How are you doing? What’s your current confinement situation, who’s on your quaranteam?

        I’m very lucky to have a balcony and to be able to easily walk to food shops. This virus is challenging for everyone, but I’m very aware that some people’s challenge is greater than others, and I’m in a very fortunate position. I got married in August last year and as we are both actors unfortunately/fortunately work has meant that we have been away a fair amount, and haven’t been able to see all that much of each other. So it has been lovely to spend some time together – a little silver lining in a very dark time. 

Are you able to work, are you inspired by what we are going through or do you find it challenging?

It’s a huge unexpected change, but I’m trying to look at it as an opportunity to shake things up and try new things. Explore new ways of working. I’ve learnt so much from watching how other actors around me have adapted and are creating some great pieces of work. At Lamda we worked on lots of different projects in different styles and on different scales. One term we were told to pick a picture of a painting and go and create a piece of work that could be performed anywhere, with minimal props/set, which we had sourced ourselves. It really taught us to trust our creativity, and rely on our creative problem solving first when telling a story. And some really beautiful pieces of theatre were created. As soon as we went into lockdown it reminded me of this exercise. It feels like a time to go back to basics, and I’m excited to see what I can learn from this time and take back into larger productions when this is all over.

Do you have a routine to stay creative? Do you think what you’re going through will impact your practice long term?

There are lots of incredible resources available at the moment – masterclass has great courses. There are also loads of great plays to watch online for free – this is an amazing resource that I would have really loved growing up (as I lived in an area where there weren’t any theatres, and was in a situation where I could only very rarely travel to go and see plays.) I would have been able to learn so much from everything that is now available. Zoom has also been a great platform for sharing skills with other LAMDA grads. We’ve had a great time keeping active with some of my multi-talented class mates leading ‘dancersize’ and yoga classes.

 I work much better when I am around other people, part of this might come from the ensemble training we get at LAMDA. I was very aware from an early stage how much I could learn from the people around me, and most importantly the strength and support we could all give each other by working as a team. – although zoom is great, I’ve had to force myself to try and find more solo ways of working. Which I’m hoping will turn out to have been a healthy thing to do. To spend more time creatively by myself, practicing self discipline and taking stock of my own creative process.

Is there any advice you would like to share to fellow artists, audiences or organizations on how to find resilience?

      Don’t be too hard on yourself. There is a global pandemic going on. It’s more than enough to just be able to get through this safe and sane. Yes, it’s a big time of change and an opportunity to try and grab something positive. I think with it feeling like everything has suddenly stopped, we’re confronted with a time for reflection and it’s all too easy to focus on the things you wish had turned out differently– it’s so important to count all your successes to. And at the moment just getting through this horrible situation together and being there for one another is a huge success. There’s a lot going on at the moment, be kind to others and be kind to yourself.

What are your hopes for the future?

      As with any challenge I hope that I’ll hold onto all the positive things I’ve learnt in this time of change.  And that I’ll use everything that I’ve learnt to effectively push my work forwards.

Feel free to add anything else you’d like to mention including any remote activity you’d like audiences to take part in or if you have anything to plug, shows being aired… anything.

I’m in a few episodes of ‘Brave New World’ a new tv series made by Universal And Amblin Television starring Demi Moore, Alden Ehrenreich and Jessica Brown Findlay. The series will be launching the new streaming service ‘Peacock’ around mid July – although as with all arts programming at the moment that date is possibly subject to change. It was so much fun to work on a sci-fi, and so great to be shooting parts of it not too far from my home in Wales! I’m really excited for everyone to see what’s been made.

Stay safe everyone! Carys

Genesis Sixteen, The Sixteen’s free young artists’ scheme for 18-23 year olds, has announced its 10^th cohort. Supported by the Genesis Foundation, Genesis Sixteen aims to nurture the next generation of talented ensemble singers. It is currently in its ninth year and is the UK’s first ever fully funded programme of its kind.

Harry Christophers CBE, Founder & Conductor of The Sixteen, “I am absolutely delighted to announce the 10th cohort of Genesis Sixteen. From its inception in 2011, two hundred singers have come through this ground-breaking programme. We set out to identify and nurture talented young singers who have an innate musical ability with the potential to develop into professional ensemble singers. Its success has surpassed our wildest dreams. Each year produces a different set of voices and personalities and I cannot wait to explore the wealth of talent we have assembled this time. To witness their progress through the year is so exciting and so rewarding for everyone involved.”

The new cohort are:

Applications for the Conducting Scholarship 20/21 will be open soon, for more information please see thesixteen.com/education/genesis-sixteen/

Jess Haig, Genesis Sixteen Manager says “One of my favourite parts of my job is conducting the month-long audition process for the scheme, where I get to meet hundreds of young, bright and aspiring musicians. I was delighted we were able to conduct seven out of the nine scheduled audition days before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but that still left us with c.45 participants to audition in our final destination, Manchester. Of course, I was extremely saddened to have to cancel those two days, but when we quickly decided to transfer the audition process online, I was completely overwhelmed by how positively all the participants responded to the new format. Instead of meeting our panel in person, we asked them to submit video performances instead, mostly unaccompanied unless they were lucky enough to have a budding pianist in their household (which some of them did!). The process worked so well, we even selected three singers for the final choir! It’s difficult to know when we’ll be able to meet for the first time but, whenever that may be, I am so excited to meet and work with the new cohort!”

