Here I am in front of the boarded-up Apollo Victoria Theatre. Like countless others, it’s wearing the livery of its COVID-closure: the stillness, the suspension, like a breath held, waiting for audiences to return.
“The Show Must Go On!” is the campaign logo of The Theatre Support Fund+, set up in the wake of the March 2020 theatre closures to support Acting for Others, the Fleabag Support Fund and the NHS COVID-19 Urgent Appeal. You can get more information about the campaign here.
It may be a very long standby, but it’s coming; we just need to be patient.
News of the existential crisis facing theatre and the arts general in the UK has crossed The Channel.
Here, good friend Anthony Bellanger @a_bellanger uses the case of The Globe @The_Globe to paint a stark portrait of the challenges we face. Thoroughly recommended.
.@a_bellanger a consacré sa chronique d’aujourd’hui à un résumé excellent & émouvant du problème existentiel auquel @The_Globe théâtre et les arts en général au Royaume-Uni font face… Bravo! À recommander vivement. https://t.co/xQ0ExHv2LO
— Andrew Price (@AndrewPrice_AP) May 21, 2020
At the start of 2018 I was delighted to re-join Northern Broadsides, playing Gradgrind in Deborah McAndrew’s slick and dynamic adaptation of Dickens’ Hard Times. The author’s commentary in the novel was pared down to a minimum, leaving the narrative fully exposed, with all if its intrigue, heartbreak and comedy. I was on the road with an exceptional team of performers, under the musical direction of Bex Hughes and all moulded into vibrant coherence by Conrad Nelson.