Entertainment News

Comedian Mo Gilligan and radio host Julie Adenuga will be hotising this year's Rated Awards which will be taking place online on September 9, and will feature performances from Kano, Dizzee Rascal, George The Poet and M Huncho.

The awards, started by UK rap outlet GRM Daily, are back for the first time since Young Spray was stabbed at the 2018 awards show in London.

Stormzy and Aitch are this year's most-nominated artists, with four each. They're both nominated in the Male Artist, Track of the Year, Video of the Year and Album of the Year categories.

The male-dominated nominees span 10 categories and include J Hus, AJ Tracey, Headie One, Kano and Krept & Konan.

They were voted for by GRM Daily readers in an online poll in July and August.
Darkoo is the only female artist on the 10-strong track of the year shortlist for Gangsta (featuring One Acen).

All of the nominees in the album, mixtape and video of the year categories are male.

Two of the ten nominees in the personality of the year category are female - the Receipts podcast (Audrey Indome, Tolani Shoneye and Milena Sanchez) and Zeze Millz.

The likes of Ms Banks, Little Simz, Shaybo and Stefflon Don are nominated for female artist of the year - while half of the nominees for radio DJ of the year are women.

Winners in 2018 included Nines for album of the year, AJ Tracey ft. Not3s for track of the year and Not3s for artist of the year. Julie and Mo hosted that year's ceremony too.

Internationally renowned DJ Erick Morillo was announced dead after being found at a property in Miami Beach, in Florida.

Miami Police officer Ernesto Rodriguez said: "We received a 911 call this morning at 10.42am to 5660 La Gorce Drive.

"Detectives are currently on scene and in the preliminary stages of the investigation."

Made famous for his hit 1993 classic worldwide hit ‘I Like To Move It,’ the New York-born veteran DJ’s death comes a month after he was reportedly arrested and charged with sexual battery on a woman.

The alleged incident is said to have happened at Morillo’s home in Miami Beach in December 2019.

His 1993 hit, released under the name Reel 2 Real, has stood the test of time, featuring in adverts, films and as a ringtone over the years.

He was 49.

Ed Sheeran and his wife Cherry Seaborn have announced the birth of their first child - a daughter named Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran.

The multi-award winning superstar said the couple were on "cloud nine" after their daughter's arrival before returning to Instagram for the first time this year to share the news and thank the "amazing delivery team".

He added: "We are completely in love with her."

"Ello! A quick message from me as I have some personal news that I wanted to share with you," Sheeran said in his Instagram post.

"Last week, with the help of an amazing delivery team, Cherry gave birth to our beautiful and healthy daughter - Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran.

"We are completely in love with her. Both mum and baby are doing amazing and we are on cloud nine over here. We hope that you can respect our privacy at this time.

Lots of love and I'll see you when it's time to come back, Ed x"

Reading and Leeds Festival will be back next year with six headliners split across two main stages in each site. The event, which sees acts rotate between Reading and Leeds, had been due to happen last weekend but was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Now 2021's headliners will be Stormzy, Liam Gallagher, Post Malone, Catfish And The Bottlemen, Disclosure and Queens Of The Stone Age.

Up to 200,000 fans are expected at next year's events - from 27 to 29 August. The head of the event's promoters Festival Republic, Melvin Benn, said it was their "most epic plan yet".

"Two main stages, six headliners, the best line up of acts 2021 will see and 200,000 fans are going to celebrate the best music," he added.

The event, regarded by many live music fans as second only to Glastonbury in the annual UK music calendar, will also include AJ Tracey, Doja Cat, Lewis Capaldi, Mabel and Two Door Cinema Club, along with rappers Ashnikko, DaBaby and Fever 333.

Rapper Stormzy and former Oasis frontman Gallagher had been due to headline the 2020 events - along with rock band Rage Against The Machine - and the organisers were able to retain the services of both British superstars.

Gallagher said: "Yes Brothers and Sisters, I come bearing good news...Yours Truly is headlining Reading & Leeds 2021. C'MON YOU KNOW. LG"

Catfish And The Bottlemen, who will headline the festival for the first time, told BBC Radio 1 it was a "huge honour" to have been asked to top the bill.

"We've always had it in the back of our minds since we first played the BBC Introducing stage [in 2013]," the band's frontman Van McCann said.

"To be able to come back now and have that slot, it's a big one. We'll probably turn up with a few new songs."

