Page 251 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

Why make a song and dance about it? Because these nursery slopes of endeavour have become
gruelling obstacle courses. The plight of British theatre during Covid-19 has been widely reported;
less commented on is the blight affecting the beginners.

Drama schools have gone through the rigours of becoming Covid-secure, mixing in-person and
digital training, doing their utmost to minimise disruption. Some have come out fighting – this
week, London’s Guildhall live-streams a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with a
socially distanced cast and crew of 50 (albeit no audience). But the logistical challenges are many.

And in the more informal world of student drama – amid the UK’s hundred-plus contingent of
universities – the battle has been more intense. Hopefuls have been subject to changing guidelines,
postponed and cancelled productions, and the intimidating prospect of online auditions,
rehearsals and performances. First years in residence have been constrained in the number of
students they can mingle with. What should have been a time of personal and artistic exploration
has often been anything but.

The websites of student drama societies tell their own sad stories of reduced activity. England’s
oldest university playhouse, the ADC in Cambridge, has nothing on for the remainder of term. On
the university of Manchester Drama Society Facebook page, while there are a few signs of life (a
notable online monologue about being 19 by Cecilia Alfonso-Eaton), there is much talk of virtual
pub crawls and Zoom “calm” sessions. At Daldry’s alma mater, the Sheffield University Theatre
Company website reads: “Unfortunately, due to the global outbreak of Covid-19, we have
temporarily suspended all productions.”

To get a sense of this year’s challenges, I speak to Samuel Jones, a 19-year-old law student at
Durham University, whose first term has entailed long solitary hours in his room attending
tutorials and lectures online, contracting Covid and battling to have character-building musical
experiences.