COMING HOME: Michael Afemaré, appearing in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre

Pocket Size Theatre and Liza Heinrichs (Captured by Liz) have teamed up again and created our new series 'Coming Home'. In this new piece, we look at the reopening of Theatres in London and around the country and celebrate our industry coming back. We got together some performers who will be some of the first to return to theatres and created this piece to bring some positivity to the theatre industry which has been through one of the toughest years in our lifetime. Whilst it is important to acknowledge the hardships we've all gone through, it's important we pull together as a community and celebrate our beloved industry finally coming back! 

Michael Afemaré was due to perform in the transfer production of Evita. The show was revived in a brand new production at the Regent’s Park, Open Air Theatre in 2019 and was meant to be taking over the Barbican in the summer of 2020. But, with the closure of theatres, the production, unfortunately, didn’t go ahead. What that meant for Michael was that he had lost out on a wonderful job. But, we mustn’t focus on the negatives because the day before we met Michael, it was announced that he would be joining the original London company of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella. Having previously been in the original London cast of Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre, he is no stranger to a West End premiere! 

Over the past year, so many issues have been brought to the surface and highlighted in our industry. So many important conversations have been going on and with theatre now planning on reopening, this is the time for the change and progress we’ve been campaigning for. Michael feels incredibly passionate about the lack of representation of ethnicity within the industry, in particular artists of Indian and Asian heritage. Something interesting that he also brings up is, this isn’t just about the casts and people we see on stage, it goes way beyond that, “I am always trying to fight the fight for more equal opportunities, but these opportunities also need to exist beyond theatre casts. I would love for there to be a world where representation and diversity can be noted and appreciated in more positions of power; creative teams, directors, choreographers, casting directors - the list is endless.” 

The Corona Diaries: Michael Afemaré

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*

Michael Afemaré most recently appeared in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs at the Manchester Opera House). His other credits include On-Stage Swing in Flashdance (Korean Tour); Assistant Dance Captain/Swing in Dreamgirls (Savoy Theatre – Original London Cast) and Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (Hull New Theatre). 

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? 

Honestly, I felt a massive wave of anxiety. I had just taught, what effectively became, my last spin class at Boom Cycle. They were also forced to close their doors, following government advice. The honest truth is that my initial shock reaction can’t compare to the fear of the unknown. I was scared. I’m still scared. The performing industry feels like home to so many people so the fear of that being taken away, for an undeterminable amount of time, seems terrifying. I was meant to be appearing in Evita at the Barbican Centre, so to have that pulled from under me, was also really disappointing. But I couldn’t focus on that, because as we all know, the magnitude of the situation is so much bigger than just one production.

Can you tell us anything productive you’ve been doing?

I have had to try really hard to curb my online spending, because I have found myself passing time online shopping. Luckily I haven’t broken the bank, or ordered anything outrageous (Pay no attention to the swimming pool in the back garden). That being said I have really tried to keep my physical fitness as high as possible. Its been so great to see so many of my fellow performers and personal trainers offering up their time to share their talents and classes online for everyone to enjoy. I have also been using my green fingers to help renovate the back garden, and have donned my Tom & Jerry apron whilst baking up a storm. Banana bread, anyone?