Women in Lockdown Short Film

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Sat 14 Nov 2020 - Thu 14 Jan 2021

The award-winning Birmingham theatre group led by the comedian behind Mrs Barbara Nice, is releasing its new short film Women in Lockdown.



Tune into Women and Theatre's YouTube channel from 7.30pm on Saturday 14 November to see the unique piece that explores the lives of women across Birmingham and the Black Country during the first UK lockdown from early March to June.

Women in Lockdown features an ensemble community cast of over 40 local women and combines varied footage from Zoom sessions, mobile phones and some socially-distanced filmed sequences, accompanied by an engaging score of commissioned new music.

It has been developed from research with women of different ages and cultural backgrounds, including disabled and D/deaf women and involving the group's artistic director Janice Connolly - well known as a comedy actress who is a favourite of Peter Kay's for her alter ego, Mrs Barbara Nice.

This ambitious project captures the experiences of real women living through the COVID-19 pandemic and can be watched for free by those now experiencing the second lockdown in England.



Janice Connolly, Artistic Director at Women And Theatre, said: "This is a unique moment in history and we feel it's important that the lives of ordinary women are shared and represented. Women and Theatre remains committed as always to making deep work about things that matter."

This project began in May with Connolly interviewing over 35 women on Zoom as part of the research for the project. This has been followed by phases of writing, devising, music composition, some socially distanced filming, as well as numerous rehearsals and recording sessions over Zoom.

The Women in Lockdown artistic team includes Women and Theatre's Janice Connolly and Jo Gleave, composer Nicola McAteer, filmmaker Sima Gonsai and D/deaf creative practitioner Maral Mamaghani.



Despite the lockdown closing theatres, the theatre group has continued to make work by adapting their pioneering approach to theatre making for digital platforms.

Women and Theatre is also a charity that received a grant from Arts Council England's Covid-19 Emergency Fund, which enabled them to develop this new piece of work.

The film premieres on Women and Theatre's YouTube Channel on Saturday 14 November 2020 at 7.30pm and is free to watch here .

It is fully captioned and is accessible to D/deaf audiences.

There will also be a Facebook Watch Party beginning with an introduction with members of the creative team beginning at 7pm. After the film, there is also a post-show discussion on Facebook.

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!date 14/11/2020 -- 14/01/2021
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