Sign of the times: The frontage of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, at the former Odeon cinema, in Scarborough
TODAY is World Theatre Day. Stages may be silent, but creativity never sleeps. It adapts. No matter what the circumstances.
Keep watching this space. CharlesHutchPress will continue to bring you stories of how the arts world is reacting, responding, re-engaging, under the Coronavirus lockdown.
Yes, we miss the sound of applause bursting through our theatre walls, but for now, for the unforeseeable future, save your hand-clapping for showing support every Thursday at 8pm for our NHS doctors, hospital staff, carers and rising tide of volunteers. God bless them all.
Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara: Remembering The Oscars tour moves to Spring 2021
REMEMBER the new York Barbican date for Remembering The Oscars. Strictly
Come Dancing couple Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara are rescheduling
their postponed April 10 show for April 21 next year.
In keeping with all 38 dates, ten free VIP tickets will be made available to NHS staff “as a way of the producers and Aljaž and Janette showing their gratitude to these front-line heroes” caught in the eye of the Coronavirus pandemic storm.
This will include a meet & greet with the Strictly duo, and information
on how to claim these tickets will be announced very soon “once normal services
resume”.
Aljaž and Janette say: “We know what we are offering is a relatively
small gesture, but we want to acknowledge the amazing effort of the NHS staff who
are facing unimaginable pressure on a daily basis as they treat patients across
the UK affected by Coronavirus.
“We’ll be rolling out the proverbial red carpet for these heroes and we
look forward to thanking them in person throughout the tour.”
The 2020 tour of Škorjanec and Manrara’s new dance spectacular had been
due to start earlier this month, but was postponed after theatres closed
nationwide in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The tour now will run from March 20 to May 4 2021 and all tickets will
remain valid for the rearranged dates of Remembering The Oscars, wherein Aljaž
and Janette will give the red-carpet treatment to Oscar-winning songs, dances,
movies and stars.
Janette says: “We are so thrilled to have the opportunity to put on this
magnificent show, which we are so proud of, in 2021. We hope that when these
difficult times pass, we can bring joy and smiles to everyone’s hearts; nothing
would make us happier.”
Aljaž added: “It was heart-breaking to not be able to open with our show
this year, but we are now so thrilled that our beautiful show will still be
seen by the UK audiences next year. We cannot wait to be back on stage and perform
for you all.”
York Barbican is the only Yorkshire date on the tour. Ticket holders unable to attend the April 21 2021 show should contact the Barbican box office, 0203 356 5441.
Nothing happening full stop. Now, with time on your frequently washed hands, home is where the art is and plenty else besides
EXIT 10 Things To See Next Week in York and beyond for the unforeseeable future. Enter home entertainment, wherever you may be, whether still together or in isolation, in the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. From behind his closed door, CHARLES HUTCHINSON makes these further suggestions.
Compiling lists of best songs by favourite artists
THE Beatles, The Rolling Stones, solo Beatles, Van Morrison, Velvet Underground, solo Velvets, Bob Dylan, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, The Smiths, The Fall, whoever. Make a Top Ten or even Top 20, then send to friends to ask for their suggestions for the list and why they disagree with you.
You could also set up arguments: Kylie’s Top Ten versus Madonna; The Specials versus Madness; Holland Dozier Holland versus Bacharach and David; Rod Stewart versus Elton John; Abba versus Queen; U2 versus Coldplay. Any others?
Madness: More special than The Specials or is that utter madness?
Desert Island Slipped Discs
IF past editions of the BBC Radio 4 Sunday morning staple have slipped your attention, it is never too late to discover the back catalogue at the Beeb online. You could pick a running theme, such as artists, musicians, poets, scientists, entrepreneurs, comedians, sportsmen, film stars, pioneers and church leaders.
Or, given the very necessary daily Covid-19 briefings from Number 10, how about politicians? Margaret Thatcher (1978); Edward Heath (1988); Enoch Powell (1989); Alan Clark (1995); Tony Blair (1996); Gordon Brown (1996); David Cameron (2006)…or, for a satirical variation, Spitting Image’s Peter Fluck and Roger Law (1987)?
Follow the advice of Stephen Fry
FOLLOWING up last Thursday’s 10 Things advice to make a timetable for the day, Andrew Marr’s Sunday morning interview on the Beeb with national treasure and former Cundall Manor prep school teacher Stephen Fry elicited one gem of a suggestion. Take time, take longer, to do things, whether cooking a dish from a recipe book, or even when brushing your teeth.