The fourth and final course for the current Genesis Sixteen cohort will take place 13-18 July and whilst singing together in real life cannot be replicated, The Sixteen has worked to devise an online programme that remains as complete and nurturing as possible given the circumstances:

• Text & poetry workshop with Roderick Williams OBE
• Vocal health presentation from Declan Costello ‘The Voice Doctor’
• Online singing lessons with The Sixteen’s Julie Cooper and Charlotte Mobbs
• A presentation from The Sixteen’s Education Manager Amanda MacLeod on developing a portfolio career
• A devised virtual performance project with single-voice consorts, to be premiered at the virtual Sounds Sublime Festival

Eamonn Dougan, Associate Conductor, The Sixteen says: “The ninth cohort of Genesis Sixteen have been making great strides with each course, continuing to bond as a group, growing as musicians and giving wonderful performances at the Bridgewater Hall and Hampton Court Palace. The progress of each cohort is unique, the process fascinating each year, but it’s often during the final course in July that we really see (and hear) them take flight. Obviously, we are sorely disappointed not to be able to meet in person next month, but we are determined to ensure that our young singers continue to develop by making the course as challenging and uplifting as possible. There will still be plenty of singing in online lessons and coaching sessions with members of The Sixteen, but this necessarily different format gives us an opportunity to spend more time thinking and talking about the music itself. This will all feed into what I’m sure will be fantastic performances when we meet after the restrictions on performing are lifted and will be a suitably celebratory occasion.”

The annual Sounds Sublime Festival (18 July) is also to be taken online this year and showcases past and present Genesis Sixteen singers. Artists confirmed include the NYCGB Fellows Octet; Fieri Consort; Cantus Firmus; and Recordare, which is made up of Genesis Sixteen alumni. Planned education activities include an online choral workshop with Associate Conductor of The Sixteen Eamonn Dougan; Mini Music Makers for early years with Matt & Lucia Vernon-Long; an introduction to Kodály method given by Genesis Sixteen alumni Rebecca Murphy; and an online workshop with Horizon Voices entitled ‘Home is where…’ which explores what home means to different people through different musical styles from classical choral to folk and contemporary.

Anthony Lau spent a year as Laboratory Associate Director at Nuffield Southampton Theatres and trained as a director at LAMDA, on the Young Vic’s Jerwood Assistant Director Programme and at the National Theatre Studio.

Credits as Director include The Shadow Factory revival and Juicy and Delicious (Nuffield Southampton Theatres); A Better Man as part of 5x5x5 and The Cherry Orchard parallel project (Young Vic); The Common Land (Rose Theatre Kingston); Dreaming in America (Shoreditch Town Hall); Still Life/Red Peppers (Old Red Lion); The Taste of Us (HighTide Festival) and I Am a Camera (Southwark Playhouse). As Assistant Director: Swive (Globe Theatre); Ink (West End); First Light, Canvas and King Lear (Chichester Festival Theatre/Brooklyn Academy of Music); The Glass Menagerie and The Hudsucker Proxy (Nuffield Southampton Theatres/Liverpool Playhouse); Mint (Royal Court Theatre) and Bingo (Young Vic).

Pawat Silawattakun, Jonathan Mok, Reizel Quaichon, Lucy Sheen and An Nguyen. These are just a handful of the many East and South East Asian people who have borne the brunt of racist incidents arising out of Covid-19. Prior to the lockdown on 23^rd March, there was a growing fear and tension amongst the East and South East Asian community after a spate of race and Covid-19 related attacks swept across the country. From January to March, attacks on East and South East Asians rose by 21% with over 260 crimes reported to the UK Police, compared with 360 for the whole of 2018 and 375 in 2019. We were somehow responsible or carriers of the virus, simply by virtue of the colour of our skin. Never mind that the vast majority of the victims weren’t even ethnically Chinese. Some of these incidents made the press, but many were more insidious: a whisper in the ear, a slur thrown over the shoulder or a shoulder barge on the pavement.

As a response to these attacks, Moongate Productions (founded by Jennifer Lim and Daniel York Loh) were awarded a grant by the Arts Council Emergency Fund to produce a digital arts event that tackled this particular issue. The intention was to collaborate with artists of East and South East Asian heritage in order to make ten new pieces of work that would shine a light on this surge in hate-crime.

Alongside Genesis Fellow Jennifer Tang, I was fortunate enough to be one of the directors Moongate Productions approached to lead on this project. I was, I’m ashamed to say, cynical to begin with. I had seen too many Zoom monologues and digital theatre events that felt rushed and reactionary, it felt like content for content’s sake rather than art born from passion, inspiration or necessity. The internet was saturated, I was doubtful that anything we did during this period would have any meaningful impact and, frankly, I was feeling so disconnected from the world that I had little energy to give. I’m more fortunate than many in my personal circumstances but, even so, anything beyond feeding myself and doing my government sanctioned exercise felt like a trial.  

