Who’d have thought that at the start of this year, we’d find ourselves in the middle of a global health pandemic. Without stating the obvious, the impact of Covid-19 has probably been one of the most devastating experiences of my lifetime. Firstly, we must never forget that this is a pandemic and that nearly 45,000 people in this country alone have died as a result. Alongside this tragic loss of...
Last week, PLASA launched the #WeMakeEvents campaign in order to raise awareness around the fact that the events sector urgently needs more support to survive the Covid-19 crisis. Like many organisations working in the live entertainment industry, WL is encouraging as many people as possible to get behind the campaign. The world of live events changed on March 16th when the UK government...
A group of theatre production electricians have come together to launch A Covid Theatre Practice – a platform for anyone who works backstage in UK theatre to share ideas on how we may have to work differently when theatre re-opens post pandemic. The group consists of Gerry Amies, Martin Chisnall, Fraser Hall and Pete Lambert; all of whom are well known on the West End theatre circuit and between...
The past few months have seen the whole of the UK trapped underneath a cloud of uncertainty. Even now, as a company who works largely in events and theatre, we are still very unsure of what the future holds and when we’ll be able to return to some form of normality. One thing we are certain of though is that the world will be a very different place once we are through the other side of all this...
When WL asked me to write this blog, I wasn’t exactly sure what it should be or, how honest I would be! What crazy times. Right now I should be sat in the opera house at Longborough with my favourite collaborators and friends creating the beautiful worlds of Wagner’s Die Walküre. Instead, I’m sitting on my bed (which is now my office space) listening to High School Musical – yes ladies and...
Over the past few weeks, organisations, venues, and individuals have collectively called on the government to provide the necessary support which will ensure the UK’s Creative Industries survive these unprecedented times. Over the past week, we have finally started to see an increase in the amount of coverage featured in the mainstream media, whether it’s articles featured in The Stage or in-depth...
As this year’s #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek draws to an end, it’s been encouraging to hear so many stories focused around this year’s theme of kindness and we hope you enjoyed the ones we also shared. That said, we know these are unprecedented times and that the uncertainty of the next few weeks/months will be worrying for many. With that in mind, we would encourage all of you to continue looking...
Courtesy of People Powered Our latest blog as part of this year’s #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek focuses on People Powered UK – a team of industry freelancers who have come together to use their skills and knowledge to aid NHS services across the country. People Powered UK is the brainchild of Katharine Williams (a lighting designer who previously worked on Crew for Calais) and Jono Kenyon (a lighting...
In just a few short weeks of adjusting to life during COVID-19, we have all learned a great deal about resilience, collaboration and our ability to adapt in challenging times. This time is slowly becoming a testament of the strength of our core values (mainly adaptability, friendliness and dependability). For this #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, we thought we’d share how some of the WL team have been...
My phone regularly chimes in with helpful reminders from my diary: load in day at the Ambassadors Theatre, Mamma Mia get out Nottingham, travel up to Liverpool. It is taunting me. I suppose I should delete everything until (insert your own unknown date here) but for some reason I cannot bring myself to do it… Like so many (or should that be all) of my fellow freelancers working in theatre, I...