Mood Music Tickets

Joe Penhall’s ‘Mood Music’ premieres at the beautiful Old Vic Theatre, which perfectly lends to the grandeur that these musicians would be used to. The stage is completely open, appearing bigger than it might do with elaborate sets but the simplicity of this set doesn’t hide anything, perhaps award-winning set designer Hildegard Bechtler intended this to be expressive of the revelations we learn from these characters as they go through psychotherapy.

Mood Music has a “ripped from the headlines” appeal, particularly in the searing light of the #metoo campaign. It provides a platform to debate how powerful male producers and artists control other artists, particularly younger female artists, in the music industry. It also raises questions about how the creative process works in songwriting. Whose song is it? Who writes the lyrics? Who writes the melody? Who creates the riffs? Most creative industries,  particularly the music industry, are necessarily collaborative. The songwriters, musicians, arrangers, producers and engineers all work together to create the song, but who has created what? In Mood Music, it is ambiguous, which probably reflects the songwriting process in real life.

Mood Music, currently playing at The Old Vic theatre in London, is a sharp new play about the power-struggle between two people working within the music industry, and the larger issue of commercialising creativity. The play is fresh and interesting, and extremely well-acted by its six-person cast, but it ultimately lacks direction.

A special performance containing a series of monologues curated by Lolita Chakrabarti and directed by Adrian Lester will be taking place at the Old Vic this summer. The West End venue, which is currently celebrating its 200th birthday, will be offering 70 tickets to NHS workers at an astonishingly low price.

On the day of its 200th birthday, the Old Vic has announced an unprecedented “marathon broadcast” which will be shared live across Twitter this afternoon, 11 May 2018, ahead of the evening performance of Mood Music.

Joe Penhall’s new production Mood Music, directed by Roger Michell, is a timely look at exploitation, gender and what we will do to achieve our dreams. Irish singer/songwriter Cat (Seána Kerslake) is over the moon when she gets the chance to work with Bernard (Ben Chaplin), the man behind some of her late father’s favourite songs. Bernard just wants a female singer because she is cheaper. Through their psychotherapists, Vanessa and Ramsey (Jemma Redgrave and Pip Carter) and their lawyers Neil Stuke’s Seymour (Stuke replaced Chaplin in BBC series Game On) and Kurt Egyiawan’s Miles provide this much-needed buffer to a destructive relationship.

The World Premiere of Joe Penhall’s Mood Music has undergone a final casting change and some other updates, which was officially announced today by The Old Vic. Previews for the new play start from 21 April 2018 with press night on 2 May 2018. Taking over the role of Bernard is Ben Chaplin, a role originally played by Rhys Ifans who, due to some unfortunate family reasons, must regretfully resign from the production.