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Arts in the Midlands, Love Letters to Scotland, Soweto Kinch

The threat to Arts in the Midlands, playwrights penning their love letters to Scotland, Soweto Kinch's Lockdown Discovery.

Arts organisations in the West Midlands say the region is one of the worst hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. In Birmingham, despite emergency relief funding from the Arts Council, the Town Hall and Symphony Hall face cutting half of their workforce, while both the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Hippodrome have announced substantial job losses. What impact does it have on a city when its cultural centres are forced to close their doors?

Over 20 British playwrights and poets have been commissioned by Pitlochry Festival Theatre to write A Love Letter to Scotland, inspired by the River Tay. The works written as part of its three-year Shades of Tay project, will be shown online as audio dramas, podcasts and short films. Douglas Maxwell and Chinonyerem Odimba are two of the playwrights taking part in the project.

All this week on Front Row, individuals from the arts are choosing one Lockdown Discovery, a cultural find that has given them pleasure during the dark months of being stuck at home due to Covid-19. Today alto-saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch explains how running and cycling along the canals of Birmingham has sparked a creative love affair with the canals and decaying backwaters of his home city.

The emergence of quarantine or quara-horror, with a frankly terrifying new film set on a Zoom call. Host was filmed over twelve weeks in quarantine entirely on Zoom.

Presenter: Katie Popperwell
Producer: Cecile Wright

Main image: The River Tay

Available now

28 minutes

Douglas Maxwell

Douglas Maxwell

Douglas Maxwell is a Scottish playwright, whose work has been performed throughout Scotland, the UK and abroad.

His play Beautiful Boy is available online from 07 August 2020 as part of project, which digitally premieres 20 new writings by playwrights and poems

Images:

Main image above:听the River Tay

Image to the left: Douglas Maxwell

Chinonyerem Odimba

Chinonyerem Odimba

Chinonyerem Odimba is a playwright and screenwriter. Her play听 We All Need Company Sometimes is premiered online from 22 August 2020, also as part of project.

Fiona Allen

Fiona Allen

Fiona Allan is Chief Executive of , president of UK theatre and the chair of the Midlands Tourism Board.

Image: Fiona Allen

Chenine Bhathena

Chenine Bhathena

Chenine Bhathena is Creative Director for Coventry's year as

Image: Chenine Bhathena

Image credit: Ahsen Sayeed

Mike Muncer

Mike Muncer

Mike Muncer is a film journalist , producer and presenter. His weekly podcast explores the history of the horror genre.

Image: Mike Muncer

Image credit: Mike Muncer

Stream the film

Soweto Kinch

Soweto Kinch

Alto Saxophonist is also known as a hip hop MC and producer.

Image: Soweto Kinch

Broadcast

  • Thu 6 Aug 2020 19:15

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