide spectrum of scenes take a second, deeper look at the dominant historical narrative, interweaving myth making, folklore and anecdotes into a re-envisioned past. Connecting communities in Liverpool and Lancashire enriched the project by forming new personal relationships, sharing stories and collaboratively producing a musical while finding new ways of exploring and narrating their own local histories.

See the full collaborator’s list here.