Next Left in Lockdown
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
As a response to lockdown, Sheffield-based Next Left have developed seven new short pieces created by a brilliant team of Northern artists.
A proud testament to each artists’ drive to remain creative at such a difficult time for the industry.
Founded by Melanie Crawley, Nadia Emam and Kate Rutter, Next Left are a political theatre collective who assemble to create theatre as a response to current events. The collective’s first event, which took place at DINA in January 2019, was created as a response to the General Election result of 2019. For this new montage of performance, the collective have brought together a talented collaboration of professional actors, writers and directors to develop brand-new work as a reaction to the lockdown situation and COVID-19.
Next Left in Lockdown includes writing from Bryony Lavery, Rani Moorthy, Suzannah Evans, Kate Rutter, Karen Mulcahey, John Hunter and Roy Castleton. Running at approximately 40 minutes, the programme features a thought-provoking and entertaining combination of drama, poetry and comedy.
A thought-provoking and entertaining combination of drama, poetry and comedy.
Perhaps the most striking thing about this piece of work is the fact that all of the films were made with whatever technology the creatives had access to – from mobile phones to professional equipment. The honesty and rawness demonstrated, through the variation in recording each piece, is a proud testament to each artists’ drive to remain creative at such a difficult time for the industry.