The feeling of isolation is one that we’ve all shared over the past few months, whether that is from our loved ones, our work or simply the world outside. Phone calls and Zooms were designed to hold us together and keep us connected but as the days and weeks steadily rolled into months, I found myself increasingly disengaged. Communication across the globe has never been easier, faster or better designed for mimicking real life interaction yet the absence of physical proximity made me feel more alone than ever. There is something about being in a space with other people and sharing the same experience that feels impossible to replicate digitally. It’s why we celebrate our public spaces and this instinct to be sociable and group together is the cornerstone of human civilisation.

Theatre, and the making of it, shares the same foundation. The getting together and sharing of stories has been a tradition since we first drew on a cave wall more than 65,000 years ago. I couldn’t then fathom how we were going to make anything of value whilst maintaining social distance between both artists and audience. Anything we made would be compromised by this invisible barrier, the words and images might be the same but the absence of real life, human interaction would diminish our efforts exponentially.

This stubborn and entrenched view is my failing.

When the ten commissioned writers handed in their first drafts I was overwhelmed by the energy, scope, urgency and passion with which they had approached their craft. They didn’t drag their feet, they didn’t bemoan the state of the world and they didn’t let our current circumstances limit their ambition. Instead, they were sharp and succinct, writing with a clarity that not only drew attention to the attacks but with a humour, compassion and fury that lit a fire in my belly.

Their work dissolved my preconceptions and ideological limitations. Rather than actors talking down the barrel of Zoom, other possibilities started to emerge. Yes, there is power in the direct address, but there were other forms that we could explore. Animation, dance and film suddenly seemed fitting and there was real excitement in the devolution of theatre. Buildings and auditoriums are important but, in these times, maybe there were other means by which we could facilitate a shared human experience.

What followed was a fortnight of online rehearsals, socially distant filming, remote editing and a more thorough exploration of Zoom as a virtual stage than I ever thought possible. Or reasonable. I felt renewed through the act of making, even if our creative conversations were happening over the airwaves rather than in person. I felt like I could take risks and I felt like I had ideas again. I felt like I had something that I wanted to say. The power of collaboration had made me feel less alone. It shook me out of my navel-gazing funk and forced me to confront the world. I was lucky enough to be given this opportunity but I recognise that there are countless other people who have not had this life jacket thrown in their direction. For that, I am very grateful, and I wanted to work with as many new artists as possible in order to pay it forward.

Too often, it is easy to reach out towards collaborators whom you have an existing relationship with: trust has been established, you have a short hand in communication and, well, it’s fun to work with people you know. However, this seemed counter to the spirit of the project and I wanted to maximise the spread of opportunity. We, as an industry, talk of championing new talent and providing exposure but not enough is done on a consistent basis, by myself included. Weeks of reflecting on my own practice had galvanised me into pledging that given the opportunity to ever make anything again (which at one point felt rather bleak), I would really champion the diversifying of my collaborators. In particular, it felt as if supporting fellow artists of East and South East Asian heritage needed to be central to my practice. This was a golden opportunity to put my money where my mouth was and out of the 16 artists I collaborated with on this project, I had never been in the same rehearsal room as 14 of them. This, in itself, was hugely rewarding and the work benefitted from it. It forced me to be rigorous and specific with my notes and direction, I was energised by these new voices and there was an injection of creativity from the fresh perspectives being offered.

This resulted in five very different pieces, both in content and in form. I’m very proud of the work we collectively made – not only did I feel as if we were drawing attention to a particularly pressing issue, but it felt as if the breadth and characteristics of the work stood on their own merit, regardless of the physical distance and circumstances that we found ourselves in.

On a personal level, I was roused from a lockdown stupor through the act of making and collaborating. Again, I have to acknowledge how lucky I was to be able to be part of a project, a thing greater than myself. And that, perhaps, is what I have been most pressingly reminded of and have taken away most. During this lockdown, so much of my focus has been on myself and the individual. Self-love and well-being are crucial, but we as animals are inherently social. There is an instinctive need to connect with others so whilst the making was joyous, it was the collaboration that reinforced this idea that no art and no person exists on their own. At our best, we are in constant dialogue with the world and people around us and, whether if it’s a Town Hall on Zoom or standing on the fringes of a protest, we draw strength from our connections with other people. In real life or over the internet.

As we slowly figure out how to evolve as a society in the aftermath of Covid-19, perhaps it is worth reminding ourselves that no one thing is bigger than all of us. We can all work harder for equality, justice and inclusion as individuals, but the real victory will be when we collaborate as a society. And that means listening, really listening, to everyone. Not just to those who are loudest or most informed, or those we have appointed our leaders. It means listening to those we disagree with and those less sophisticated in their argument. It means forgiving those who make mistakes and acknowledging that all too often we put our individual needs and concerns first, on all sides. But it also means believing in the power of the collective.

