Alt-country singer-songwriter Neko Case has written the songs and lyrics for Thelma & Louise, a new stage musical at London's Young Vic theatre, adapted from Ridley Scott's 1991 film. In an interview with Time Out, Case said that society's handling of sexual violence has deteriorated significantly since the film's release, describing the current cultural climate as 'much, much worse.'
A 30-Year Musical Career Takes a New Turn
Case, a fixture in North American music for three decades, is known for her noirish solo records and her work with Canadian power-pop group the New Pornographers. The musical marks her most unexpected project to date. The production is written and driven by Callie Khouri, the film's original screenwriter, who later found success with the TV series Nashville.
Reflecting on the film's 1991 release, Case recalled seeing it around age 20. 'It really meant a lot to me,' she said. 'One of the things that made it such a huge deal was the mixed reactions to it, as though there was some sort of witch hunt for men going on when it wasn't about hating men at all. So it was polarising, which is so odd because it was about sexual assault.'
Dark Justice and Gender Double Standards
Case noted that revenge narratives have long been a staple of cinema, but only when men are the protagonists. 'Dark justice is like a whole movie genre: every Clint Eastwood movie, every Billy Jack movie, every Chuck Norris movie,' she said. '[The film] came off the tail end of so much of that, but those films were men on men all the time: women weren't allowed to defend themselves, and a woman saving another woman was out of the question.'
The singer's involvement came through a personal connection. 'I had worked with Callie's husband a bunch, T Bone Burnett, and so I had become friends with Callie and she just called me up one day,' Case explained. She was upfront about her lack of formal training: 'I made sure that I was very, very, very clear: I don't know how to read music, I've never been trained in any way, like, are you sure you want me? And they said: yes, your outsiderness will give us a different flavour.'
Collaboration and the Changing American Road
Case described the musical as 'intensely collaborative,' contrasting it with her solo work. 'Making my own records is kind of like I put on the plow, I'm like digging up the field by myself,' she said. 'And then here it's like you get into a limousine that floats above the ground and you make the decisions in there.'
The production remains set in the early '90s, a decision that reflects how much travel has changed. 'It was very different to travel around the United States at that time. I toured around then and you had to go to phone booths to do everything,' Case recalled. While the romance of the American road persists, she acknowledged that 'the towns are unique' less and less, with 'big box stores, everything's a chain.'
Addressing the Ending and Modern Relevance
Case declined to reveal how the musical handles the film's iconic final scene, saying, 'I can't really speak of it because I would give away what happens.' She added that the show 'goes deeper into things in the past than they do in the movie.'
On whether the film would be even more divisive today, Case pointed to mainstream shows like Game of Thrones as evidence of changing norms. 'I think the culture around our awareness of and the way we deal with sexual violence has gotten much worse. Much, much worse,' she said.
Case, who has been living in Brixton while working on the show, praised the local food scene. 'I live in a very rural place at home, where we don't really have any food variety or anything, so it's so much fun for my partner and I to just kind of say