Fry, the president of MIND, also advocated taking up a new hobby, or re-discovering a craft, in his case, calligraphy. Further suggestions: learn a language; learn sign language; test yourself on road signs (when did you last do that?).
Meanwhile, Fry’s partner in comedy since Cambridge Footlights days, House doctor Hugh Laurie, says of Coronavirus: “We solve it together by staying apart.” Couldn’t have put it better.
Time to take time: Stephen Fry’s philosophy for these Coronavirus clampdown days
Administer a spring clean
STUCK at home, as you really should be by now, key workers excepted, this is the chance to gut rooms; to go through files, drawers, cupboards; to work out what clothes to keep and which to donate to charity shops. Likewise, games; books; kitchen utensils. Update Christmas card lists and address books.
Make time for nostalgia
DIG out old scrapbooks (Leeds United, League Champions, 1973-1974; the Cardiff Candlewits revue show, The Rantings Of A Raw Prawn, at the 1982 Edinburgh Fringe; cookery crush Nigella Lawson’s recipes – more pictures than recipes, to be truthful – to give three Hutch examples). Ah, those were the days.
Likewise, take a look through old photo albums, sure to trigger memories and promote family discussions… and maybe even lead you to research your family ancestry in the manner of BBC One’s Who Do You Think You Are?.
Scrapbook memories: Leeds United, champions, 1973-1974
Try to find good news
GREAT Yorkshire Show off. Ryedale Festival off. York Pride off. The Olympic Games off. The list of cancellations keeps growing. Against that backdrop, however, theatres, music venues and festivals are busy re-booking acts and shows for later in the year or next year.
Keep visiting websites for updates, whether York Barbican, York Theatre Royal, the Grand Opera House, wherever.
Look out too for the streaming of past shows. More and more theatres and arts companies are doing this.
Pyramid Gallery owner Terry Brett, on Stonegate, York, with a Piers Browne painting, before the Coronavirus shutdown
Online exhibitions
GALLERIES in York are going online to keep the art (and hopefully sales) going. Step forward Pyramid Gallery, in Stonegate, where owner Terry Brett has launched Strange Days.
This service is not only a website portal for works from this season’s Full Sunlight show, featuring Askrigg artist Piers Browne and Holtby sculptor Hannah Arnup, but Terry also is inviting the 144 artists from next month’s cancelled York Open Studios to show their work on there too.
One of Tom Wood’s paintings from The Abstract Crow, Lotte Inch Gallery’s first online-only exhibition
Anywhere else?
LOTTE Inch Gallery, at Fourteen Bootham, will host its first online-only exhibition, Yorkshire artist Tom Wood’s The Abstract Crow, from April 17 to May 16.
“Known for his imaginative and allusive abstract approach to painting, Tom will pay homage to his love for the natural world in his new paintings,” says Lotte.
Venturing outdoors
AMID the stricter Government strictures, aside from walking the dog and one burst of exercise a day, gardening looks the most fruitful way to spend time outdoors. The first mow of the season; buds coming through; plants to plant; garden furniture to varnish: ready, steady, grow.
One to follow on Twitter: Reasons To Stay Alive author Matt Haig. Picture: MIke Tipping
And what about…
Podcasts. Books. More podcasts. More books. Season two of Liar on Monday nights on ITV. Noughts + Crosses on BBC One on Thursdays. Writing a 10 Things like this one. Reading the regular Tweets from Matt Haig, the Reasons To Stay Alive author with the York past. Drinking hot drinks, gargling regularly, and building up your zinc levels, as well as all that hand-washing.
York Stage School principal Nik Briggs with fellow On Screen teachers Jessica Douglas (singing/musical theatre), left, Danielle Hill-Mullan (musical theatre) and Joanne Theaker (acting/musical theatre)
YORK Stage School will celebrate its second birthday from behind closed doors but with the launch of on-screen activities.
“Wherever you have a
camera, we have a class,” will be the new school rule, prompted by Government
strictures brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Principal
Nik Briggs says: “After a brilliant two years, where we have worked
with hundreds of students and seen them flourish in our classrooms, we now
face the possibility of not being able to work with them under the current
Government guidance for some time and the necessary social distancing
and self-isolation policies that come with that.
“Consequently,
we are fully committed to ensuring our students are always kept safe and
well and will not be running classes while schools are closed to students.”
