THE VERDICT JAMIE REES
© STEVE TANNER
Perfect lockdown escapism: Wise Children was one of the city’s earliest online offerings
Pressing play Looking back at Bristol’s online theatre offering during and post-lockdown, Jamie has one thing to say: when it comes to digital performance, nobody does it better
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et’s not beat around the bush. Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on the arts industry, perhaps greater than that of any other sector. An impact which will mean, unequivocally, that great theatres and theatre companies across the UK will close. When lockdown began, it was clear to me from the off that theatre had the fight of its life ahead. Stood outside Bristol
Hippodrome, 25 minutes away from the opening night of We Will Rock You back in March, the ushers were telling a huge crowd outside the Piano Bar that Boris had put the country into lockdown and the performance was cancelled. After a few seconds of confusion, it started. One after another, person after person, couple after couple, group after group… “How do I get my refund?” As the crowd turned towards the box office for said refund, the
“You’ll want to get back into a theatre even more than before, such is the high quality of the storytelling”
place we had picked our tickets up from just minutes earlier had the closed signs up and the shutters were firmly down. That box office team was not ready to deal with the fallout of this. Nobody was. But, in time, deal with it is exactly what the arts scene in Bristol has done. Indeed, Bristol is being hailed as a city that has perhaps managed the digitalisation of work by its many, wonderful performing arts companies better than just about any other city in the UK. I spoke to Tom Morris, artistic director of Bristol Old Vic, who told me that collaboration within the arts sector is the absolute key to the future of the industry. And so Bristol rose to the challenge with the cross-venue, citywide Bristol Arts Channel, and some serious, world-class digital theatre performances. As part of this new online initiative, Bristol Old Vic alone reached 335,000 viewers with five of their shows on screen. Their co-production with Bristolbased company Wise Children, an adaptation of Angela Carter’s novel of the same name, was easily one of the best things I saw during lockdown. Emma Rice’s production took its audience on a journey that was as all-encompassing as anything you’d experience in a theatre
setting, and I was watching it from my bed on a laptop. I have spent a lot of time at home watching streamed events on the Bristol Arts Channel. Much of it performed in a traditional theatre setting but broadcast on screen, and I have felt utterly satisfied each time. To the many nay-sayers who predict the downfall of live theatre as a result of the ‘Theatre at Home’ phenomenon, I say this: watch what Bristol Old Vic is doing in this area. You’ll want to get back into a theatre even more than before, such is the quality of the storytelling. The medium is different, yes, but the emotional journey is as powerful as it has ever been. What next? Well, I’m delighted that Wise Children and Bristol Old Vic will collaborate digitally once more this autumn with Romantics Anonymous later this month. It is described as ‘a delicious love story about breaking the mould and finding the courage to be happy’, and it runs online from 22-26 September. If you haven’t watched any streamed theatre in lockdown then do yourself a favour and break the mould with the Bristol Old Vic at Home this autumn; you’ll be happy that you did. Follow Jamie on Twitter @JamRees
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