So, in the post madmen vacuum I have landed upon Gareth, thinking woman's crumpet, to elevate my scarce tv-watching minutes. And his Glyndebourne program does not disappoint.
He is surely doing an essential job with joy and flair and determination. He inspires people to find a voice, and whilst his guise appears to be from Royal College of Music silver spoon elite he is drawing out the latent but universal instinct to sing from a culture who have lost it. Of course this glittering intro precedes my critical take on the second episode of the Glyndebourne Knight Crew project. The bulk of the crew has been selected to hone evident talents but from an immediate reading of the program it seems that the program exists to focus in on marginalised youngsters and follow what is hoped to be a transformational exercise. This is how some of the suspense is created for the viewer.
Hence Kia, Stefan and Korrel. The less obviously talented crew members make it through on account of their looks and their expected stage presence therefore Stefan, the 18 year old cadet who was adopted as a toddler, Kia, who is having a hard time settling into a new school and Korrel, trawled from a young offenders centre. Kia was singled out by Gareth as she had fallen out of participation, and whispered the notes she was asked to sing in a one-to-one session. It was cringe-making watching as we feel for Kia, racked by shyness yet glowing when she loses her reserve. I could not believe there would be a turn-around. Stefan was singled out by Gareth he was apparently tone-deaf. Yet tone-deaf is not a word you would hear on a Gareth Malone program and I wonder whether it should ever have been coined. Stefan when asked to sing a note repeatedly repeatedly repeatedly sang a different one. I am familiar with this from the example of my brother as a young teen. I was convinced as I was when watching Stefan that this is where his career in singing would end. But marvellously and magically Gareth persisted and the next time we see Stefan he can not only sing his part but sustain it whilst Gareth sings a semi-tone above! I was totally bowled over. Clearly tone-deafness does not exist or if it is present is not absolute. The euphoria you feel as a viewer is amazing. The confidence it gives the performers is profound. It's a total success already, against the odds, set up by the program construction.
But this is where I come to a perceived fault. Korrel was really the one who would only succeed against the odds. Young offender is used as a term for his status but no one delves into why he was in prison aged 14 and what mark this left on him. Arrestingly handsome he plays truant, talks on the phone over Gareth's presentations and his gangly teenager body language spells a lack of trust. Gareth follows him in his spare time for a pep talk at the young offenders institution to talk him into participating fully. His call to arms is the challenge that "this will be the best thing you have done in your life" Korrel is practically fighting back the tears, his hormones awry and his rebellious nature foxed into silence. But will it really? what if Korrel already saved a 3 year old sister from drowning? or what if he gets up earlier than his mother in the morning to make her a cup of tea? The arrogance of suggesting that performing in the Knight Crew will beat anything that Korrel has ever experienced was too much for me. He dropped out soon after that, but not until he had a rare to-camera talk where he revealed that these people at Glyndebourne who are running this thing would never survive in prison, that they do not know what it is like. And this has stayed with me. Firstly I feel the awkwardness of putting him on the spot in a case-study rough diamond but secondly because what he seems to be saying is that these Glyndebourne people cannot earn his respect because they would not survive what he has. Nobody pointed out to him that they would not have found themselves in prison in the first place, but then Korrel was a child when this happened, in all likelihood he was a victim of his circumstance. But his circumstances remain a question that this program does not have the time to delve into, it just places upon him the high expectation of being able to comply as the rest of the cast are being asked to. The pity of it is that at such a young age Korrel is using his prison experiences as a benchmark to judge the behaviour of every figure of authority he meets. On reflection this is understandable but I feel that this has to be challenged. Now he has left the cast has he been thoroughly dropped?
And what of the rest of the cast? after their performances what a come-down period there could be! Once the cameras have left their lives and they return to their life what will they do with their energy? It's safe to say that this exercise will be exercising areas of their mind and body that go beyond their experience so far, will they return to school and be able to channel the energy successfully? Whilst this experience shoots them to fame and acclaim has anybody pointed out that the life of an actor or musician is not as financially secure as they may think? This last comment is a sadly jaded view from me and I would almost delete it yet I think it is relevant to consider when making choices of what to study and why.
Conclusion: Gareth is doing a great job. Specialist mentoring is needed for specialist cases.
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