In one of the pieces, CONUNDRUMS by Amber Hsu, the protagonist is wracked with questions regarding the responsibility of the individual in relation to society as a whole. One particular section has stuck with me:

“In the roots of all science are the seeds of philosophy,

The sum of which is greater than that of just you or me.

Take the Ancient Greek roots for the word symptomatic,

From syn and piptō, meaning: ‘Together’, ‘I fall’.”

This virus which has changed all of our lives takes many forms. It doesn’t just attack our respiratory system; it attacks sections of our society too. What is worth remembering, however, is that just as viruses are the biggest drivers of biological change, this pandemic is also an opportunity to take stock of where we are as a community and to consider, who do we really want to be?

Sofía Clausse was born in Argentina in 1989, grew up in Portugal, and studied at the Rhode Island School of Design in the USA. She is an artist currently doing a postgraduate course at the Royal Academy Schools in London. Her artistic practice explores questions of repetition, time, language and translation, by using painting, paper, text, custom tools and systems. 

The Keeper of the Royal Academy, Ms Rebecca Salter (now its President) was awarded the Genesis Prize in 2020 for her work with the RA Schools. She will use the £25,000 to develop a new programme that will provide graduates of the RA School with the professional skills and resilience training needed to survive as practising artists in the commercial world.

What’s your current confinement situation?

As my studio at the Royal Academy is currently closed, I moved temporarily to my old studio. It’s a short cycle ride from my house, under some railway arches.

Are you able to work, are you inspired by what we are going through or do you find it challenging?

In my practice I always work with limitations and within an economy of materials, so I’ve found these times an interesting challenge to test new limitations. For example I use paper a lot, but since I couldn’t go to shops and buy paper, I’ve been taking free newspapers and painting on top of them. Using them has given me new textures and ideas to work with. 

Do you have a routine to stay creative?

Not so much a routine, but more a process. I’ve learned over the years to understand my specific ways of working, so then I always go back to thinking through problems and questions in my own, specific way.

Do you think what you’re going through will impact your practice long term?

I was happy seeing how resourceful and quick to adapt I have been, and this is something I want to take with me in the long term. I’ve also been working on smaller pieces, which I want to continue making even after quarantine. 

Is there any advice you would like to share to fellow artists, audiences or organisations on how to find resilience?

I think mindset is very important here, rather than focusing on not being able to do something, we should shift to thinking about how to use your limitations to your advantage.

What are your hopes for the future?

I hope people use this time to realise that we can live with less stuff, consume less, and travel less, and that this time is used to reflect more on ourselves and our actions.

Rufus Norris is Director of the National Theatre, and a former Genesis Director at the Young Vic.

Rufus’ productions for the National have included The Amen Corner, Everyman, wonder.land, The Threepenny Opera, London Road, Mosquitoes, and Small Island. Outside of the NT, he has directed Cabaret, Feast, Vernon God Little, Herge’s Adventures of Tintin, Afore Night Come, Festen, Doctor Dee and Don Giovanni. His film work includes Broken, as well as adaptions of the musical London Road and My Country; a work in progress.

He is developing a new musical with composer Jim Fortune as part of the Genesis Music Theatre Programme.

What’s your current confinement situation, who’s on your quaranteam?

I’m at home in south London, with my partner and my two boys.

Are you able to work, are you inspired by what we are going through or do you find it challenging?

I’m working pretty flat out. I do find it quite challenging. I actively chose a long time ago to go into a business that is all about human communication and the creativity that happens between people, and adapting that to the virtual world, for a luddite like me, has been a bit of a leap.

Do you have a routine to stay creative?

I don’t have a routine but I have some active creative release valves.

I am drawing almost constantly throughout the day. I’m working entirely in freehand in blank-page drawing books so there are reams of notes that I check back over at the end of the evening, and each page is covered with cartoons or doodles. If I look back over recent notes, there’s a very aggressive but artfully patterned eel, some ants, a couple creatively managing their love affair through social distancing, and terrible portraits of a bunch of European theatre leaders I was on a Zoom call with.

 A really great release valve is sitting outside and doing some work on the lyrics for the musical that Jim and I are developing through the Genesis Music Theatre Programme.

Do you think what you’re going through will impact your practice long term?

Yes, I definitely do, although I can’t say how that will be. I think there’s something about this period which is focusing the whole of society down to essentials. People need to eat, people need to be able to breathe. Nurses and careworkers and bus drivers need to be protected. We’re being retrained in what is essential, which is very common in times of crisis.

For us, it’s asking what’s really essential about the nature of theatre. A couple of months ago we would have said the live nature of what we do is essential. So does that mean we’re obsolete if it’s not live? Of course it doesn’t – it means that we need to celebrate the use of the imagination. We ask audiences to take a leap, which is something that film and television generally don’t do. How that will impact in the long term, I don’t know.

We’re also doing a lot more communication across the sector. We’re told constantly that we’re in competition with each other, we’re judged very publicly and very harshly, and that can make us all insecure and brittle. Those things are being shed at the moment as we look at our value to society and how we’re going to survive as an industry. I’m hopeful this will make us less tolerant of the more insignificant and negative facets of our industry when we emerge from this.

