The Heritage Partnerships Team is pleased to circulate this opportunity for Oxford researchers to work on this exciting project. For further information and to express your interest, please contact Mairin O’Hagan at mairinohagan@gmail.com.
Designed for outdoor performance, Capability! is a witty, musical comedy which uses the story of Lancelot Capability Brown to explore what county gardens have meant to England through the centuries.
Taking Brown’s landscapes as its backdrop, the play reveals the how one man transformed the country and constructed nature as we know it, and reminds us that designing a garden sows seeds for others to harvest. Inspired by Brown’s idea of the ‘capability’ or potential of a landscape, it uses a chorus of modern country house visitors to explore how the hand of man can exploit or enhance the ‘capability’ of a landscape, questioning who gets to shape our idea of the land of England, and the responsibility we all have for shaping the environment for generations to come.
Set amid his rolling curves and magical, serpentine waterworks-- at a time when parks and gardens have become more important than ever-- Capability! looks at how we are all capable of shaping, protecting and designing the future of the outdoor world around us.
With Capability! is in its early stages of research and development, writer Mairin O’Hagan and director Andrew Brock are looking to connect with researchers in History, Music and Literature departments, with an interest in country house garden history, during any time period spanning the 18th Century through to changed role of the country house today. We want to ensure that the piece engages critically and intelligently with the many perspectives on the national significance of country house gardens, and to reflect contemporary critical approaches and academic questions. We are keen that the musical composition speaks to the historical context of the play (both satirically and sincerely), as well as being engaging and accessible. We are also interested in the way that music can connect us to and respond to nature.
In the first instance, we are looking to make connections with researchers in the above fields, to learn more about the ideas behind this play. We hope audiences will benefit from a more informed and critically engaging encounter with the material, and that a sparkling, comic musical can serve as a vehicle for outreach, disseminating ideas to a broad audience in a fun and joyful way. We would be really grateful to hear from anyone who would like to discuss their research interests with us, helping to shape our creative output.
TORCH Heritage Programme
