BEATING TIME

A new play, written on-line, commencing 20th February 2001

THE IDEA

Otto Klemperer; orchestral conductor, artistic revolutionary, magnet to musical and theatrical innovators, legend. He featured in a story by Thomas Mann, a sketch by Monty Python, his Beethoven 5th is still probing the outer reaches of our solar system onboard Voyager 1. A stranger to mental and physical health, he died more times than most people have lived. He is also one of my personal heroes. I was a musician and lover of music long before I considered the idea of being a playwright, coming to theatre via a passion for opera. I saw Klemperer perform many times in the opera house and concert hall but never met him. I particularly failed to meet him on the occasion of his 85th birthday despite his gruff insistence, backstage at the Royal Festival Hall, London. How could I, an atheist all of my adult life, have stood in that same room, there in the presence of a God?

NOW LOOKING FOR A STAGE. 

UPDATED EDIT TO: 20 May 2007 14:37

The 'rejection letter' from his daughter, Lotte, was the one that appealed to me at the start of the writing process. I like the idea of "quite unreliable" narration as punctuation for the action and Lotte appears in this role as principle observer; always well-meaning but often over-protective. Some of the action is based upon dependable evidence from various sources, much of it repeated in the late Peter Heyworth's thorough biography, Klemperer's "Recollections" or both. The happy(?) coincidence of Lotte's actually rejecting any idea of a play about her father gave the writing process more edge.

The play has been the subject of a rigorous work-shopping process, during which severe criticism was made of the linear structure, episodic quality and lack of purpose. Some of these criticisms have been taken on board and script-in-hand reading by actors has permitted some fine-tuning. Call it finished, for now, although the opening shown on-line here is the first draft..
.Lotte Klemperer a rather more than footnote - has recently (July 2003) died. I thought I would mention this because, although the play is about her father and the minor role of "Lotte" in my play is but a caricature of a person who I respected but never met - she had arranged for us to have tea "some time when she next came to London". 
Her influence on both Otto and this play is indisputable. Indeed, the play was partially inspired by correspondence between us, ending with her stubborn insistence that I should NEVER, NEVER write about (her) Papa's "long and hard life", in turn causing an otherwise helpful and encouraging EMI managers in London to flatly refuse permission to include any CDs from their extensive Klemperer range during future performances of BEATING TIME. This in turn inspired me to seek advise from Writers' Guild lawyers and eventual permission from the publishers of the principal biography before even submitting the text for a public reading. 
Writers explore many avenues of research before deciding to commit to a new work, often deciding against an idea if it is too obscure or, in this case, too close to home. "Never write about your own heroes", is sound counsel, my Glass Hero, Victor Grayson, was the hero of a director I worked with who couldn't set down his ideas because his partiality would prevent inventiveness. Without Lotte I might have questioned the wisdom of continuing past the research stage, the usual burial ground for shelved projects. It was as much the stubbornness of Lotte in her attempts to silence me as it was the human catastrophes of Otto that inspired me to persevere with this play. It was, I guess, that same obduracy that allowed her to stand up to both her fallen giant of a father and a straight laced musical establishment whose attitude to his unreliability and many eccentricities would have otherwise buried him artistically and prevented many thousands, myself included, from ever seeing the miracle that was Otto Klemperer in live performance.   

THE MUSIC

Shouldn't a play about a musician contain music? Yes of course. But what music should I choose?
Why not the work of the composer Klemperer? Composer? A recurring tragi-comic motif in the play is that he hated performance and really wanted to be a respected composer like his hero Mahler. Although I happen to own CD's and quite like some of his music I am aware that my musical opinion is in the minority. Everyone - Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Hindermith, Zemlinsky, Barenboim, even his own father - the only possible exception is Mahler - they either actively disliked or at most had little respect for his composition.
So what about the currently available CD's? I have shared the script with EMI, the company with which Klemperer recorded from the 1950's onwards. These current recordings had not available for play performances, due to EMI's contractual obligations to Lotte Klemperer and her obvious prior claim on their loyalty.
So why not use opera? Klemperer was a man of the theatre, concerned with modernisation and accessibility for all. This poses a different problem; should there be leitmotifs or clues for opera buffs and cognoscenti or theatrical mood music for the general public? My preference is for layering. People familiar with the chosen music can feel satisfied but the uninitiated won't feel completely left out.
And using musicians for acting? Just an idea, and one that I suspect Klemperer would have loved. Use opera singers to play "straight" roles; great experience and cross-training. And live music onstage.

Funding? Rights to perform? Please hit the "contact" picture for details

THE PLAY-SCRIPT - a health warning; this online script is a first draft taster. Like Klemperer's life, the play has rambled and encountered many problems. Any further changes to this introductory page will not reflect the reworking of the play.