Cue York Stage School’s new “homework” instead. “It is with this in mind that we have been busy working on this new project, which will see us joining up with lots of our teachers’ contacts from the theatre, TV and film industry to introduce our exciting new programme, York Stage School…On Screen, over the coming weeks and months.”
Are you ready to watch, explore, react and create, asks Nik.“If so, then sign up, stop waiting in the wings…and join us on screen for a programme where we’ll be sending out weekly briefs, scripts and stimuli to children via email and through videos from both our regular teachers and special weekly industry-professional guest tutors,” he says.
Homework for when you must stay at home: York Stage School prepares to launch Stage School…On Screen
Students
will have six days to watch the videos, explore the stimuli given and then
react and create their own videos at home. “These will then be sent back
to us at York Stage School HQ,” says Nik.
“Children
will receive feedback on their creations via email and video calls from our
staff; each week we will celebrate their work across our social channels with
weekly industry recognition from our guest tutors.”
To take part, students will need either a mobile phone, tablet or PC with a built-in camera and microphone, plus an internet connection and an email address. “This can be either their own or a parent’s,” says Nik.
“While
we will be using the York Stage School social media channels to celebrate
students’ work – if parents are happy for their child’s image to be broadcast –
access to these is not needed to take part in the project.”
The first “issue” of York Stage School…On Screen is being given away free of charge. “This is in order for you to decide if this programme is something your child will enjoy and genuinely benefit from,” reasons Nik. “After the initial week, there’ll be a weekly charge of £10 to take part. To receive the first issue, please sign up by clicking Register Now on the website, yorkstageschool.com.”
Mary, Mary, very contrary: Fiona Baistow., left. and Florence Poskitt clash over who plays Mary in York Stage Musicals’ The Flint Street Nativity last Christmas
Putting on his other cap as artistic director of York Stage Musicals, Nik says: “At the moment we are very much all up in the air with regards to shows.
“We were scheduled to be performing Bugsy
Malone at the Grand Opera House from April 23 to 26, but that has now been
cancelled, now that theatres have been closed in response to the Coronavirus
epidemic. However, we do hope for the children’s sake to remount this at a
later date.”
York Stage Musicals had a trio of premieres in the pipeline too: Sondheim On Sondheim, Kinky Boots and Soho Cinders. “We had just auditioned for the UK premiere of Sondheim On Sondheim’s run at the John Cooper Studio @41 Monkgate, from May 20 to 23, but casting has had to be put on hold,” says Nik.
“This will mean the production will now have to
take place at a later date, hopefully in the autumn.
“Our big September show is the York premiere of
Kinky Boots at the Grand Opera House from September 10 to 19, and at the moment
no changes have been made on this production’s scheduling.”
Nik is still hopeful too of bringing another
alternative Christmas show to the John Cooper Studio @41 Monkgate in the wake
of 2019’s gleeful production of Tim Firth’s The Flint Street Nativity.
“After that success, we’ve now secured the rights to bring George Stiles and Anthony Drewe’s Soho Cinders to the city for the first time ever,” says Nik.
“This musical romp transports the classic Cinderella story to the streets of Soho, where the action is definitely more suitable for an adult audience and the ugly sisters are more Gemma Collins than Berwick Kaler!”
Sir Alan Ayckbourn: Summer 2020 premiere and revival cancelled at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
THE world premiere of Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s 84th full-length play,
Truth Will Out, will not go ahead this summer at the Stephen Joseph Theatre,
Scarborough.
Nor will his revival of his 1976 garage-and-garden dark comedy of four birthdays, Just Between Ourselves, both productions scuppered by the Coronavirus crisis that has led to the SJT being closed.
Booked into the summer repertory season to run between August 20 and October
3, Truth Will Out was written by 80-year-old Ayckbourn in late-2019 as a satire
on family,
relationships, politics and the state of the nation.
“Everyone has secrets,” says the tantalising synopsis in the SJT summer-season
brochure. “Certainly, former shop steward George, his right-wing MP daughter
Janet, investigative journalist Peggy, and senior civil servant Sefton, do.
Stephen Joseph Theatre artistic director and joint chief executive Paul Robinson
“All it’s going to take is one tech-savvy teenager with a mind of his
own and time on his hands to bring their worlds tumbling down – and maybe
everyone else’s along with them. A storm is brewing.”
