On Thursday 21 March, BA Musical Theatre students at University of West London (UWL) will perform the world premiere of Fable – a new stage musical from writers Kurt Kansley and Oliver Lidert – as part of a gala event in Ealing.
Fable is about a teenage girl named Lalia who has a stammer and struggles to speak up because she is shy and insecure. The ‘3 Fates’ decide to try and help her by magically orchestrating an explosion in her chemistry class causing her to be transported back in time to Delphi in ancient Greece.
Kansley and Lidert have worked extensively in the theatre industry onstage as performers and behind-the-scenes in production, writing, composing, and directing.
The collaboration with students from UWL came about after Kurt and OIiver were introduced to staff at the University’s London College of Music (LCM) by Black Lives in Music, a body advocating for equal opportunities for Black people in the UK music industry.
“We have been telling the same stories for a long time that have been written, produced and performed by the same people,” says Oliver Lidert. “A new generation is coming forward that is hungry for a different way of storytelling.”
This the first time that Fable will be performed on stage to a public audience.
At 6.30pm, prior to the Fable premiere, students will perform cabaret snapshots of Confessions, another musical by Kansley and Lidert in Freddie’s Bar. Confessions is a dark comedy set in the world of espionage and political intrigue, parodying the spy movie genre. The story revolves around three female spies from diverse backgrounds whose narratives intertwine with a mysterious British male spy, a media mogul, and a Russian defector.
At 7.30pm, the Fable performance will begin in Lawrence Hall and be followed by a post-show reception in UWL’s Freddie’s Bar.
