Amanda Hunt speaks with singer and political activist Charlotte Church about growing up a child star, protesting, and her new play The Last Mermaid.
In February 2016, Charlotte Church turned 30. But when hitting any birthday milestone, there is always a slight period of self-reflection. Having being catapulted into stardom at such a young age, did she feel she’d missed out on having a regular childhood?
“Not really because the way I ended up working was that I could go back to school, and I also had two tutors when I was on the road. I got to travel the world, meet incredible people and perform with orchestras from all over the world. It was hard and intense at times but looking back, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
A problem that’s often seen in a lot of child stars is that fame, fortune and lack of normality can lead to a path of self-destructive behaviour. However, despite what has been printed over the years, Charlotte Church has remained grounded and has developed a clear set of principles. Nowhere is this more evident than in the political arena. For the majority, discussions of politics remain indoors, among friends or colleagues. So what prompted Charlotte to speak out?
“When the Tories got into power, I went to a demonstration in Cardiff by the Aneurin Bevan statue, then it all went from there. It was important at that time as I could see so many people around me suffering. You can see people’s benefits getting slashed or cut completely and how on earth are you expecting people to live? It’s just rampant capitalism gone nuts. Also one of the most important things that an artist can do is to reflect the times that they live in – to try and understand what is happening to the world. “
During the lead-up to May 2016’s elections, the impression was that Charlotte would be voting Labour. However, on the day she tweeted “@Plaid_Cymru all the way for me today!!!” This caused a little bit of controversy but she pointed out, “I have never said that I supported Labour but I do like Jeremy Corbyn. I like his politics. Obviously the Welsh elections are very different to the national elections. I never said that I was going to be supporting Welsh Labour. They are a completely different party; they have a completely different manifesto and a different leader. “
Moving on from bad press and politics, Charlotte has become involved in Cardiff’s Festival Of Voice, the first major UK celebration of the voice in all its forms. Charlotte will be bringing her new production The Last Mermaid to the stage.
“I met Graeme Farrow, the artistic director of the Wales Millennium Centre, who was talking to me about his vision for the WMC and Cardiff as an artistic hub. He was talking about the Festival Of Voice and I was thinking, oh my God, this sounds like a phenomenal thing to happen to Cardiff – and Wales in general because often we are left behind.
“Graeme asked if I wanted to be a part of it and I had a little think with my partner Jonathan Powell, who’s a writer. We were thinking about The Little Mermaid and how she was made voiceless at a certain point, as well as the idea of being voiceless in this modern world, even though we have more ways to communicate than we ever have had before. The Last Mermaid has got ecological themes running through it about the ocean and pollution, but we’re not banging people over the head with an eco-message at all. It’s not really a musical as such; it is more like a film mix. Hopefully we’ve created something really beautiful and something that will stay with you for a long time.”
The Last Mermaid, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Sat 4-Sun 12 June. Tickets: £20/£18 on Sat 4. Info: 844 8700887 / www.wmc.org.uk