When that storm will now break cannot be forecast. Alan Ayckbourn’s
Official Website states: “It is not known what the future holds for Truth
Will Out…”, but the truth will out on its path forward in due course.
Ayckbourn’s website also reveals he had written another play, Just
Mercy, earlier in 2019 for his 2020 premiere before turning his attention to
Truth Will Out instead. He still hopes Just Mercy “will be produced at some point
in the future”.
As the Covid-19 pandemic sweeps the world, joint chief executives Caroline
Routh and Paul Robinson said today: “Like everyone else, we are in uncharted
territory, but our current plans are based on probably being closed for
most of the planned summer season, which means we’ll no longer be
presenting Just Between Ourselves, The Ladykillers or Truth Will
Out this year.”
Matthew Wilson and Nicola Stephenson in Hull Truck Theatre and the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s co-production of Two, directed by Hull Truck artistic director Mark Babych
Artistic director Robinson’s production of Father Ted and Black Books writer Graham Linehan’s stage adaptation of the 1955 Ealing comedy The Ladykillers would have run from July 9 to August 15, with its story of the sweetest of sweet little old ladies, alone at home but for a parrot with a mystery illness, at the mercy of a ruthless gang of criminal misfits.
The SJT is making plans to be “up and running again as quickly as
possible once it’s able to”.
“We are already thinking about what might be possible should
restrictions start to lift earlier than expected,” say Routh and Robinson. “We
are extremely lucky in that we have a couple of shows which are ready, or
almost ready, to go.
“Jim Cartwright’s Two, our co-production with Hull Truck Theatre, had
already opened there, so can be on our stage at relatively short notice,
while Little Red Riding Hood, which was due to fill our Easter slot for
families next month, is cast and the set is nearly complete – we just need a
couple of weeks’ rehearsal.”
Charlotte Brooke: one of the cast members for the SJT OutReach production of Little Red Riding Hood
Adapted by Saviour Pirotta, Cheryl Govan’s SJT OutReach production of
this fabled story of not judging a book by its cover, or a wolf by its teeth,
features a cast of Charlotte Brooke, Marcquelle Ward, Nicola Holliday and
Charlotte Oliver, who were to have taken to The McCarthy stage from April 7 to
11.
Routh and Robinson continue: “While we couldn’t, of course, see an
instant return to normal, we could start up our film programme again, schedule
some pieces of visiting theatre, or stage a rehearsed reading or two, all of
which will bring our building back to life quite quickly.”
The SJT’s box-office team is being kept busy, working remotely to
contact those who have booked tickets for the upcoming spring and summer
seasons.
Routh and Robinson say: “We’ve already contacted all those who’d booked
tickets for shows and films during our initial week-long closure, and we were
amazed by how many of them refused a refund, preferring instead to donate the
cost of their tickets or credit their account.
The new message on the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s former Odeon cinema frontage after the Coronavirus shutdown
“It’s so touching to see how many people are showing faith in our future
and are keen to support us – our heartfelt thanks to all of them.
“We aim to remain an essential part of the wider community in the
borough of Scarborough throughout this period, and really look forward to
welcoming you all back when our doors re-open.”
The SJT is closed to the
public, but until further notice the box office will be accepting phone and
email enquiries from noon to 6pm, Mondays to Fridays, on 01723 370541 or at
sjt.uk.com.
The SJT will be posting regular updates on its website and social media
channels: @thesjt.
The artwork for the postponed Opera North and Leeds Playhouse co-production of A Little Night Music
OPERA North is cancelling or
postponing all “public-facing activity” until at least the end of April, in response
to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Leeds company also confirmed the postponement of this season’s co-production of Stephen Sondheim’s acerbic musical A Little Night Music with Leeds Playhouse. Rehearsals had been due to start this morning for the May 9 opening to mark the year when the New York composer turned 90 yesterday.
“Our immediate priority is the health and
safety of our audiences, artists and staff, and we hope to be able to mount the
production in a future season,” said Opera North general director Richard
Mantle.
Stephen Sondheim: composer of the 1973 musical A Little Night Musical
“This is undoubtedly a time of great challenge
for Opera North and our peers but we are determined to respond with creativity
and resilience.
“We will honour the contracts of all guest
artists to the end of our current main stage opera season and those of guest
orchestral players until the end of April.”
