The Extreme Staycation

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown And, improvise!  Words that many actors dread to hear. A couple of years ago I decided to do some training in improvisation.  We studied it at drama school, but that was quite a while ago and I decided I needed and wanted to hone my craft. I had done a couple of sessions at  The Actors Centre  with Paul Foxcroft, so I sought him out and ended up studying three levels of improvisation with him, Ben Fogg and Richard Soames at Monkey Toast Improvisation.  And I loved it! My initial reason for signing up was to get more confident in this discipline and because it frequently arose during castings, commercials in particular, but I'd had to improvise in auditions for all kinds of things including film and theatre.  I was slightly surprised at how much I enjoyed it - the scope for creativity and the infinite possibilities the empty stage, a small suggestion and the collective brain...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Theatre is probably going to be one of the last type of venue to open and is going to struggle.  The Nuffield in Southampton has already gone into administration. 50 members of the House of Lords have signed a letter urging the government to provide financial support to the performing arts industry.  The letter is below. What I find incredibly sad about this, is that there was virtually no reporting of this.  At all.  Google it, you won’t find much. I know that at a time of economic uncertainty it will be low down the list of priorities of things and people who need money.  So, let me just ask you a question.  During lockdown, have you watched tv?  A film?  Read a book?  Listened to music?  The artists which brought you that work need to be paid and need support now and for the future so that the very entertainment that has helped keep us all sane and t...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Creativity If you're feeling creative right now, great!  Be creative! If you are coping brilliantly working from home, that's amazing and I'm genuinely pleased for you. If you're feeling like you'd prefer to hole up with a bottle of wine and Netflix and that the outside world can do one - that's also fine. I have to keep reminding myself of this because of the seemingly constant pressures to be doing something.  I'm my own worst critic at the best of times and now is no different. We all have our good days and bad days, these just seem to be amplified at the moment because our surroundings are more monotonous and less inspiring. Here are some people who have been fantastically creative - I imagine they did wonder if they had slightly lost the plot at some stage though! https://www.boredpanda.com/quarantine-gerbil-art-gallery/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_c...

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!