From Within is a new, diverse and enchanted musical, with Book & Lyrics by Claire Tilley and Music by Ricardo Fernandes.
One world, divided. A love spell, misfired.
It all began in 2017, when Claire scribbled an idea on a post-it note while at work and put it in her back pocket: a musical that would celebrate diversity and be cast based on the talent of the actors, not their appearance – and an original story inspired by Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
In fact, one unique thing about "From Within" is the character of Kip, who can't speak. A character in a musical who doesn't speak or sing? Absolutely! Why not? Kip has a learning disability and uses Makaton sign language to communicate. As well as striving for more diversity, we also want to make theatre more inclusive and accessible - both for actors and audience members. Not only does Kip use Makaton, the whole cast will sign the finale (reprise) after the bows. We will push for regular signed and relaxed performances, plus large print and braille programmes, etc. Theatre is for everyone, both on and off-stage!
Once she had written the book & lyrics, Claire then had the difficult task of finding a writing partner who could compose the music. And it wasn’t easy…However, through a series of fortunate events, Claire was eventually connected with Ricardo and the "From Within" creative dream team was complete. But soon after, they had another obstacle to face: Lockdown! And so, they worked on their musical via video chats. Which wasn’t ideal, but they made it work.
Claire and Ricardo are firm believers that the most important elements of a musical are a great story that will entice the audience and great characters they can relate to, alongside a wonderful score that brings it all together – and this is what they have with their new, enchanted (not to mention comical) musical.
"Our world is now a better place since we opened our eyes to see, that everything in life comes from within - and from within I can be me!"