The Extreme Staycation

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown I think we Brits don't really like to be told what to do.  However, we get quite annoyed when everyone else doesn't do what they've been told to do either.  I mean, just try to jump a queue at a bus stop and you'll find British people very much adhere to this socially embedded rule. I've seen many examples of people in groups which I am sure are not family groups - people flouting the goverment guidelines.   Why do these people think they are unaffected by the rules?  And the number of times I've walked in the road because of a walking couple who just take up the entire footpath is a huge number.  Why do these people not think about their actions when I am capapable of thinking outside my space and keep my distance? This is the kind of thing that can lead to one getting angry, twitching curtains and considering calling 101 and reporting behaviour.  I've not gone down that route ...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown I love reading and always have.  I grew up surrounded by books and people who also loved to read. If my sister or I ever uttered the words "I'm bored" we were always directed to pick up a book. In recent years I haven't read anywhere near as much as I would have liked.  It's a matter of time.  Like most actors, I work full time at something else as well and then try to fit in classes for my professional skills around the "money" job.  This makes spare time a thing always slightly out of reach. When I do have time to read, say during a commute, I would try to catch up with my industry related publications, namely The Stage newspaper and Empire magazine.  I'm also often learning lines or preparing for something, so reading time became work time. This lockdown has afforded me some time and I'm using it to read where I can.  And I'm loving it! I will read almost anyt...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown In acting news, I was going to be in a show in July which has been postponed for obvious reasons.  We are now in the process of beginning rehearsals online. This is not something that I have previously contemplated as an option - I've taken part in scripts readings this way but not full on rehearsals. The unique nature of the play means that this is actually possible, it probably wouldn't work for many other pieces. I'm excited to get started and I'll update soon!

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown What are the small things that you miss? For me, it's a simple one.  I miss going to a coffee shop, getting a big, extra hot coffee and going for a walk. I have many coffee shop apps on my phone that have gone untouched for the past 35 days which is UNHEARD OF for me. I love walking.  I enjoy being outside, the exercise, the time to listen to a podcast, walk with a friend or call one for a catch up  or just to ruminate. I think it's the small rituals - getting your breakfast or lunch from somewhere each day, the reading time on the commute, being able to pop into a supermarket without having to put a couple of hours aside that in some ways are the hardest adjustments to make. Nice thing: The 1990s were pretty seminal in my development and Fearne Cotton is now broadcasting a Sounds of the 90s show weekly on the BBC.  Highly recommend to any fellow 90s sufferers! https://www.bbc.co.uk...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown There are some slightly more unusual things that have been made available online now.  Soon we won't ever need to leave our homes. Art The J Paul Getty Los Angeles, The Vatican,  MASP, São Paulo, Brazil and  many of London's galleries and museums are among some who are opening their virtual doors - links in this article:  https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/mar/23/10-of-the-worlds-best-virtual-museum-and-art-gallery-tours Zoos and farms Our own Chester Zoo are doing Virtual Zoo Days:  https://www.chesterzoo.org/virtual-zoo/ San Diego, California has live cam on a range of animals:  https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/live-cams And this place is a sanctuary for rescued farms animals in upstate New York which is lovely:  https://explore.org/livecams/farm-sanctuary/wisconsin-pasture-farm-sanctuary

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Like many people, we have a digital Freeview box - it can record two programmes at once and we can watch a third.   I remember when these first came into existence and we waved goodbye to the worn out workhorse VHS's. We no longer needed to understand how to programme a video recorder (which were all different from one another and somewhat tempermental).  Now all one had to do was browse the digital tv guide and press one button, usually red, and bingo, RECORD.  They were even smart enough to series link the recordings so you didn't have to remember to do it each week. Genius. Except if you're like me and don't want to miss out on any TV, you end up with a very full box, very fast. Ours has been coasting at 9% for sometime.  Yes that means that it has already been filled to 81% with recorded stuff. It is occassionally quite amusing "Oh look, we must have recorded this in December - C...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown I am low-key obsessed with the BBC news theme music. I think it's epic. I also find it comforting - if I'm abroad and hear that little tune, it makes me feel at home. That might sound odd, but I know I'm not alone. A couple of brilliant examples of other people who enjoy it are Bill Bailey  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLJsGphU1VI This girl...  https://twitter.com/sophiasgaler/status/1242419440899231750?s=20 And my current favourite...  ENJOY! https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=680451256041802

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Who watched Quiz? I thought it was great.  I saw the play in the West End a few years ago.  They gave every audience member a keypad (a la Fastest Finger First) and we were asked to vote half way through if we thought they were guilty or not and then again at the end. At the halfway point, it was approx 80% guilty.  By the end it was about 50%. Watching the TV show, I am still left wondering, as I think lots of other viewers were too, whether there had been a gross miscarriage of justice. 