The festival will still take place at the usual venues - Richfield Avenue in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds. Tickets bought for this summer will remain valid, while refunds will also be available, organisers have said.

Reading and Leeds are both among the longest-running and largest music events in Britain with Reading having a capacity audience of 105,000 music fans, while Leeds can take 75,000.

The Reading Festival itself dates back to the the 1960s, and used to be best-known as a rock festival, but over the years it has included a more diverse line-up and added Leeds as a second site in 1999.

Hollywood superstar Chad Boseman, was best known for playing ‘Black Panther’ in the hit Marvel superhero franchise after coming to prominence playing real-life figures - baseball great Jackie Robinson in the film ‘42’, and soul singer James Brown in ‘Get on Up’. It will, though, be as the titular ‘Black Panther’ in the blockbuster 2018 film he will be best remembered.

He starred as the ruler of Wakanda, a fictional African nation with the most advanced technology on earth.

As well as winning critical praise and taking more than $1.3 billion (£973m) at cinemas worldwide, the film was widely seen as a cultural milestone for having a largely Black cast and a Black director, Ryan Coogler.

South Carolina-born Boseman said last year that the film changed what it means to be "Young, Gifted and Black".

Black Panther was the first superhero film to get a nomination for best picture at the Oscars.
The news has left fans and the film world stunned. Get Out director Jordan Peele, said it was "a crushing blow".

"A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much," his family said in the statement.

"From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and several more - all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honour of his career to bring King T'Challa to life in Black Panther."

Tributes pouring in for the star, including from actor and fellow Marvel star Mark Ruffalo. Actor Dwayne Johnson tweeted: ‘Thank you for shining your light and sharing your talent with the world.

‘My love and strength to your family’.

Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris also posted her tribute to the star.

The hashtag #WakandaForever has been trending since.

Boseman was diagnosed with colon cancer four years ago but had not made the information public.

He was 43.

The multi-award winning Colourful Radio launches on DAB across London from Monday 31 August 2020.

The pioneering online radio station will now broadcast across greater London, as far North as Luton to Guildford in the South, Slough in the West and Maidstone in the East on Global’s capacity on the London 3 DAB Multiplex.

Founder Kofi Kusitor believes that this is a significant time in the African/Caribbean community to build wholly black-owned, operated and targeted public debate.

Kusitor said: "For over 18 years, Colourful has taken a unique approach to celebrating the culture, music and entrepreneurialism of the African diaspora and the need has never been greater. We are delighted that our friends at Global are facilitating this chapter in Colourful's journey."

"Launching on DAB for Carnival Monday is no accident,” Kusitor adds. “Culturally diverse London benefits significantly from the Notting Hill Carnival. Colourful has always been ‘For the Culture’ and we’re dedicating the day to non-stop Carnival Vibes."
To listen to Colourful, tune your DAB set on Monday 31 August, visit colourfulradio.com or your favourite streaming apps.

Radio presenters DJ Ace and Remel London are to host the digital event for this year's Notting Hill Carnival.

For the first time in its 54-year history, the celebrations are set to be held online after the usual live event in west London was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Four channels will stream performances and entertainment over the bank holiday weekend from 29 August. It will start with a live countdown on the large screen at Piccadilly Circus.

The event is traditionally held in Notting Hill, Westbourne Park and parts of Kensington and has taken place annually since since 1966. But in May the carnival joined a list of summer calendar events to have been postponed, including the Glastonbury Festival and the Tokyo Olympics. because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Spotify will dedicate a microsite highlighting the importance of carnival culture in the UK later in August, organisers previously said.

BBC Radio 1xtra's DJ Ace and Capital Xtra's Remel London will be presenting on the main stage channel.

Shayna Marie and Yinka, also of Capital Xtra, will present on the sound system channel alongside musician Ras Kwame.

Other presenters include BBC Radio London's Aurie Styla and Claire Clottey, as well as DJ Martin Jay.

Bruno Tonioli will not be behind the Strictly Come Dancing judges' desk for some of this year's series, while he takes part in the US version.

The impassioned Italian usually appears on both Dancing With The Stars and the BBC show, flying back and forth. But that's not possible this year. He won't be replaced on the UK panel.

The BBC said Tonioli would still "be involved remotely" in the Sunday results shows and then return full time "towards the end of the series".

This year's series will be will be "slightly" shorter than usual due to the coronavirus pandemic, the broadcaster has said. It normally begins in September and ends in mid-December. Its run largely overlaps with Dancing With The Stars, which normally ends in late November.

