Facing the postponement due to lockdown of his West End production, Six Characters in Search of an Author, actor, writer and director Simon Evans (OD 1997), was not one to let such an opportunity pass him by. Instead, the new virtuoso of virtual drama teamed up with fellow Old Dragon Phin Glynn (1998), and began creating a TV series called Staged. Featuring David Tennant and Michael Sheen, who were set to star in the West End production, this new virtual drama features a director about to begin a new West End production, and the trials and tribulations of rehearsing such a production during lockdown. Sound familiar?
‘All they need to do is read the first scene, but throughout the series they come up against a multitude of oppositional forces: distraction, boredom, home-schooling and their own egos.’
All 6 episodes of Staged are available to watch on BBC iPlayer, with the next episode being broadcast on BBC One this coming Monday, 13th July, at 9.45pm.
Staged isn’t the only project Simon’s been busy with since the pandemic, and you can catch a virtual evening of comedy and performance in your living room on the 8th July, 2020. Featuring Stephen Fry and Friends, ‘A Theatre Near You’ is a live response to theatre without live performance, and is presented by Oxford Playhouse, Jericho Comedy and Macrocosmic, in aid of the Playhouse Plays On Appeal.
Along with Stephen Fry and Friends, the line-up includes The Mash Report’s Lucy Porter and Rachel Parris, with further artists to be announced.
Simon is Founding Director of Myriad Immersive, a theatre company creating work in-house aimed at theatre audiences in London and New York. He is best known for John Carter (2012), Hunters in the Dark, and Totem.
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*Cover Image: Oxford Playhouse Gallery
