23 May The Clockmaker’s Daughter Exclusive: Interview with Daniel Finn

With the world premiere of Webborn and Finn’s The Clockmaker’s Daughter getting close on 1st June, and previews starting on 27th May, the countdown to opening night has begun. With the metaphorical clock most definitely ticking, we had the opportunity to speak to co-writer Daniel Finn about his and Michael Webborn’s new show, the ins and outs of fairytales, and the challenges of getting original British musicals staged – and watched.

“The real reason we wrote it as a fairytale, was the allure of the ‘fantastical,’ and the ‘magical’ elements imbued at the heart of the genre. For a writer it’s just utter creative freedom.”

With preparations well under way, rewrites and edits already under their belts, and rehearsals now in full swing, Finn say they’re feeling “charged” about the world premiere, “extremely excited to see it on its feet but also somewhat nervous at the thought of ‘turning the easel’.” A musical where the story preceded the music, it was written over an intense five week period, as the writers “exclusively worked on the show for that time; slept when we needed to, ate when we needed to but pretty much just locked ourselves away and went at it.” And since then? “It’s been reworked and tweaked, there have been readings, recordings, and small workshops” to develop the musical, to incorporate feedback and make it the best version it can be on 1st June.

So what’s it all about? In the words of Daniel Finn, “The Clockmaker’s Daughter is a folk faerytale, set in a quiet, dwindling, backwater town in Ireland. It centres around a village myth: ‘the statue of the girl in the square used to be alive’. Her name is Constance and the show is her story. One thing we haven’t talked about yet, when it comes to the show, is Constance’s journey – we’re keen to keep it a little close to our chests at present – but I will say it focusses on acceptance, craving adventure and contains more than one love story.”

Presenting The Clockmaker’s Daughter as a “fairytale,” or “faerytale,” was a very deliberate decision on the part of Webborn and Finn, explained as being because “everyone loves a fairytale. What’s not to like? They catch you so quickly, and as a means of telling a story it doesn’t get much simpler. As a genre it’s the hunched ancestor right back at the start of storytelling’s evolutionary chain. It’s a moral wrapped up in happenings. That’s it. They exist purely to carry a message down through the generations, to highlight the rights and wrongs of their respective societies – or the good ones do at least. For us, that was important. But I think the real reason, if I’m totally honest, was the allure of the ‘fantastical,’ and the ‘magical’ elements imbued at the heart of the genre. For a writer it’s just utter creative freedom.”

“Realistic female characters that can, of course, be damsels in towers but are also more than capable of finding a way out of those towers and down, up, through, over or into whatever they please whenever they need to.”

Yet “fairytale” is a word that to many evokes images of hopelessly useless damsels in distress wearing prohibitive dresses (like the controversial blue gown worn by Lily James in the 2015 remake of Cinderella) just standing and waiting to be rescued by a knight in shining armour. Hardly an inspiring image, it’s one that’s often at the heart of any criticism of fairytales, but it’s not necessarily something we should expect in The Clockmaker’s Daughter, says Finn. “I’d say I hope you see realistic female characters; ones that can, of course, be damsels in towers but are also more than capable of finding a way out of those towers and down, up, through, over or into whatever they please whenever they need to. They’re not weak by any stretch – writing weak characters is dull, both for the writer and the audience.”

For the writers of The Clockmaker’s Daughter, a brand new piece of musical theatre conceived and written in the UK, the trickiest part of putting on the show came down to that filthy f-word: finance, a story echoed within the industry, and whispered in increasingly loud voices in theatres across London. As Finn puts it, “putting anything on stage is an increasingly difficult process. For new writers, getting work into a respectable venue where it can be seen and critiqued accordingly is extremely tough. There are companies out there that can help, MMD and Perfect Pitch among them but it’s very difficult to do anything in London if you don’t have a huge financial heavyweight in your corner.”

Passionate about getting new British musicals into theatres and in front of audiences, he continues, “I’d say that we all feel a little lost at present. I know I do. Lloyd Webber’s canon has been back in town – and is always on tour. The West End is dominated by juke-box shows and American money machines, and there are rumours we’re getting Aladdin pretty soon too. The ‘adaptation’ dominates our musical theatre experience at present; Kinky Boots, Billy Elliot, Bend it like Beckham, Legally Blonde, to name just a few. If we’re lucky we get a revival. But so few people are willing to risk it, in the current climate, when it comes to new work – particularly original work – even the audience, even us, the paying public. It’s an adaptation, but look at Made in Dagenham: fantastic reviews, great response from it’s audiences, well written, good all round British show, closed. I don’t know what the solution is, but it’s a crying shame. A crying shame because our West End doesn’t feel quite so ‘ours’ any more. I just hope the producers out there continue to be willing to take risks; it was always a risk for them anyway.” And his message to audiences? “I’d say: ‘look to the fringe’ because it is happening there. The fringe is where new British musicals are tried and tested. There’s some wonderful work, of exceptional standard, happening just off the West End… It’s so close – go support it! It’s cheaper too; you could see four fringe shows for the price of one West End ticket.”

“We believe in it. We hope people find it worth believing in too.”

With tickets at just £20, Finn is certainly right, but aside from the price, why should people go to see The Clockmaker’s Daughter? “This is our trial by fire, and anyone who sees the show will be part of that. We’ve a big cast, full of very talented people. We’ve a great production team and a great venue to test the water in. We’ve worked very, very hard, for a very long time on something that we could not be more passionate, or excited, about showing to the world… and I think that makes a thing worth sampling. We believe in it. We hope people find it worth believing in too.”

For tickets and information: landortheatre.co.uk/index.php/booking-office/musicals/the-clockmakers-daughter
Venue: Landor Theatre
Dates: Previews from 27th May 2015, opens 1st June 2015 and runs until 4th July 2015