International Brigade Memorial Trust
At our annual commemoration in London on 4 July, IBMT supporters will be able to hear songs from the Spanish Civil War musical 'No Pasarán!' sung by members of the cast. They will be performed at the IBMT social at the Camel & Artichoke (121 Lower Marsh Street, SE1 7AE) at 4pm. Entry is free, and this will be a unique opportunity to hear extracts from the musical in London – and to talk to its creator, Roy Gaynor, about taking the show on the road to other venues in the south of Britain.
By Roy Gaynor
'No Pasarán!' is a completely new musical, with an original storyline based on historic fact and 38 new songs and other pieces of music. I’m very proud to have written all the songs and the script. Original orchestration is by Doug Gould, an award-winning graduate of the Royal College of Music.
It is a story of love, friendship and heroism during the Spanish Civil War and follows the journey of a group of International Brigade volunteers and others during that dreadful conflict.
'No Pasarán!' was first performed in Bornemouth in 2013 to ecstatic audiences, who told us they loved the story and the music and that they learned a great deal about the Spanish Civil War.
They also said that 'No Pasarán!' must eventually find its way to the West End of London and beyond, comparing our show favourably with the musical 'Les Misérables'.
Last September we performed a concert of 'No Pasarán!' music at the IBMT fund raiser in Oxford on 6 September and we will be performing again at the IBMT commemoration day in London’ on the 4 July this year.
A new full production of 'No Pasarán!' will be staged at the Regent Centre Theatre, Christchurch, Hampshire, from the 5 to 7 November.
With the support of the IBMT and its members, we want to bring the full 'No Pasarán!' production and the story of the Spanish Civil War to new audiences and new generations in other towns and cities, initially within a 150 mile radius of Bournemouth, where we are based, and then further afield.
To do this we need the help and support of IBMT members to identify suitable local theatres, to help raise local awareness and interest and then help us to build a local audience so we can bring 'No Pasarán!' to their town.
To talk about bring 'No Pasarán!' to your town, contact Roy Gaynor at nopasaranmusical@gmail.com
