This isn’t just an interval
Theatres across the UK have been closed due to the C-19 lockdown. Performances require the assembly of groups of people and the rehearsal of theatre requires close proximity. All touring work has stopped dead. Drama school graduation shows have been cancelled. Some venue staff have been furloughed and some freelance creatives (the lifeblood of theatre) […]
You
In the middle of the Coronavirus story that has no end – this is a story which does have an end, and a beginning and a middle…No spoilers…Enjoy this story, this twenty odd minutes off worrying about the story we’re in – a story with no end…And take care.George Costigan introducing ‘You’ Listen to the […]
A Nonentity
In these physically restricted times the power of the imagination to transport us is more potent than ever. The significance of storytelling and the spoken word is intensified now. Susannah Harker introducing ‘A Nonentity’ Have a listen to the next – and penultimate – story in this phase of the Separate Doors shorts appeal by […]
Statement
My two favourite dictionary definitions of the word ‘story’ are – ‘A recital of events that have or are alleged to have happened/a series of events that are or might be related’ and – ‘A euphemism for a lie’. Currently I watch the news as a game, spot the ‘euphemism for a lie’… Bryony Lavery […]
Blonde
A great story can lift us right out of life to another place, a different world, a memory, a dream, a wish – and – in the end, we are all the stories we told and all the stories we lived. Jane Slavin introducing ‘Blonde’ Jane Slavin introduces ‘Blonde’ read by Jenny Funnell. Listen to […]
Out Here
Storytelling is how we make sense of our world and how we recognise our common humanity, that we’re not alone. Usually, in theatre, we bring people together into a shared space but at the moment we can’t do that – but we still have the stories – and we can still share them. Mike Kenny […]
The Lagoon
In a world where so little makes sense at the moment, stories can help us make some sort of sense, of something, for now. I love nothing more than hearing a story and going ‘oh that happened to me’ or ‘that happened to my mum.’ Stories help us through the hardest of times.’ Jonathan Harvey […]
All that’s left is the story
Coronavirus has shut the theatres. Playwrights, actors and audiences can’t risk breathing the same air. For today wild optimism, the concept of the pandemic being an ‘interval’ and a focus on digital revivals keeps many theatre makers sane but tomorrow has never been more unpredictable; values in the face of global economic collapse will adjust […]
THE MOST VULNERABLE: People with learning disabilities in residential care during the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Corona virus may force doctors into deciding who lives or dies.” New York Times “We are making difficult choices.” Italian Doctor. “Many loved ones will die.” Boris Johnson The plan this weekend had been to visit my sister Fiona, a 55-year-old woman with Downs Syndrome, at her residential care home in Kent. These […]
A Happy New Year and a hopeful new decade
Separate Doors aims to encourage the representation of the lives of people with learning disabilities in theatre for general audiences. Last year the Separate Doors project worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, six theatre companies, twenty theatre makers and actors, six playwrights and fifteen vocational actors with learning disabilities. […]