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown I wonder how we are all going to be at the end of lockdown. We might emerge long haired, scraggily nailed, with hair in places that some people pay other people to regularly remove. We may emerge with a new found skill of a barber. We might emerge slightly heavier and with more of a liking for alcohol. We might emerge fitter than before - that government sanctioned exercise being taken as a mandate rather than a limit on going outside. Maybe we will emerge with better friendships having actually spoken to people more reguarly. Maybe our general knowledge will have improved due to the number of pub quizzes taking place. Whatever happens, I think we may be fundamentally changed by this - as individuals and as a country - it's not something we are likely to forget. This is brilliant - A Ski Movie by Philipp Klein https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HrIVWziJ0Y

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown People are being really quite creative during lockdown.  I've just been handed a new challenge  - to re-create a famous art work such as the below which the Getty museum have been doing: https://fstoppers.com/contests/getty-museum-photo-challenge-can-you-recreate-masterpiece-during-lockdown-473398 Challenge accepted - I will update when I have something! I think that this is such a great idea - a fun and creative thing to do that costs nothing, just a bit of imagination and the ability to see household items in a new light!

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Easter Sunday 🥚 Thanks to Andrew Lloyd Webber's generosity, today I watched Jesus Christ Superstar  - the 2012 arena tour.  I was really excited to see this as I didn't get to at the time and I've never seen the musical - ever! And what a cast - a Spice Girl (Mel C) a radio legend (Chris Moyles who was HUGE at the time) and Tim Minchin as Judas who blew me away.  I also loved  Alexander Hanson as Pontius Pilate It definitely felt like a good choice for Easter Sunday! I'm sure they made some updates to it, but considering this musical is now 50 years old, it felt fresh and modern in it's telling of a story from 2000 years ago.  It didn't have good reviews at the time, but I enjoyed it - maybe weirdly it works better on screen?

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Heard some lovely stories about how animal shelters have been emptied - animal adoptions have skyrocketed since the lockdown began. This is such wonderful news - just remember, a pet is for life, not just for lockdown. This is my rescue cat and she's the best - adopting her was one of the best decisions ever: London https://www.timeout.com/london/news/battersea-dogs-cats-home-sees-a-surge-in-adoptions-032720 New York https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/animal-shelter-coronavirus-dogs-cats-adopted-foster-empty-riverside-county-animal-services-a9460876.html Colorado https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-pandemic-animal-shelters-clear-out-dog-cats-rescue-colorado-a9432076.html

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Good Friday The weather has been absolutely beautiful recently.  I find that in the UK, the Easter weekend is either gorgeous like this or flipping cold and miserable - one extreme or the other! However, the good weather has not helped encourage people to stay inside and there have been ridiculous reports of the police having to break up hundreds of house parties.   I truly don't get it - literally thousands of people have died and are unwell - if there has ever been a time to be unselfish and think about our personal impact on society and the world, it's now. The best analogy I've heard is this (it's a little crude, apologies): Imagine the world is a swimming pool.  Someone pees in the pool.  Do you still want to risk getting in the pool? On a more positive note, here is a BAFTA winning filmmaker doing his bit: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/apr/08/bafta-winning-film-ma...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Today is usually the first part of a busy Easter time for me.  I sing with my church choir and so normally spend many hours in my church over the next three days. I think overall, I have adjusted quickly and well to lockdown.  In many ways, it's not much different to normal for me - I often work from home (applying for work, audition prep, writing) and of late, I haven't had an office based job so my "work" has taken me all over the place. So Easter is the first big annual event that is markedly different for me. Churches and other places of worship provide community, continuity and a safe and sacred space and I imagine I am not the only person to be missing this. However, thanks to the power of the internet masses are being streamed online from all over the world.  I know from other friends and family that synagogues and temples are doing similar. This is a lovely story of a very dedicated...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown One of the freebies available at the moment is from the National Theatre.  This is a theatre I visit regularly and performing there is top of actor dream list. Watching theatre on screen is always a bit odd and as I settled down to watch the fantastic "One Man Two Guvnors" it did take a little while to adjust.  Stage and screen are very different mediums and nothing shows this as starkly as watching a recording of a play. However, all the actors in this production have pretty notable screen careers as well, so it's not like they can't do both - we know they can and after a short time, I stopped "being aware" that I was watching a play. I saw the show when it transferred to the West End with Rufus Hound taking over from James Cordon in the lead role.  I loved this production and watching the filmed version last night still elicited many, many laugh out loud moments, as it is, ...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown I've got long hair and have had for all my adult life. As it's curly, I can get away with quite a lot with it, including getting it cut about twice a year... I know, terrible.  I was very much due a cut when "all this" happened so I took matters literally into my own hands and chopped off a couple of inches.  I don't think I've done the best job, but again, as it's curly, my hair hides a multitude of sins/poor cutting. When I do eventually get to see my hairdresser again, I'm hoping he'll forgive whatever it is I've done. In other hair news, many of my male friends and family's hair is getting comically longer and shaggier as the weekly video calls go on.  I wonder how many hair clippers Amazon has sold recently... Let's have some music -  Hair Broadway Cast performing "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" [LIVE @ The Late Show]   ht...