Franck Vigroux and Matthew Bourne are developing a theatrical realisation of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novel, WE, for piano/voice and electronics. With carefully-extracted excerpts of text from this work, minimal piano textures, and a sensitive electronics ; the work seeks to make an impactful statement that is a stark, original rendering of Zamyatin’s work. 

Musically, Vigroux and Bourne’s vision is to concentrate on the details of transition, sonic density, contrast, and economy of expression to evoke an essence of the uncanny, or elusive. This economy of expression also carries with it a practical advantage : the simplicity of the onstage setup is deliberate, and means that this work is portable/transferable to a wide range of venues that already have a piano - from small clubs (Cafe Oto, London), to larger theatres (national stage). 

This project has also received funding from The British Council, to further develop the work in Russia as part of their UK-Russia Year of Music 2019 scheme, and we hope to perform a UK Premiere of the work at Sounds Like This... festival in Leeds, March 2020.”

This project has also received funding from the franco-british fund for contemporary music Diaphonique, The British Council,