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*Some information mentioned in this article may be out of date due to the progress of the current situation.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*
Zara MacIntosh is currently the Alternate Catherine of Aragon & Katherine Howard in the London production of SIX at the Arts Theatre. Her other credits include Rattie in Wind In The Willows (UK Tour), Lead Vocalist / Princess Tiana at Hong Kong Disneyland, Vocalist for Collaborative Orchestra and Singers (Britain’s Got Talent / SYCO), H2O in Pandemonium (Water and Steam Museum), Maria in Twelfth Night (Shakespeare Festival / Royal Court Theatre) as well as appearing in the music video of She Said as a Judo Artist and the short film Boom Boom A Bang as Wendy.
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?
Wow, it’s really crazy to think I’ve been away from the theatre for this long. Well, Monday’s are our official days off at SIX, so I was in my rented room in West London awaiting the official call from our SM to say that the West End was going dark. I really had mix feelings about the whole thing, I really love my job and work family and didn’t want to stop doing shows but at the same time, I really wanted to get home to my family. Safety was key and one of my top concerns so once I received the message saying the theatres were closing I instantly packed my suitcase and any bag I could carry and booked myself on a train back to Cambridgeshire, home sweet home!
Can you tell us anything productive you’ve been doing?
Pre lockdown I felt like my life was very busy and I never really allowed myself any ‘me time’ so on my list of things to do while in lockdown I made sure that I had plenty of time to just stop, breath and take every day as it comes. I’ve set myself time restrictions on my phone making sure that I have time to enjoy daily walks and reading my book with a clear mind away from social media, I would definitely recommend this to others. An activity I’ve picked up is completing jigsaw puzzles, as a child I could never focus long enough to complete a full puzzle so I’m spending this time completing as many puzzles as I possibly can, making up for lost time.
