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*Some information mentioned in this article may be out of date due to the progress of the current situation.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*
Raffaella Covino was most recently seen in the UK Tour of A Monster Calls as Ensemble and Dance Captain. Her other credits include Ensemble in King (Hackney Empire); Swing in On the Town (Regent's Park, Open Air Theatre); Swing and cover Mimi & Maureen in RENT (UK Tour); Swing, Dance Captain and cover Nina in In The Heights (Kings Cross Theatre &n Southwark Playhouse); Lou-ann in Hairspray (UK Tour); Associate Choreographer and Swing in The Sound of Music (International venues) and Bertha in Applause (Bridewell 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?
I was on my way back to London from celebrating a friend’s birthday in the countryside with the plan to head straight back to my flat to pack for my next tour venue for the play I was doing. My flight to Aberdeen was due to be very early the next morning! It was a mixed reaction. Of course, initial confusion and panic at the severity and potential consequences of the decision for both myself, my friends and the whole industry, world even! But quickly relief came over me that I hadn’t yet travelled to Aberdeen and was safe, home, healthy and able to relax and process in my flat.
Can you tell us anything productive you’ve been doing?
I have a mantra for isolation and that is - Mental health before productivity. As to me, nurturing and exploring how to look after your mental health during these times is one of the most productive and important things we could be doing.
I run a mental health non-profit organisation called Applause for Thought and it has been a joy to be able to make that my full time focus. Amongst other initiatives we have started doing Saturday Check-ins on Instagram Live where I chat to a guest about mental health in the arts, our incredible first guest was Drew Mconie and we had Owen from Tax for Actors on last week to help decipher the jargon surrounding universal credit and government grants. It has been so wonderful to engage with the AFT audience in this way! On a personal note, I have a spoken word artist/poet alter ego called The Italian Poet, and It has been nothing short of cathartic release to get to have the time to write poems and spoken word pieces. My creative juices have been definitely flowing during this time!
