A new slate of theatrical shorts will air as part of the series Unprecedented: Real Time Theatre from a State of Isolation, launching in May on BBC. The works will explore the new experience that communities are facing all over the world: social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Written and performed in isolation, the plays will use digital conferencing technology to combine live and pre-recorded material. The programming, a collaboration between Headlong Theatre Company, Century Films, and BBC Arts, will be shown as part of BBC Arts' Culture in Quarantine, with plans to make the plays available on the BBC iPlayer in addition to television broadcasts.
Among the playwrights tapped to create new works are April De Angelis, Josh Azouz, Deborah Bruce, John Donnelly, James Graham, Charlene James, Matilda Ibini, Jasmine Lee-Jones, Duncan Macmillan, Anna Maloney, Nathaniel Martello-White, Chloë Moss, Prasanna Puwanarajah, and Tim Price.
Ned Bennett, Deborah Bruce, Tinuke Craig, Debbie Hannan, Jeremy Herrin, Brian Hill, Ola Ince, Nathaniel Martello-White, Caitlin Mcleod, Blanche McIntyre, and Holly Race Roughan, have all signed on to direct.
