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!
*Some information mentioned in this article may be out of date due to the progress of the current situation.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*
Joseph Davenport is currently in the London company of The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre. His other credits include Memphis (Shaftesbury Theatre); Matilda (Cambridge Theatre); Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales Theatre); All-Male Pirates of Penzance and Iolanthe (Wilton’s Music Hall & Rose Theatre, Kingston); Aladdin (Courtyard Theatre, Hereford); Harry in After The Tone (Bridewell Theatre); Crazy For You (London Palladium); West Side Story (Albany Theatre) and A Chorus Line (Battersea Arts Centre).
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?
It was really weird for me because I was actually on holiday a few days prior to this happening. I had booked some time off for laser eye surgery (which I cannot recommend enough by the way!) so I wasn’t in work on the Monday when they got the announcement that shows in town were closing. I was texting my dressing room boys and shortly after what would have been our warmup, one of them just messaged saying ‘We aren’t going up tonight.’
At first, it was a ‘schools out’ kind of feeling but then as the night went on at home, as I sat there listening to the radio with my protective goggles on (it was such a look) - the realisation that this may be long term started to set in. However, I think not being with my cast at the Prince of Wales didn’t really seem as real as it probably did for them.
Can you tell us anything productive you’ve been doing?
To be really honest, there have been a lot of plans to learn new things. Not an awful lot has been actually happening just yet, but I’m not on a time schedule. I think you can be your biggest enemy in that sense, if you need to have a day or two of just sitting and doing absolutely nothing that’s absolutely fine. However, I have bought a ukulele which I plan to start learning, I’ve been busying myself with DIY projects at home, doing the little jobs you never get round to doing, cleaning (A LOT - I blame Mrs Hinch) and I have enrolled in a sign language course online, as I thought this would be a nice new skill to add to the spotlight page!
