In retrospect, we look naïve. The afternoon of Friday 13 March 2020, I was signing a deal with a regional theatre. That evening, I welcomed a packed press night audience to Jermyn Street Theatre, the West End studio which I run, to see
The Tempest, starring Michael Pennington as Prospero. By Saturday, as France slid into lockdown, I was rethinking my planned Parisian getaway, and our reviews for
The Tempest were coming out.
Sunday saw plans made and remade at breakneck speed, leading up to the now infamous moment on Monday, a couple of hours before curtain-up, when the prime minister advised the public not to go to theatres - invalidating insurance at a stroke. We performed to sixteen people that night. The next day, we crept back into an eerie West End to film and audio-record the production. That night, on an empty train home to Cambridge, I wondered when I would return to London. A fortnight? Six weeks? The answer was July. I also wondered how long it would be before an au
December 15, 2020 10:00 am
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Marie Claire caught up with five of the nation’s leading creatives to talk lockdown lessons, the future of theatre and banding together to #savethearts
The pandemic has had a devastating impact on those whose incomes relied on live performance – from theatre workers on precarious zero-hours contracts, to freelance musicians, playwrights, performers and many more whose jobs are behind the scenes keeping the industry alive. It’s also had a devastating impact on those of us who looked to the arts as a refuge in difficult times. Which is why Marie Claire launched #savethearts: a campaign bringing together some of the nation’s brightest creative voices to share their stories.