Is there any advice you would like to share to fellow artists, audiences or organisations on how to find resilience?

What’s been useful for me has been to try and find the ground underneath my feet, which means looking at the worst. Artists are creative and adaptable, and we’re people who make things. So, mental, creative and practical health is only going to come when we start making things. Looking at the worst case scenario and planning for that, in a creative way by using all our skills of adaptation: that, for me, is a route to health – or at least survival.

One thing that we’ve all done is told hundreds of stories. Story consists of someone meeting an obstacle and finding a way around it, and good story is when those obstacles get bigger and bigger, and the routes around them get more and more imaginative.

I did a show called Feast in 2012, which is about how the Yoruban cosmological belief system survived. There was a song in the show which roughly translates as ‘I lay my head down at the foot of chance’ – I accept the adversity of this situation and I’m going to respond to it, rather than protesting it or trying to imagine the problem isn’t there. We’re in that moment now.

What are your hopes for the future?

That the people I love and know don’t get ill. That we preserve as much of the National as we can. And that we are given the opportunity to be a really key part of rebuilding this society.

Ruth composes for film, television and theatre. She has been developing a musical adaptation of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle for the National Theatre. She has worked for various theatres including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Chichester Festival Theatre, Royal Exchange Theatre and Traverse Theatre. Ruth has participated in the Genesis Music Theatre Programme at the National Theatre.

What’s your current confinement situation, who’s on your quaranteam?

As I write this, I am in isolation, preparing to move from my home with my husband to help him provide palliative care to my mother-in-law. Both homes are fortunate to have nice gardens and pianos, so I have been spending quite a bit of time gardening when not working and dusting off my rusty skills on the ivories by revisiting classical repertoire that I once could play: both are turning out to be therapeutic in these troubled times.

Are you able to work, are you inspired by what we are going through or do you find it challenging?

Earlier in my career, I was anxious of when and whether work would turn up. As I have built my career and professional network, I have been fortunate to build up a pipeline of work, which for the last few years has extended reassuringly into the future. This has been decreasing since the crisis took hold in Asia (one of my projects was due to premier in Hong Kong back in February), so this is a stark reminder that you can’t take for granted the work that comes in.
One of my main projects is the National Theatre’s Public Acts project with CAST in Doncaster, which is a musical adaptation of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle. We were due to have a workshop week, which was cancelled due to the lockdown, so instead we spent most of April documenting the current stage of development. This involved video conferences with me playing Sibelius scores to Chris Bush (writer) and James Blakey (director), then having songs remotely recorded by singers to backing tracks. This has had challenges, but they have mostly been of a technical nature.

Do you have a routine to stay creative?

My aim is get up at regular times and start work/dealing with emails as I did before. I do daily walks, weekly zoom pilates and watch online shows in the evenings. Lockdown has been fantastic for catching shows that I couldn’t make it to when they were on: the National Theatre and the New York Metropolitan Opera have provided welcome respite from Netflix fatigue.

My creativity comes and goes depending on my mindset at that time, but the situation has made it more difficult: I fear for the industry and fear for friend’s health. These fears can become a blocker to my creative free-thinking, but walking has been good to focus my mind on nature and derive some inspiration from elsewhere.

Do you think what you’re going through will impact your practice long term?

In some ways no. I often work at home in isolation, only popping into London when needed or to watch shows. With the streaming available, I don’t think my practice will significantly change anytime soon, but I expect future projects in theatre, I’ll be working more at home than before, and remote workshops will become more common.

The situation does make me feel the need to be more proactive with my work. In the last few years, I have been looking to initiate my own projects, and I think I intend to push these more. I can’t rely on work coming to me, moreover I find I can push myself further creatively with projects I have more personal investment in.

Is there any advice you would like to share to fellow artist, audiences or organisations on how to find resilience?

First of all, look after yourself. Physical and mental health is paramount – go for those walks/runs/cycles, and try to find time for a meditative pastime (gardening, mindfulness, reading – whatever you find allows you to focus your mind on something other than your anxieties). I have continued writing, but also been wanting to get out in the garden and pick up my paint brushes, but there’s still too many weeds!

We need to keep fighting and part of that means building up our creative reserves. One of the only good things from this lockdown is that I have been able to watch all kind of productions online, from opera to theatre to dance, from regional theatres and those in other parts of the world. It’s all inspiring, great for research and a strong reminder of why I am in this.

What are your hopes for the future?

That we as a society take the theatre industry more seriously. The on-going crisis has shown how fragile this industry is without a paying audience. I think the importance of fringe, community and smaller theatres is not obvious to many people, and I hope this is not forgotten. I have been worrying about this a lot, and hope that as few theatres/companies as possible shut as a consequence of this. I hope we will come out of this with stronger links across the industry, and that we value these connections, emotionally and physically much more.

Feel free to add anything else you’d like to mention including any remote activity you’d like audiences to take part in or if have anything to plug.

