Theatres in Lockdown
Theatres In Lockdown is a filmic journey around 53 of London’s most iconic theatres during the nation’s second lockdown. I have attemped to create a cinematic collage of the exterior of the city’s theatres, some of which managed to open with socially distanced performances before finding they had to close again and some of which have not been able to reopen at all since March. I undertook a solo journey with my camera on public transport around London over the course of a couple of days, captured footage of the theatres I visited.
When the country closed down for the first time, I, like many other artists, struggled with the motivation to be creative and felt guilty for not being able to do so. During this second lockdown I finally felt able to pursue a passion project like this one. I wanted to use the short film to make a statement about the importance of taking care of ourselves and others by inviting the viewer to join me on my journey of ‘checking in’ on London’s theatres, an experience which aided my own mental health. I hope the absence of people in the shots of the theatres reminds the viewer to think about the staff and freelance artists who would usually be inhabiting those buildings and creating exciting and valuable work.