Ghost Shows: Episode 4 – Restoration

2021 had felt like a beacon of hope, and the new year promised the restart we were all waiting for. But as the year ticked over, shows programmed for the new year, for Spring for Summer even well into the future that started to feel uncertain, then impossible, and inevitably, they were cancelled too.

According to current government guidelines, supposedly, theatres will be able to reopen in a few weeks time. But the closer we get to reopening, how likely is it that we will get what our theatrical ancestors were longing for: Restoration. 

Transcription by Kelsie Acton.

Ghost Shows: Episode 3 – Hope

In the attempt to resurrect live theatre while navigating constantly shifting terrain, how far can hope get you? How do you make theatre when the world keeps changing, when time keeps collapsing, when the earth beneath your feet keeps sinking into bog? And how do you communicate with a government who seems to be operating on a different frequency somewhere in a separate universe?

In order of appearance: Kwame Kwei-Armah (Director), Adele Thomas (Director, Presenter), Sunita Hinduja (Stage Manager), Jessica Hung Han Yun (Lighting Designer), Roy Williams (Writer), Clint Dyer (Director)

Produced by Curtain Call, Presented by Adele Thomas, Written by Adele Thomas and Freddie Crossley, Sound engineered by John Schwab, Music by Freddie Crossley

Support for this episode and original concept for the Freelancers Make podcast from Sally Beck Wippman

Special thanks for this episode goes out to Athena Stevens and Alistair Cope

Transcription by Kelsie Acton.

Ghost Shows: Episode 2 – Lockdown

Ghost Shows follows the shows that were conceived, programmed and even rehearsed in 2020 but were closed down before they’d even opened.

This is not a historical document – this is an emotional record of the first few months of lockdown. This is our untold story.

If you haven’t listened to the first episode, we’d really encourage you to do so. In Episode 1, we chronicled the lead up to the mass closures of theatres in March last year, and some of the individual shows that never made it to the stage. In this episode, we look at what happened next: the emotional and creative chasm that comes from finding yourself adrift in a wilderness.

Cast (in order of appearance): Lauren Grace – Actor Adele Thomas – Director (Narrator) Sharon D Clarke – Actor Maria Aberg – Director Ruby May Martinwood – Actor Atri Banerjee – Director Emma Baggott – Director Jessica Hung Han Yun – Lighting Designer Sunita Hinduja – Company Stage Manager Rona Munro – Writer Gemma Smith – Company Stage Manager Rona Munro – Writer

Ghost Shows: Episode 1 – March 16, 2020

A year on from theatres closing their doors, ‘Ghost Shows’ asks what happened to the shows that were created, rehearsed and tech’ed but never lived in front of audiences?

Presented by freelance opera director, Adele Thomas, the series features interviews with freelance performers, stage technicians, creatives and production staff from a variety of productions across the UK. From ‘the announcement’, through the confusion of government updates, in and out of lockdown, ‘Ghost Shows’ explores the unheard voices and impact of the pandemic on the day to day jobs and livelihoods of the freelance workforce.

Cast (in order of appearance): Sunita Hinduja – Company Stage Manager Adele Thomas – Director (Narrator) Maria Aberg – Director Lauren Grace – Actor Rona Munro – Writer Jessica Hung Han Yun – Lighting Designer Ruby May Martinwood – Actor Atri Banerjee – Director Emma Baggott – Director Gemma Smith – Company Stage Manager

Freelancers Make: A Theatre Podcast Ep 3 -Sally Beck Wippman

Sally Beck Wippman, an American Director, had just moved back to the UK a few months before the pandemic sent the country into lockdown.

Far from family, and without an established place in the UK theatre community, she found solace in Freelancers Make Theatre Work – and the Migrants in Theatre movement.

In this episode, Sally takes us into an empty Tobacco Factory Theatres in Bristol, England to reminisce on past productions and dreaming of future ones… She is joined by actor Joe Tweedale.

Episode Narrated by Leo Wan “Getting Better Every Day” arranged by Tom Johnson Episode Music Composed by Freddie Crossley Edited by John Schwab

Freelancers Make: A Theatre Podcast Ep 2 -Prema Mehta

In this episode, Lighting Designer Prema Mehta returns to Storyhouse during the pandemic to reflect on previous experiences there, and also to show what a theatre freelancer feels like when they are no longer able to go into work with theatres shut.

Prema has designed the lighting for over 200 productions, and works across the UK. Recent work includes productions at The Royal Court, Sheffield Theatres, Shakespeare’s Globe, Storyhouse, and The Young Vic. She has also designed for Madame Tussauds, The O2 Arena and Westminster Hall.

She founded Stage Sight to widen the theatre workforce in offstage roles, and encourage those who are under represented backstage, so that our industry more accurately reflects our society.

Freelancers Make: A Theatre Podcast Ep 1 – Paule Constable

Paule is an Olivier and Tony award-winning freelance lighting designer. She is an associate director of the National Theatre and of Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures.

She has worked on shows like Ocean at the End of the Lane, Angels in America, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Les Mis, Warhorse and Follies.

Her designs have transported audiences and characters to heaven, deep into the ocean, through the inner workings of a child’s mind, through wars, and into dreams.

She is a passionate believer in collaboration – both onstage and off.