ACT 1 Scene 1

Most of the scenes can be suggested by lighting and minimal props. Some entrances and exits are assumed or will be written in later.

Scene: Lotte, an old woman, writing letter. Other characters onstage, unlit.

Lotte:
Thank you very much for your reply. I really did intend to meet you when I was in England, but I was obliged to return to Switzerland for the sake of my health. This is a pity. I could have then convinced you more easily of something that seems to be giving you problems in accepting by letter. My Papa's life was hard, often painful..

Lighting change

Otto:
Here we are.

Elizabeth:
It was kind of you to invite me here, Herr Conce.......

Otto:
No problem, it was on your way home anyway.

Elizabeth:
...ertmaster. All the same.......

Otto:
Sweeps with arm
Not much I know, but it is home.

Elizabeth:
It's very nice.
Looks around room.
Ahh, it's true. You do have two pianos?

Otto:
Yes......

Elizabeth:
Herr Concertmaster.........

Otto:
Please, call me Otto......

Elizabeth:
Herr Concertmaster Otto, where would you like to start?

Otto:
Start?

Elizabeth:
The rehearsal?

Otto:
Ah......

Elizabeth:
You do mean to rehearse, don't you?.

Otto:
Well I......

Elizabeth:
I don't know why you brought me here, for sure. But I don't think it was to rehearse my part as Cherubino, was it?

Otto:
No, you've found me out.

Music cue: Mozart, Don Giovanni, La chi darem la mano

Elizabeth:
Oh you naughty man! Don't think I haven't noticed you looking at me in that very special way of yours..

Otto:
You don't mind, do you? I'd rather do it with you than with anyone.

Elizabeth:
You are forward? And there was me thinking you were shy.

Otto:
I thought, you're voice is so sweet and ...I think I can trust you ........

Elizabeth:
Well, it's for sure I can't trust you.....

Otto:
picks up some music, holds behind his back
So I've got some of my own songs I'd like you to sing.

Elizabeth:
Songs? You brought me here to sing your....Oh, you bad, teasing man!
embraces him
Two piano and no bed?

Otto:
I can't take you in the other room. I'm an untidy man.
drops music on floor

Elizabeth:
You want me on the piano, don't you. Ah, but which one?

Otto:
Come........

Lighting change

Lotte:
I object to this suggestion. Fraulein Schumann was engaged to be ...no, she was married at the time. He never once spoke of her other than in a purely professional way. Never once. All that fuss, you know, and it was a completely unfounded allegation. They were just rehearsing operas. But what would you know about innocence.......

Lighting change

Music cue: Prelude, Act 3 Lohengrin.

Otto:
Conducting.

Rolf:
Rushes in. To Otto.
Klemperer! The so-called Concertmaster! I call you a coward, sir. You have been hiding from me but I have found where you are. You, sir, are a scoundrel who has shamelessly seduced my wife.
pauses for response
I have witnesses who will testify that you have visited a sordid love-nest three times a week over several months. I demand satisfaction.

Second:
Offers choice of weapons

Otto:
Ignores taunts

Rolf:
As these people have noted.......I have a grievance and demand....Sir, I will not be ignored. You have sought to make me a laughing stock. My honour in this matter cannot remain unsatisfied. Have you no sense of civilised behaviour or decency, sir? I mean you sir. Turn round! You will not........

Otto:
Turns

Rolf:
Hits Otto, who falls.

Lotte:
He might have been killed.

Sound cue: Music pauses

Otto:
Stands up, clearly shaken
It wasn't my fault. I didn't know that would happen.
Resumes conducting.

Sound cue: Music resumes.

Critic:
Nevertheless, the spectacle of a jealous husband attacking the music director will be remembered as the high point of the evening. After falling back into the orchestra pit the long arms and legs of Herr Klemperer gave him the appearance of a hugh, black spider as he struggled to regain his position on the podium. The opera finished with a rather less steady beat than we had enjoyed in the first two acts.

Lighting cue

Lotte:
You see - completely unfounded. They were just rehearsing. He was always a supportive conductor helping singers to explore their roles. That man who hit him......what a bully! In the military, a master of armed combat. Papa was a big man, a giant among men. But he was no fighter, never, never violent. She married several times and yet, do you know, the last words on her lips were of love for my Papa. Can you imagine, considering what little passed between them, and after all that time? That blow led to an injury of the brain that wasn't detected at the time, I am certain now. And all for nothing. Please, leave this episode out, I beg of you. Better yet, write nothing. I would not even know where to start a drama on Papa's life.

Sound cue: End music

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