‘In terms of the future, we want 503 to be resilient and it feels like our community of audience and artists believe in the necessity of an organisation such as ours. At the same time, there are no guarantees.’
‘We have to do something else indefinitely but keep the keys to the building & look after them’: Royal Lyceum artistic director & playwright David Greig in Edinburgh
The more you think about the invitation to the audience – as you say ‘come, be blocked off behind screens, we will spray you and present shows where actors stand apart, and we will try to encourage you not to sing along’, it’s like an anti-theatre.
‘I don’t want to bank on a saviour that might not come’: Hartshorn-Hook producers on their plans to reopen The Great Gatsby
‘It feels to me like, with The Great Gatsby, we had an opportunity, and resulting from that a duty, to use the show to work out some of the key things that might help the industry as a whole.’
‘It’s important to remain positive’: Brixton House’s Owen Calvert-Lyons on the future of fringe theatre post lockdown
Head of theatre and artist development at Brixton House (formally Ovalhouse*) Owen Calvert-Lyons talks about life during the lockdown, the post-Covid future for fringe theatre and streaming.
‘A fly on the wall with your favourite musical theatre performers’: Sunday in the Club with Oscar – H CLUB ★★★★ (Online review)
Part informal chat, part performance, this series of bi-weekly Sunday evening sessions is designed to support creatives in the entertainment industry during this strange and challenging time.
‘There are so many talented writers out there deserving of opportunity’: Composer Darren Clark on launching new UK Musicals platform
As his new digital sheet music store New UK Musicals launches, I talk with multi-award winning composer and lyricist Darren Clark about the site and his career.
‘We want to spread love, support & solidarity’: Tori Allen-Martin & Sarah Henley on launching Burn Bright
Emma Clarendon chatted to Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley about their new not-for-profit organisation, Burn Bright.
‘We don’t have an indefinite ability to keep going’: Park Theatre’s Jez Bond on the importance of the government’s furlough scheme
‘We’ve spent seven years building to this point and three years to open the thing, changed the area and culture of the place, and in the snap of the fingers, it’s a ghost town.’
“Moment of Grace is a play about a pandemic, and here we are in the midst of another one” Bren Gosling on his new drama
“We have grabbed this opportunity with both hands to make something original – not a film of a staged version of the play BUT a new hybrid production.” When COVID-19 ended hopes of a London season for new HIV drama Moment of Grace, writer Bren Gosling set about recreating it for the screen. Find out more in his fascinating interview…
‘It’s taken us so long to get our head around it’: rehearsing theatre over Zoom #2
In the second of our series of Notes From The Front Line, I talk to Grace Church of Guttersnipe Theatre about their process of continuing to develop their devised project in lockdown over Zoom.
‘In a year’s time, we would hope every theatre in the country is open & thriving’: SOLT chief executive Julian Bird on the way forward
‘The major question is that the majority of theatres cannot open with social distancing in place – it’s impossible, for economics, for the business case let alone the experience, it just doesn’t work.’
‘No one has any road map for this’: Rehearsing theatre over Zoom
In the first of a series of Notes From The Front Line interviews, I speak to director Max Lindsay about his experiences working on a show over Zoom in lockdown, to find out about how he’s been getting on and see what tips or advice he has to share.
‘This has been a moment of privilege & I think it will be the making of us’: Out of Joint on the challenges & opportunities for touring after lockdown
‘The real unknown is when people are going to want to go back into the theatres, regardless of government advice. We don’t know that. It will be a long road.’
10 plays that, in hindsight, feel strangely appropriate for lockdown during a pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic and lockdown has thrown a whole new light on certain plays, the ones about isolation, loneliness and surreal landscapes.
‘We wanted to create opportunities to keep emerging playwrights engaged & positive’: HighTide’s Suba Das on their Lighthouse Programme during lockdown
‘Over 150 artists and participants have engaged so far, and we’ve raised £17,000 in support for these projects from our friends, members and supporters.’
The return of the movie musical: 9 upcoming ones to look forward to
During the Golden Age of Hollywood, movie musicals were abundant and arguably the most popular genre. However, with the move towards pop culture in the 1960s, their popularity dwindled and gave way to a more rebellious style and tone.
‘There are going to be some pretty sad stories that will come out of this period’: Baby Reindeer writer/performer Richard Gadd on his Corona cancelled West End run
‘I actually managed to be quite philosophical about it in the end. There’s a sense that we’re all in it today, and there are much bigger things at play, like people dying and getting sick.’
‘Every single week gets more inventive!’ The Show Must Go Online actors discuss their lockdown hit
I posed some questions to The Show Must Go Online returnees Luke Barton, Kristin Atherton, David Johnson and Lucy Aarden about their experiences with this weekly lockdown hit.
‘The production uses the Zoom platform to great effect’: A SEPARATE PEACE – The Remote Read (Online review)
Since the COVID-19 lockdown was introduced back in March, many of us have turned to social networking apps like Skype and Zoom to stay in touch with loved ones. And now theatres and production companies are getting in on the act too, broadcasting shows…
‘It’s not as if we’ve got a vast catalogue of ready-to-release captures of our shows’: Artistic director Tom Morris on Bristol Old Vic in lockdown
“As soon as the theatres closed in the week of 16 March 2020, we thought ‘we need to remember we’re a theatre and think about what our role in relation to the city might be in this strange world’.”