John and I meet on an under-promenade bench framed by a white arch that somehow seems perfectly designed for risk-assessed social distancing. You may not be aware of Fetch, but surely you know of A Penny Pincher’s Christmas Carol which has become a firm part of the local cultural almanac and for some is the signal for the start of festivities.

“You can forget your high-proscenium arch theatres and West End shows, for me theatre is all about intimacy, it’s about breaking boundaries, it’s about the moment.” To John the very heart of vivid pulsing theatre is that which is prohibited under lockdown.

Bar Barbarian
PICTURE: Peter Mould

His love of theatre started In Liverpool, at The Everyman Theatre. “I grew up sitting in the Bistro Bar in the basement of the theatre, rubbing shoulders with actors, painters, pimps, prostitutes, musicians and madmen.” 

Having moved to Hastings he now leads Fetch Theatre, a well-regarded community-based company that receives Arts Council funding and has a whole string of innovative productions to its name. Recent work by the company has been staged in London, Prague, Brighton Fringe and the Edinburgh Festival.

Time Please
PICTURE: Peter Mould

He tells me how he came to understand that theatre should be a “visceral, guttural and physical” experience. He recalls seeing a recent production of Julius Caesar at Bridge Theatre in Southwark and describes it as a “full-on, in-your-face, spit, blood, rush, shove and push of a show where the audience were in the midst of the whole thing, not voyeurs but an essential part of it.”

John’s brand of theatre is an extension of that love of audience/actor mix. Orchestra pit? What orchestra pit? Small scale, intimate and challenging. “For me there is no greater moment than when the audience, the script and the actors are in unison, all held in one communal breath.” 

My only criteria for a piece is that I enjoy making it and I like it when it’s finished

I sense the frustration John feels that he cannot ply his trade during the Covid-19 lockdown. The idea that to resume any form of theatre normality might involve sparsely spread audiences sitting two metres apart numbs him. If the audience and actors are not rubbing shoulders and looking each other directly in the eye, then the event will be anodyne and impotent he tells me. 

Despite valiant attempts to keep theatre alive during this period, no amount of free streaming of National Theatre productions can replace the physical encounter of being present at a live theatre piece in its ‘moment’ of performance. The BBC’s Unprecedented series has been written and filmed in lockdown and not only responds to the radical way we have seen our world change during the coronavirus pandemic, but is formally ‘of’ the pandemic. One piece in the series, for example, is a dramatised family Zoom meeting. This is like theatre, but it is not actually theatre. It may be good TV, but is thin gruel compared to the ‘real’ thing.

Pandemic aside, it is a surprise that a town that has such a thriving independent music scene, a full professional symphony orchestra and such a communally agreed commitment to and love of the Arts, does not have a thriving experimental theatre community. This is especially the case when you consider how many proven and distinguished actors and theatre professionals there are who live in Hastings. But people and projects need a space, and John emphasises the urgent need to establish a dedicated ‘black box’ venue in the town.

“The curtains are closed for now, the lights are dimmed, but visceral, tangible and full of passion, we will return.” John assures me.

• For more information please check Fetch Theatre website fetch-theatre.co.uk

BFI Player and funding for the Screen Sector

On 24th March BFI announced a new partnership with The Film and TV Charity to create a new COVID-19 Film and TV Emergency Relief Fund. Established with a £1m donation from Netflix, the new fund will provide emergency short-term relief to active workers and freelancers in the UK who have been directly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. The Film and TV Charity is currently working on the precise eligibility criteria and level of individual funding, but the fund will be open to those working in production, distribution and exhibition.

The excellent BFI player is currently offering a two-week free trial, and the BFI website provides a number of archive clips and features to watch for free anyway. 

National Theatre YouTube Streaming

Starting on 2nd April with a showing of One Man, Two Guvnors, the National Theatre will be streaming full performances on its YouTube channel every week, with each performance remaining free to watch for 7 days after the first streaming. Following One Man, Two Guvnors will be Jane Eyre on 9th April, Treasure Island on 16th April and Twelfth Night on 23rd April. 

It has also announced: “In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, the National Theatre Collection, including 24 full filmed plays, will now be available to pupils and teachers at state schools and state-funded further education colleges via remote access in partnership with “Bloomsbury Publishing. During this temporary period schools will be able to share log-in details with pupils to access resources at home.

Bloomsbury Publishing has also extended the free trial period for academic institutions including universities, libraries and independent schools until the end of May 2020 to continue to support the educational community across the globe.” 

Get your login details today! 

The blackShed Gallery Announces 

“While the gallery is closed, we want to stay open in other ways for you, our loyal supporters. The blackShed has been a voice for art and artists for over 10 years, which we’re extremely proud of! Over the coming weeks we plan to revisit and share some of our favourite exhibitions with you. Entitled Virtual Spaces we’ll be featuring highlights, videos and interviews from some of the artists who have worked with us during this time.

“On Monday, we will launch our first online exhibition A Return To Order by an artist you all know and love, Robert Sample. Robert has exhibited with us on three different occasions and we look forward to revisiting these events with you all, next week!

“We want to encourage your comments and thoughts along the way, as we work on creative inspiration and new ways of working and connecting with our followers.

“We’ll continue to be in touch with regular updates and developments via email, but as always the content will be featured on our social media channels, so if you’re not following us already, please do!

“We look forward to welcoming you back to the gallery as soon as possible. In the meantime, we hope the blackShed can continue to offer our supporters something different! Please continue to interact, share and support what we do, your support means more now than ever!” 

• Read more here or visit www.theblackshedgallery.org.uk

An Exhibition of Works made by Isolation?

Local artist Ben Fenton writes: 

“This is to any and all artists local to Hastings and St Leonards. I’m imagining that like me, you’re holed up, probably at home, and away from your usual studio or work materials. I also imagine that, like me, that’s not stopping you from creating work in any way that you can. 

“Well, I’ve had a thought. I would dearly love to collect as many as you together, find a venue and then, when this surreal and terrible period of time is over, exhibit all our lockdown work together. 

“It might help some of us recoup a little of our lost earnings, but primarily it will stand as an example of the triumph of imagination and creativity in adversity. 

“This is just an idea right now, so I would love to hear from you if you’d be interested in taking part. When I have an idea of numbers, I can try and make some solid plans. There’s an awful lot of truly fantastic artists round here, and I think it would be wonderful to unite in this way and have something to focus on.” 

• You can find Ben Fenton on Facebook and Instagram, or email us at 
arts@hastingsindependentpress.co.uk and we can pass on the message.