Creating The Wicker Husband, with composer Darren Clark

My guest is the composer and lyricist, Darren Clark.

Since beginning his professional career in 2012, Darren has been commissioned to write music and lyrics for several national touring shows and his work has been heard in productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.

I talked to Darren about his wonderful new musical, called The Wicker Husband.

The show was the winner of the inaugural Musical Theatre International Stiles & Drewe Mentorship Award - and a finalist in the Kevin Spacey Artist of Choice Award 2016. And it had only just started a run at the Watermill Theatre, before sadly the Coronavirus pandemic ended it.

We chatted about:

• How he started his career working for a Libyan oil company!
• Why he wrote The Wicker Husband - and the inspiration behind it.
• The challenge of writing songs for a life-sized wicker puppet.
• Casting the role of "The Ugly Girl" - and upsetting some agents in the process!
• One of the greatest mistakes songwriters can make.
• The wonder of discovering things you never expected as you write a musical.

Music credit:
The Wicker Man - a musical by Darren Clark and Rhys Jennings .
Songs:
Have You Seen My Husband, performed by Alex Young
My Wicker Man, performed by Alex Young
The Sparrows Tale
The Wicker Maid
Heart of the Weave
Will Ye Lend Me a Suit?
Symbols & Numbers - song from the musical Turing written by Darren Clark & Rhys Jennings, performed by Tyrone Huntley

Darren's website: darrenclarkmusic.co.uk