I have been asked to write the music for ‘The Hatchling’, a spectacular outdoor event that will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s historic voyage from Plymouth to Massachusetts. This is now likely to be the 401st anniversary, but it’s going to be an awesome show for the people of Plymouth and the South West when it happens.

Obviously Caucasian Chalk Circle is going to be fab as well. It’s a community musical adaption of Brecht’s play. We have been working with the Doncaster community, in particular looking to involve those who are vulnerable; coincidentally people who are likely to be the most affected by lockdown. It will be a really emotional experience when we are finally able to release the creative energy that has building inside us all since lockdown began and bring extraordinary acts of theatre and community together.

The new blog series throws the spotlight on Genesis artists in lockdown: directors, writers, actors, musicians and artists, who have had to figure out ways to stay creative and practise their art in a completely new way, sometimes in extremely challenging circumstances.

The Foundation wants to give the Genesis network an opportunity to showcase what they have been up to, to share the challenges they face and to show, with the intention of inspiring others, how they find resilience and creativity in lockdown.

Marc Tritschler

Marc Tritschler is Creative Director of Music at the National Theatre. He is a pianist, music director, music supervisor, arranger and composer of music for the theatre, with recent credits including A Number at The Bridge, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at the Donmar Warehouse, Macbeth at the National Theatre and Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at HOME in Manchester. Before moving to the UK in 2016, Marc held a permanent conducting position as Deputy Music Director at the world-renowned revue theatre Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin and was the Music Director for the German premiere of War Horse at Theater des Westens.

What’s your current confinement situation, who’s on your quaranteam?

I’m working from home with my wife and 21 month old toddler, who absolutely loves lockdown.

Are you able to work, are you inspired by what we are going through or do you find it challenging?

Besides the obvious challenges of a family setup, I feel quite focussed and creative. However, the lack of clarity about the future of the cultural sector is increasingly intimidating.

Do you have a routine to stay creative?

Our strict routine keeps us and the baby boy sane. Creatively, I find a repeated timeframe very helpful.

Do you think what you’re going through will impact your practice long term?

I would hope there is a sense of returning to the core of our practice, as this moment opens room for thoughts that are hard to follow through normally. This could bring out the best of us – the danger being that all soul and heart could go overboard with the commercial pressure that we will face very soon. If we want to preserve theatre as an art form, we will have to make a very good case for it, so the pressure’s on and hopefully this will lead to excellence and focus.

Is there any advice you would like to share to fellow artists, audiences or organisations on how to find resilience?

Using this period as a meditation on the essence of your art form must be a good thing and ideally also a strengthening process. Whatever you discover will probably be connected to the reason that you started in the first place, and re-living that initial impulse might help find ways forward for your creativity.

What are your hopes for the future?

I hope we find a way of using this crisis as a turning point. Where we are now is testament to the fact that our system doesn’t really work anymore. We all know it really, but are too stuck in our routine and comfort to do anything substantial about it. It’s interesting to see how lots of things have become possible in a very short period of time. What if we applied the same kind of radical thinking on the other side of this? I hope we won’t forget too quickly.

What should we be reminded of?

Theatre – all performing arts really – needs us to breathe the same air together and to listen to each other. It calls us out of the comfort of our homes and forces us to expose ourselves to an imaginary world that might well expand our horizon above the daily business of our existence. Crucially, a live performance can’t be paused, it requires a good amount of bravery therefore from everyone as it’s out of our control in many ways. Every day that passes with arts venues being shut all over the globe should be a reminder of the power and magic of a live performance.

The new blog series throws the spotlight on Genesis artists in lockdown: directors, writers, actors, musicians and artists, who have had to figure out ways to stay creative and practise their art in a completely new way, sometimes in extremely challenging circumstances.

The Foundation wants to give the Genesis network an opportunity to showcase what they have been up to, to share the challenges they face and to show, with the intention of inspiring others, how they find resilience and creativity in lockdown.

Lizzy Humphries

Lizzy is a soprano and began her career as part of the Genesis Sixteen V. Her highlights include performances with The Sixteen, The King’s Consort and Britten Sinfonia Voices. Lizzy is a ‘Making Music UK Selected Artist’ meaning she regularly performs as a soloist with UK choral societies. Solo highlights include singing Monteverdi’s Lamento della Ninfa at the NCPA in Mumbai and performing arias at London Handel Festival.

My time in Genesis Sixteen was the catalyst to my singing career – it was what made me decide that singing was what I wanted to do with my life and so I feel very lucky to have been a part of it. I’ve enjoyed singing professionally for the last three years but, like many other musicians, in the middle of March all my work disappeared and everything started to look a little bit different.

It was a very peculiar experience watching all of the work I’d been looking forward to and working towards just drop out of my diary. The first thing I learnt was how easy it was to see nothing but the negative. I was (and still am!) a selected artist for Making Music UK and had seen my work as a soloist really start to pick up. I had planned for this season to be the one where I made my first steps into the world of being an oratorio soloist and losing it was really hard.

