Maya Bowles

This past week saw the release of Dear Tomorrow – Hope From Home, an exciting collaboration by Actors Touring Company and Northern Stage. The virtual project consisted of six video-letters of hope and optimism, released each day from 22 February to 27 February, and written by six different writers, performed to six different actors.

This week, Storyglass released the first three episodes of their new podcast, What I Love, hosted by former artistic director of the Royal Court, Ian Rickson. In each episode, Rickson speaks with a different artist about three of their cultural treasures – a film, a poem, and a song. The interviews were recorded over the summer, taking place in empty theatres, against the poignant backdrop of their closure due to the coronavirus. Rickson adapts the Desert Island Discs premise, embodying a more therapeutic, creative and almost spiritual version of Kirsty Young, as he strives to see the world through his guest’s eyes.

It was gutting to hear that the Young Vic had to cancel their plans for a gigantic street party to celebrate their 50th birthday in September. Like many of us who have celebrated birthdays during the pandemic, the theatre was forced to opt instead for a smaller, more socially distanced affair. Nevertheless, the work they produced was a compelling reminder of why the Young Vic is such an important part of the theatre industry.

In 2015 Tonic Theatre launched the Platform project, in which they commissioned plays that put young women and their stories at the heart of the action, with mainly or entirely female casts. The two latest additions to the Platform series are 'Bright. Young. Things.' by Georgia Christou and 'Heavy Weather' by Lizzie Nunnery. We spoke to Georgia and Lizzie about what it was like to be part of the Platform project, and why they feel the project is so important.

Emma Ricea??s acclaimed Romantics Anonymous was supposed to be embarking on a US tour in March, which was cancelled due to the pandemic. Instead, Wise Children have created a a??digital toura??, in which the musical is performed live at the Bristol Old Vic from 22-26 September and streamed both internationally and across the UK, with each night presented in partnership with a different group of theatres. Finally, on 27 September the show will be performed to a socially distanced audience at the Bristol Old Vic.

After training at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Stage Management and Technical Theatre, Suffolk went on to work at a number of different theatres, before becoming the Technical Director at the National Theatre, and eventually moving on to focus on his work with the National Theatre Smart Caption Glasses. The glasses provide a revolutionary closed-captioning service for audience members with hearing loss, as the dialogue in performances is displayed on the lenses of the glasses. I spoke to Jonathan over the phone on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, and we talked about how his work has made theatre more accessible to D/deaf audience members and how the project has been halted by the pandemic.

As the arts sector slowly begins to get back on its feet, a vibrant addition in Brighton has been White Wall Cinema's 'Socially Distanced Summer Screen', an outdoor and indoor pop-up cinema running until 6 September.

This week has seen the launch of ITV’s new series, Unsaid Stories. Comprised of short 15-minute films that respond to the Black Lives Matter movement, the project was made in July under Covid-19 filming restrictions. The films are part of ITV’s own efforts to enhance diversity and representation in their work, after the Black Lives Matter movement has exposed the urgent need for organisations and individuals to address systemic racism. The launch of their ‘Diversity Acceleration Plan’ on 9th July follows the lead of many other media outlets and arts organisations.

First performed at the Kiln Theatre in 2019, and now available to stream digitally on the Tamasha Theatre Company YouTube channel, Approaching Empty is a play about friendship, community and the immigrant experience in Britain. It's set in a minicab office in the North of England, in the wake of Margaret Thatchera??s death.