Who would have thought that one year on from what would have been our post-production week of Five Kinds of Silence by Shelagh Stephenson we still would have not performed the play, or even have a date in mind of when we can open again?
I have been really enjoying the new series of Talking Heads on the BBC. The first series was aired in 1988 with Alan Bennett in A Chip in the Sugar, Patricia Routledge in A Lady of Letters, Maggie Smith in Bed Among the Lentils, Stephanie Cole in Soldiering On, Julie Walters in Her Big Chance and the wonderful Thora Hird in A Cream Cracker under the Settee. I remember watching these and being totally enthralled. In 1998 the second series was aired with some of the same cast playing different roles Patricia Routledge in Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet, Eileen Atkins in The Hand of God, David Haig in Playing Sandwiches, Julie Walters in The Outside Dog, Penelope Wilton in Nights in the Gardens of Spain and Thora Hird in Waiting for the Telegram. When they were first published I remember appearing in and directing the odd one or two here and there. I even have a dusty old copy of the scripts on my bookshelf but haven’t revisited them in a good few years.
Back in early February, just a few weeks before the world turned upside down, the lovely Simone Stewart interviewed me for her podcast ‘How to Adult’. She says she started this podcast because at, aged 25: “I am trying to dig my way out of a quarter-life crisis. I've realised that burying my head in the sand (no matter how deep I go) doesn't actually help, but talking to people about their experiences, really does! Here, on How to Adult, I’ll be talking to different people about their quarter-life journey's and hearing some incredible stories along the way. I'm hoping that we can learn, laugh and get through this together! I mean, does anyone really know how to adult?”
It’s hardly surprising that in these difficult times when people are trying all sorts to keep themselves entertained, we theatrical types are turning to the theatre to help us. In fact, we have found that engaging in play readings over video call is so helpful, so much fun and such a nice way to spend time together while apart that we wanted to recommend it to our followers as a great lockdown activity.
Here are the things we think are so good about it:
Not only is play reading great fun, because you really have to concentrate on it, it means you can’t think about anything else so it provides a great escape from everything that’s going on. Our gang have had a great time reading comedies to make them laugh but also very absorbing serious plays that give them something different to think about.