My first decision was to come up with a plan to move forwards so life didn’t grind to a halt. Like many young couples, I boldly decided to move in temporarily with my boyfriend. He’d had to move out as he was living with a vulnerable person so we thought ‘why not give it a try?’. We haven’t killed each other yet (despite a heated discussion over the deserved winner of a game of Wii Golf) so I feel very happy with my confinement situation.

Musically, it’s been tricky to carry on working as I was before. It certainly took a few weeks of adjustment. It’s been exciting to learn new skills, and found that this time has particularly helped me improve my technological skills. I’ve been blown away by the kindness of people I’ve previously worked for and the creativity they’ve shown in finding new ways for me to carry on working. I’ve recorded solo pieces in my living room with an organ playing through headphones which has been a bizarre experience, particularly when I imagine it being used for a virtual church service, but it’s been very rewarding. I’ve even been able to sort an online recital in June.

Without having the day to day gigs it can feel like your career is slipping through your fingers, but every time I get to sing something for someone, I remember why I’m doing it.  It reminds me that I love singing and that’s why it’s worth still pushing forward and working hard. Besides, at some point, the work will return and I want to be ready for it. Luckily, my singing teacher is running weekly zoom group lessons so that her pupils can all share their experience of learning while in lockdown. Hearing the opinions of other singers and acknowledging their work ethic has really helped to push me forward at a time where it’s so easy to be stagnant. 

I also have something a bit different in my life that is really helping to get me through this time. Last September I decided that I needed to find some sense of routine in my routine-less life as a freelance musician. While I was busy, nothing was ever repeated week on week and I felt it was affecting my productivity. I’ve always loved animals and in a moment of madness I thought I’d try out volunteering at Vauxhall City Farm. The farm is a charity that exists as a community project enabling people in the local area to see animals in the city and educate them on nature.  Alongside my musical career I now spend time caring for the animals and running education workshops for children from local schools. 

While seemingly everything else in the world has stopped, the animals still have to be cared for. So, twice a week, I’m still cycling over to Vauxhall looking after all the animals. It’s a busy time at the farm and we’ve had the arrival of two beautiful baby goats and two lovely lambs not to mention a chattering of chicks! 

For me, switching up my life and including something completely different to singing has been a hugely positive experience. If there was any advice I could impart to other young artists it would be that while it is so important to dive head first into your musical career, finding the time to do something a little different can spark inspiration in ways you’d never expect.

For me, the fresh air, the exercise, the new people, the bond I’ve made with the animals and the brand new skill set have all helped to keep me mentally active which continues to push me towards improving myself and my music.

I come back from my days at the farm tired (in a good way), refreshed and more energised which always means I get straight back to music.  Having something different in my life has also helped me get through this difficult lockdown situation.

It can be so hard to motivate yourself when you’ve been left with an empty diary and I think musicians too often beat themselves up for not spending hour after hour practising. Taking a small amount of time to learn a different skill can really help you reset and restore your love for your art.

I don’t think that I’ll be earning a proper living from singing for a long time and so I am applying for jobs that revolve around caring for animals in the interim.  I feel very lucky that I have picked up the practical skill set in the last year that has enabled me to apply for these jobs as it gives me hope I’ll still be able to earn money doing something that I enjoy.

Being fairly new to self-employment has meant that I’m not getting very much money out of the self-employment scheme as it’s based on a three year average, so I absolutely have to get a second job for now. I don’t have the option of saving money by moving back with my parents as I am on a fixed-term contract so unfortunately I have to keep finding ways to pay my rent.

Obviously I never intended to have to find another job, and in some ways it’s heart-breaking, but I’m trying to see it as a really exciting opportunity to live out the common question of “what job would you have done in another life?”, just for a little bit. It will be an excellent story when I’m famous, right?! Jokes aside, I truly believe that the only way to get through this is to find the positives, and take every unexpected change as a great opportunity. For me, that is the best way to stay motivated and committed to my art. 

Once this is all over I hope to hit the ground running, auditioning for a Masters at music college and branch further into opera than I had before lockdown. I’ve been using this time to learn as much repertoire as I can, getting creative with technology and improving my keyboard skills. I’ve been very fortunate that people have thought of me for their concerts next year and I hope to do that kindness justice by not letting my practice routine slip while we’re in isolation.

I’ve found moments of extreme calm during this time and I’ve really appreciated the space to reflect on the things that work and the things that don’t.  I want this to be a positive point in my career, not a negative one. I intend to look back and know that I used every day to my absolute advantage and above all, I need to make sure the momentum that I’ve built up since lockdown started is continued when it is lifted.

Find out more about Lizzy here and about the Vauxhall City Farm here.

The new blog series throws the spotlight on Genesis artists in lockdown: directors, writers, actors, musicians and artists, who have had to figure out ways to stay creative and practise their art in a completely new way, sometimes in extremely challenging circumstances.

The Foundation wants to give the Genesis network an opportunity to showcase what they have been up to, to share the challenges they face and to show, with the intention of inspiring others, how they find resilience and creativity in lockdown.

