LONDON, April 23 — The British touring company Headlong is collaborating with Century Films and BBC Arts for a series of 12 digital plays on the global Covid-19 pandemic, entitled Unprecedented: Theatre from a State of Isolation.
These digital plays were written by various playwrights, including James Graham, April De Angelis, Josh Azouz, Deborah Bruce, John Donnelly, Matilda Ibini, Charlene James, Jasmine Lee Jones, Duncan Macmillan, Anna Maloney, Nathaniel Martello-White, Chloë Moss, Tim Price and Prasanna Puwanarajah.
Unprecedented: Theatre from a State of Isolation will be rehearsed, performed and filmed using digital conference technology, as theater companies and cultural institutions across the UK closed doors indefinitely in response to the health crisis.
Directors Ned Bennett, Deborah Bruce, Tinuke Craig, Debbie Hannan, Brian Hill, Jeremy Herrin, Ola Ince, Nathaniel Martello-White, Blanche McIntyre, Caitlin McLeod and Holly Race Roughan will also participate in the digital series.
“These intimate new plays will give an insight into this unprecedented communal experience, meditating on how community, education, work, relationships, family, culture, climate and capitalism are changing on an hourly basis,” Headlong said in a statement, adding that Unprecedented will explore how the British theatre community is responding “creatively to a global crisis.”
We are thrilled to announce @bbcarts as our partner on UNPRECEDENTED: Real Time Theatre from a State of Isolation. The major digital project will be broadcast on the BBC as part of the BBC Art’s Culture in Quarantine Season and will be available to stream from May. pic.twitter.com/itBr5J4KNG
Advertisement— Headlong (@HeadlongTheatre) April 9, 2020
Details about the series of digital plays are still scarce to this date, although the Evening Standard reports that the troupe of participating actors will film themselves at home for the project.
Among them are Gemma Arterton, James Norton, Saida Ahmed, Kae Alexander, Esh Alladi, Patricia Allison, Julian Barratt, Paul Chahidi, Ines De Clercq, Risteárd Cooper, Arthur Darvill, Natalie Dew, Erin Doherty, Monica Dolan, Michael Elwyn, Denise Gough, Frances Grey, Kathryn Hunter, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Geraldine James and Lennie James.
Enyi Okoronkwo, Abraham Popoola, Boadicea Ricketts, Golda Rosheuvel, Sid Sagar, Rochenda Sandall and Gyuri Sarossy have also signed up to join the troupe of over 50 performers.
Available to stream from May, the 12 plays will be broadcast by the BBC as part of its Culture in Quarantine initiative.
Culture in Quarantine, described by BBC Arts director Jonty Claypole as “a virtual festival of the arts,” includes filmed recordings of theatre productions like Mike Bartlett’s Albion, Emma Rice’s Wise Children and Crystal Pite’s Revisor. — AFP-Relaxnews