Mr Mantle continued: “We are working with our
many education and community partners to ascertain what work can still be
delivered in those settings, and will focus our creativity and core resources
on finding new ways of using music and opera to enhance people’s lives. In
these uncertain times, it feels more important than ever that we use music to
connect with each other.”
A close-up of the Orchestra of Opera North. Picture: Justin Slee
Opera North remains hopeful that the 2020-2021 season will go
ahead as planned in September. In the meantime, the company is working on
finding other ways to share its art form with audiences, including online
resources.
Balancing act: York Theatre Royal postpones The Penelopiad until 2021 but that enables “a little more dreamtime” for the creative team
YORK
Theatre Royal’s summer production of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad has been
postponed.
Originally in the 2020 diary for July 10 to 25, associate director Juliet Forster’s show will be staged in 2021 instead on dates yet to be confirmed.
Uncertainty
surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic is holding up pre-production work by Forster’s
creative team.
Juliet Forster: York Theatre Royal associate director, directing The Penelopiad
Juliet says:
“The joy of Atwood’s work is that it doesn’t date, so although we are
disappointed that we have to postpone our production of The Penelopiad, I know
it will be just as relevant and exciting to stage this wonderful play in
2021.
“And on
the upside, for the creative team involved, having a little more dreamtime on
this story will only make the final staging of it all the more spectacular!”
Written
by the Booker Prize-winning author of The Handmaid’s Tale and 2019’s The
Testaments, The Penelopiad tells the story of Odysseus’ wife Penelope and the
Trojan Wars from her point of view.
Writer Margaret Atwood
Ticket
holders will be contacted by the Theatre Royal box office in the coming weeks.
Isango Ensemble: May tour to York Theatre Royal cancelled; may tour next year instead,
ISANGO Ensemble’s
three-week season at York Theatre Royal in May – the “highlight of their year” –
has been cancelled in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The South
African company, whose performers are drawn mainly from the Cape Town
townships, was programmed to perform three shows from its repertoire, The
Mysteries, The Magic Flute and SS Mendi: Dancing the Death Drill, from May 5 to
23 in Isango’s first visit to York in their two-decade span. Now they hope to
visit Yorkshire next year instead.
Isango Ensemble in SS Mend; Dancing The Death Drill. Picture: The Other Richard
Theatre
Royal executive director Tom Bird says: “We are devastated that our friends
Isango Ensemble are unable to make the trip to the UK. They have been in
rehearsal for a specially curated season of work that was sure to delight and
inspire our audiences with their joyous productions. We hope there will be
another opportunity for us to welcome the company to York in the future.”
Director
Mark Dornford-May, the Yorkshireman who co-founded Isango 20 years ago, says:
“The whole ensemble were so excited to be visiting York for the first time in
our 20-year history. It really was the highlight of the year. To have been
rehearsing the shows and then not be able to play them in that beautiful
theatre is a deeply felt blow.
Isango Ensemble in The Mysteries: Noluthando Boqwana as Lucifer, left, with Devils
“Tom and
all his colleagues have been so supportive throughout the last few difficult
days and together we hope to create a plan to get to play in Yorkshire next
year.”
Ticket
holders will be contacted by the Theatre Royal box office in the coming
weeks.
Did you know?
ISANGO Ensemble is a Cape Town theatre company led by director and co-founder Mark Dornford-May and music directors Pauline Malefane and Mandisi Dyantyis.
THE York Theatre Royal building is closed to the public until further notice.
This morning’s full statement reads: “Following the latest Government advice about Coronavirus, the York Theatre Royal building is now closed to the public until further notice. You can still contact our box office by phone on 01904 623568.
“All Youth Theatre, LAMDA, Crafty Tales and Adult Theatre Workshop sessions will stop running for the time being. Costume hire is also closed until further notice.”
The statement continues: “It’s with enormous sadness that we temporarily close our doors, but the safety of our audiences, staff and community is of utmost importance. We apologise for the disruption and thank you for your support during this period of great uncertainty.
“We are making contact with ticket holders for the cancelled performances. If the closure period is extended, we will be in touch with bookers for future performances in good time, and we’ll also post updates to our website and social media channels. See you soon.”
Nothing happening full stop. Now, with time on your frequently washed hands, home is where the art is and plenty else besides
Exit 10 Things To See Next Week in York and beyond for the unforeseeable future. Enter home entertainment, wherever you may be, whether still together or in isolation, in the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. From behind his closed door, CHARLES HUTCHINSON makes these suggestions.