Sam Barnett

Samuel is a theatre, television and radio actor, and the first of twenty-five Genesis LAMDA scholars (class of 2001). A Tony and Olivier Award nominee, Samuel appeared in The History Boys, Twelfth Night, Penny Dreadful, any many more shows and plays. He played the title role in Dirk Gently’s Detective Agencyfor BBC America.

How are you doing? What’s your current confinement situation, who’s on your quaranteam?

I am currently in lockdown in Nottingham. I normally split my time between London and Nottingham, where my partner in Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse. On march 16th I had three jobs cancelled so I left London and came to Nottingham as I knew lockdown was imminent. So my partner and I are each other’s quaranteam.

It has been a difficult time. My Dad died of covid-19 on April 1st after two weeks in hospital, 11 of those days spent on a life support machine. We were unable to see him or speak to him. The nurses and doctors were extraordinary in their care for him.

Communication with the hospital was difficult. Families are normally allowed by the bedside of a very sick or dying person. Information can be easily given to the families and the families can support each other and the sick loved one. In this situation, information was difficult to get and the nurses were having to do all the emotional grunt-work that families normally do.

I cannot imagine how traumatic this time must be for those working with the very sick in Intensive Care. It has been an impossible time. I am grateful in some ways for the lockdown which is giving me the time and space to grieve.

Are you able to work, are you inspired by what we are going through or do you find it challenging?

I am very fortunate in that I have been able to work. Oddly enough, with my Dad dying, the last thing I have wanted to do is acting. I have no desire to be anyone other than myself right now. But a lot of audio work has come in and I am grateful for the distraction and the income.

I have set up a duvet fort and invested in some audio equipment. It’s quite a big financial outlay initially but it has paid for itself with the work that has come in. I had a self-tape audition which I found a lot harder to do than the audio work I’ve been doing.

There is something about being seen when grieving that makes me feel vulnerable. Often, I am able to use what is going on in my life as fuel for acting, but it’s perhaps a bit too soon for that. 

Do you have a routine to stay creative? 

I have a routine which I think helps me stay ready to be creative. I need to eat and sleep well and to exercise. I am also reading and watching theatre productions online, as well as tv shows and films. 

Do you think what you’re going through will impact your practice long term?

I think it will have a huge impact on the acting industry, particularly theatre. Perhaps there are ways to get around filming, such as testing everyone on a production and quarantining them all together until the production is completed. Theatre of course is a very different medium in that involves an audience and you cannot quarantine all the actors and stage technicians.

Unless supported by the government many arts organisations, buildings and individuals will not be able to continue. It’s an extremely worrying time. For me on a personal level, I don’t know how things will pan out. It is interesting that in this time of lockdown the one thing we have all turned to is entertainment. The message that needs to be put across both in the government’s mind and in the minds of the public is that a huge amount of these TV shows and movies that people are watching are written by writers who started in theatre, acted by actors who started in theatre, directed by directors who started in theatre.

Theatre is a major seeding ground for screen. It is the foundation. If theatres are allowed to fail, there will be less opportunity for development for those writers and actors and directors who also make screen work, and the work will be less diverse. The link between theatre and screen needs to be impressed upon the people who make the decisions about what gets supported and what gets left to die out.

Theatre in itself is a vital art form, regardless of how it feeds the screen industry. It is a collective experience that reflects, celebrates, investigates and elevates the society in which it takes place. Theatre genuinely changes lives and I know many theatre and arts organisations that have huge community outreach programs. If these places are allowed to fail, society also suffers.

Is there any advice you would like to share to fellow artists, audiences or organisations on how to find resilience?

Resilience for me is about allowing everything to be just as it is in this moment. I have times of feeling that I can cope and be creative and positive and active, and other times where I need to sit and zone out and watch Netflix and do nothing. Both are completely acceptable. Pressure is the worst thing we can put on ourselves at the moment.

Resilience is about knowing that you are enough, you don’t have to be “busy” in order to be ok. Gently and quietly look after yourself so that you’re ready for when opportunities come your way, whether in lockdown or not. That extends from the individual to the level of organisations.

I see my partner running the Playhouse full-time in lockdown and laying all the groundwork for when we come out of lockdown and audiences are ready to come back.

And to audiences I would say please support the organisations that matter to you if you are able to, and that doesn’t have to be financial support. It can be watching things that organisations put out online at the moment. Those little things that we do now as audiences will make a big difference to organisations in the future.

What are your hopes for the future? 

I hope things don’t go back to the way they were. This pandemic has forced us to stop at a time when things were reaching a fever pitch across the world with the environment and hate and division. I hope the world is a kinder place.

This pandemic has not hit people equally and there will be more poverty and famine and pain for many people because of this coronavirus. Governments have shown that they can make sweeping changes to the way things are done when they have the will to do so.

I hope that kindness prevails, that people who are in need get their needs met, and that the comeback is a green one.

Anything to plug?

NT Live are broadcasting a show on YouTube every Thursday for free. Many theatres are offering free productions online. It’s a great way to support those organisations. TV and film is magnificent of course, but it’s great to get that live theatre audience feel from the comfort of your own sofa.