'This Strange New World' by Aniqah Rawat
What do Shakespeare, Star Trek and Tripadvisor reviews have in common? The last performance I worked on, taking inspiration from the Wooster Group to create a devised piece with my peers. From effectively doing burpees for ten minutes to singing straight after, all whilst in a corset, the rush and celebration with my peers and lecturers for what we thought would be our penultimate performance at university was incredible. Nothing will ever match the energy you get from being in a rehearsal space to making your way through show week. However, as we all know, a global pandemic came and closed theatre’s doors and it’s now been a little over a year since we first went into lockdown. No Gradfest (final year performance projects), no graduation ceremony and no goodbyes, we had to step out into this strange new world adapting and discovering innovative ways to produce theatre. It hasn’t been easy.
Theatre and how we access and create it has evolved, and I think in a lot of ways for the better. Learning to collaborate remotely has allowed us to work with creatives we might never have had the chance too. Producing digital content and streaming shows has helped remove barriers particularly in terms of location and throughout this pandemic, we have been reminded that theatre doesn’t have to be in a building specifically designed for performance. Theatre and performance can happen wherever you want it too. Whilst these aren’t necessarily new concepts for me, rediscovering them, and experiencing them first hand since graduating has been eyeopening. It has allowed me to work on projects, like ‘Fables at the Kitchen Table’ with Stute, and develop my own creative practice in the comfort of my own home. Don’t get me wrong, I miss being able to write in coffee shops and get work up on it’s feet outside the walls of my bedroom, but endless zoom calls, being able to spread out all my notes on my floor and not feeling restricted by anything has allowed space for me to work with very limited external pressures.
Through mentoring from Soph and Helen here, to lovely conversations with Lyndsey from Spot On and other people in the industry, I have gained insight on how to navigate the theatre world as in person events begin again. Not only that, but the opportunity to create work during this pandemic on my own terms, and receive constructive feedback has helped build my confidence. Whilst it would be incredible to work with larger theatre organisations, at this time, entry-level roles and mentoring opportunities have been hard to come by and so I have found and created work myself.
Theatre is something I have always had a passion for. The storytelling, the emotions it produces and the sense of community it can create are just a few of the things I enjoy the most, and if it wasn’t for theatre, and the arts more broadly, this past year would have been a lot harder than it actually was.
Entering the industry at this time hasn’t been an easy ride, but as we move to live performances in-person once more, it’s definitely an exciting time to be a part of an evolving arts practice and to see what the future holds.
