Love In The Time Of Lockdown
This play is a collection of 17 voices in scenes written during the February 2021 lockdown in response to stories that Saskia was told and situations she found herself in. Sometimes friends would say just one sentence that triggered whole monologues as in The Ox and the Apples. A woman casually chatted about breaking the lockdown rules in the Park. Saskia and others were getting their first vaccination at the Brighton Centre, Doctor, or needed to get away from not enough or far too much going on at home which gave rise to escapist fantasies, Car, or the need to call a helpline, Switchboard: home schooling anyone?! The actors all met on zoom play readings, which is where many actors went when they could not set foot into theatres and rehearsal rooms. Saskia took her writing to some of these readings and the actors wanted to play those characters and asked her to create a show. We all knew the stories needed to be told and that the audience would feel recognised and heard. We want to take this play on tour beyond the Brighton Fringe and hope that with the help of crowd funding we will be able to travel all over Britain and to Edinburgh.
Reviews
“We talked about it the car on the way home, it was wonderful we really enjoyed it … some
moments felt like memories and sometimes we weren't sure what we had witnessed; the
two ladies in bed seemed like some kind of madness …. but then I think that this whole
experience has been like that. …it’s of the moment .This is part of our history, we need work
like this to record it and to make sense of it somehow"
"I loved it!! It was well written and surprising and touching and brilliantly performed.”
"My friends thought the car scene was the best. H said: I wish I had a car like that (and she
can’t even drive). I thought the two old ladies on their own should have talked to each other
at the end, I did not believe that they wouldn’t - and I felt that scene was too long. I thought
the Actors scene was really excellent. I loved the switchboard one, especially the way they
talked across each other. I thought the doctor should have said less at the end, a shorter,
snappier finish."
"I loved your show. I found it very touching and it reminded me of some of the emotions I
had felt during the first lockdown which, strangely, seems so long ago now. The refrain of
not having been touched since March really stood out for me. I particularly liked how,
initially seemingly unconnected stories were, in fact, connected. The ripple-effect of our
actions. It was very comforting, finding the connecting tissues in what has been one of the
most disconnected years many of us can remember. At a time when everything is nervously
opening up it felt important to be reminded how similar we all are."
“The Switchboard scene was my favourite, well done on the cross-over talking, that worked
well and I know how hard it is to get that right.”
"An eclectic look at how different lives have been affected during lockdown. Sometimes
funny, sometimes moving, it demonstrates just how lives have been touched during this
awful time. Great cast and all performed brilliantly."