Good Morning, Midnight

Who was Jean Rhys?

Born in 1890 She was a modernist writer, championed in early in her career by Ford Maddox Ford. Living a precarious existence her life frequently mirrored her art. She is most famous today for writing the story of the 'mad woman in the attic' in 'Wide Sargasso Sea' her prequel to Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre.' However, by the time this was published on 1966 she was already in her 70's. Her career had suffered a long hiatus. After the publication of Good Morning, Midnight in 1939 she disappeared from view and was presumed dead. The novel was poorly received. While male authors such as George Orwell were lauded for their depictions of life on the margins, Rhys's vision was far too harsh to be accepted from a woman at the time. Reviews struggled to see past the dark themes to see it for the beautifully crafted work it was.

Good Morning, Midnight the novel

The title is taken from a poem by Emily Dickinson. Rhys tells a non linear story of her protagonist 'Sasha Jansen.' Sasha is no longer young and lives an emotionally and financially marginal life between Paris and London.Told in the first person she recalls a loveless relationship, the death of her child shortly after birth, and journey through bohemian Paris just before the Second World War. There is money from work she hates, and from old lovers via their lawyers. The novel, filled with gallows humour, sees her running out of options and life closes in. At the end the significance of the man on the landing in the dressing gown becomes shatteringly clear.

The music and words

1) Sasha's Overture - The musical themes of the performance are shared as Sasha introduces the poem Good Morning, Midnight
2) Fat Papillon (Demimonde) - Brooding repetition tells the story of a relationship where despite the words, love has gone.
3) On Our Backs - Half drunk lunchtime bravado and defiance.
4) Woman and a Warrior Waiting - A song imagining how the Artist Paula Rego would paint Sasha Jansen as life closes in around her.
5) The Sound of Revolution- A collision of Paul Simon's Sound of Silence and Spaceman 3's Revolution, mourning Sasha as she slips into the darkness, and a cry of rage against the society who silenced the voice of Jean Rhys for so long.