These recent times have been some of the hardest challenges we've faced and as a community, it hit us pretty hard. However during these difficult times, here at Pocket Size Theatre, we wanted to spread a little positivity and share some peoples experiences because we are all in this together. Each day we'll be speaking to our friends in the industry to share their experiences with you all so take a read and see how people are getting through these hard times.
Let's stick together, share the love and get through this as a community!
Benjamin Purkiss recently appeared as the title role in Zorro at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. His other credits include Young Gibran in Broken Wings (The Other Palace & Katara Opera House); Macheath in The Beggars Opera (Bouffes du Nord theatre & European Tour); Alternate Strat in Bat Out of Hell (Manchester Opera House & London Coliseum) and Woolhaven & Ensemble in Allegro (Southwark Playhouse).
On Monday 16th March 2020, The Society of London Theatre announced the closure of all Theatres in London. This followed suit with regional venues. Where were you when you found out and what was your initial reaction?
Let's stick together, share the love and get through this as a community!
*Some information mentioned in this article may be out of date due to the progress of the current situation. Please keep that in mind when reading*
Benjamin Purkiss recently appeared as the title role in Zorro at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. His other credits include Young Gibran in Broken Wings (The Other Palace & Katara Opera House); Macheath in The Beggars Opera (Bouffes du Nord theatre & European Tour); Alternate Strat in Bat Out of Hell (Manchester Opera House & London Coliseum) and Woolhaven & Ensemble in Allegro (Southwark Playhouse).
On Monday 16th March 2020, The Society of London Theatre announced the closure of all Theatres in London. This followed suit with regional venues. Where were you when you found out and what was your initial reaction?
I was staying in Manchester on my day off just after our second preview of Zorro. To be honest, I initially didn’t think it would affect us very quickly, I still had friends and family talking to me about coming to see the show, I honestly thought we had at least a week or so, how wrong I was.
Can you tell us anything productive you’ve been doing?
I’ve been keeping myself really busy. I’ve found it really useful to keep my diary full, like actually write down and structure my days (Friday night is Pizza night). It helps me to schedule my life and calm my mind in all this. But yes, been doing lots of singing and creating with my band The Songsmiths (@thesongsmithsUK) writing and filming from home, and seen lots of super cool stuff too.