Compiling your Desert Island Discs
CREATE your own Desert Island Discs and accompanying reasons, should you ever be called to answer Lauren Laverne’s questions on the BBC Radio 4 Sunday morning staple. Cue Eric Coates’s opening theme, By The Sleepy Lagoon, then your eight music choices, one book choice, one luxury.
Then play your list, but cutting it down to eight will be much harder than you first expect.
Make a cut-out of Lauren Laverne and do your own edition of Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs, suggestion number two
AND while you are about it, also take every opportunity to raid the Beeb’s Desert Island Discs back catalogue at BBC Sounds. Recommendations? Ian Wright, former footballer, turned broadcaster; Dr John Cooper Clarke, sage Salford stick insect and man of multitudinous words; Kathy Burke, Camden Town actress, comedian, writer, producer and director.
Make a timetable for the day
LIKE you would at work…though this timetable may not be possible, if indeed you are working from home.
Nevertheless, should the time need passing, allow, say, an hour for each activity, be it writing; reading; playing board games at the stipulated distances apart or card games, which can be done on your own, such as Patience; watching a movie, maybe a long-neglected DVD rescued from a dusty shelf; or whatever else is on your list.
“Puzzles are wonderfully relaxing yet keep the brain very active ,” says jigsaw enthusiast and York actor Ian Giles
Re-discover a childhood joy
PLUCKING one out of the air, how about jigsaw puzzles, a favourite of Mother Hutch and Granny Pyman before her.
“They are wonderfully relaxing yet keep the brain very active and there’s a feeling of creative satisfaction on completion,” recommends York actor Ian Giles, a devotee of such puzzle solving.
Singing
YORK singer Jessa Liversidge runs the Singing For All choir, as heard savouring I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing at Big Ian’s A Night To Remember at a packed York Barbican (remember those days?) on Leap Year Saturday.
Now, abiding by the Government’s Avoid Unnecessary Social Contact advice, to keep people singing, she is planning a range of online singing opportunities to suit not only her Singing For All and Easingwold Community Singers folks, but “any frustrated singers”. “Get in touch to find out how to join,” says Jessa, whose Twitter account is @jessaliversidge. She posts regularly.
Still on song: York singer Jessa Liversidge would like to reach the world to sing online
Lighting a candle
THE Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend Dr John Sentamu, is asking us all to place a lighted candle in our window at 7pm this coming Sunday “as a sign of solidarity and hope in the light of Christ that can never be extinguished”.
Baking
ALL those cookbooks that you bought for the nice pictures, but have never opened since, are bursting with opportunities to try out a new dish…if the supermarket shelves have not been emptied by 10 o’clock in the morning.
Why not raid the store cupboard too, check the dates (and the dried dates from last Christmas) and see if anything may come in handy. The likelihood is more and more hours will have to be spent at home; this is a chance to stretch your culinary skills.
Candlelight: The Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend Dr John Sentamu’s Sunday request
Gardening
HOPEFULLY, going for walks, maintaining a safe, previously anti-social distance, will still be a possibility, as advocated by Prime Minister Johnson, until otherwise stated.
If not, or if isolation is your way ahead, spring is in the air, gardens are turning green, the grass is growing. Gardening will surely be one of the unbroken joys of the ever-so-uncertain path that lies ahead.
Should you not have a garden, windowsills are havens for green-fingered pursuits: the seeds of much content.
And what about…
Podcasts. Books. More podcasts. More books. Box sets (yawn). Discovering a new band online, or maybe an old one you had long neglected. Writing a 10 Things like this one. Reading Bard of Barnsley Ian McMillan’s morning Tweets, or any time of day, in fact. Reading York musician and motivational speaker Big Ian Donaghy’s perennially positive thoughts for the day @trainingcarers, BIGIAN #DEMENTIAisAteamGAME. Watch Channel 4 News, especially Jon Snow, one bright-tied 72 year old who should defy the imminent Government “curfew” on the over-70s. (UPDATE: 19/3/2020. Or maybe not. Tonight he broadcast from his central London home.)
Poetry in motion: Ian McMillan’s joyous Tweets from his early-morning walks
And finally…
PLEASE stop flicking through social media at every turn…except for displays of the ever-so-British black humour in response to the new C-word.
Any suggestions for further editions of 10 Things To Do At Home And Beyond are most welcome. Please send to charles.hutchinson104@gmail.com