The BBC hasn't said how long this series will be, or how long Tonioli will be away. The timing of his return is likely to depend on the transmission dates of Dancing With The Stars and any quarantine requirements.

Previously, Tonioli has commuted between the shows every week. However, the current rules say anyone flying from the US to the UK and vice versa must self-isolate for two weeks. The BBC also didn't give any details of how he would take part in the results shows remotely.

In a statement, Tonioli said: "I absolutely adore being part of Strictly and can't wait to see what incredible dancing this year has in store.

"Lockdown has resulted in me being in LA for the foreseeable, but I'm excited to be involved as much as I possibly can."

Executive producer Sarah James said: "I'm overjoyed that we've found a way for Bruno to be part of this year's Strictly.

"His passion and enthusiasm are such a big part of the show, I'm thrilled we can continue to deliver that to audiences this year."

In the past, the choreographer has usually missed one week of Strictly every series, to give him a mid-season break from travelling. In recent years, he has been replaced on the judging panel during his week off by The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro.

Tonioli's fellow UK judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood will all return.

Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) have announced they are embarking on a creative partnership to work on new shows together, starting with a ballet inspired by social distancing.

The two companies have joined forces to work together and develop dance productions for Birmingham audiences and help revive the city’s cultural life following lockdown.

It is the creation of the companies’ new artistic leaders, Sean Foley at Birmingham Rep, and Carlos Acosta at BRB, both of whom joined their respective organisations within the past year.

Acosta said: “I hoped the cross-sector collaboration would maximise our different creative networks and represented a shared vision to making Birmingham the greatest city in the arts".

The partnership will begin with four shows staged for live audiences at the Birmingham Rep in October. These will include the premiere of a new ballet by Will Tuckett, Lazuli Sky, which is inspired by and uses social distancing.

Of the plans Foley said: "This is the beginning of an exciting partnership that will encompass full-scale productions, and new ways to create audiences together. Combining the Rep’s own history with Birmingham Royal Ballet’s reputation for world-class ballet gives us both hope that we can help establish Birmingham as the very best city for theatre, for dance and the creative arts.

"The arts must find new and inventive ways to collaborate and create new works. The new collaboration will deliver excitement and artistic excellence for the people of Birmingham and wider afield - both nationally, and internationally".

Lazuli Sky will be part of a triple bill of ballet, with music by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, running from October 22 to 24 which will also include the neo-classical Our Waltzes by Vicente Nebrada and solo piece Liebestod, by Valery Panov.

Birmingham Rep and BRB are also developing a new work for 2021 entitled City of a Thousand Trades, which will be part of a season celebrating 30 years since BRB moved from London to Birmingham.

The one-act ballet, inspired by the stories of Birmingham and is residents, is due to premiere next May.

Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) have announced they are embarking on a creative partnership to work on new shows together, starting with a ballet inspired by social distancing.

The two companies have joined forces to work together and develop dance productions for Birmingham audiences and help revive the city’s cultural life following lockdown.

It is the creation of the companies’ new artistic leaders, Sean Foley at Birmingham Rep, and Carlos Acosta at BRB, both of whom joined their respective organisations within the past year.

Acosta said: “I hoped the cross-sector collaboration would maximise our different creative networks and represented a shared vision to making Birmingham the greatest city in the arts".

The partnership will begin with four shows staged for live audiences at the Birmingham Rep in October. These will include the premiere of a new ballet by Will Tuckett, Lazuli Sky, which is inspired by and uses social distancing.

Of the plans Foley said: "This is the beginning of an exciting partnership that will encompass full-scale productions, and new ways to create audiences together. Combining the Rep’s own history with Birmingham Royal Ballet’s reputation for world-class ballet gives us both hope that we can help establish Birmingham as the very best city for theatre, for dance and the creative arts.

"The arts must find new and inventive ways to collaborate and create new works. The new collaboration will deliver excitement and artistic excellence for the people of Birmingham and wider afield - both nationally, and internationally".

Lazuli Sky will be part of a triple bill of ballet, with music by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, running from October 22 to 24 which will also include the neo-classical Our Waltzes by Vicente Nebrada and solo piece Liebestod, by Valery Panov.

Birmingham Rep and BRB are also developing a new work for 2021 entitled City of a Thousand Trades, which will be part of a season celebrating 30 years since BRB moved from London to Birmingham.

The one-act ballet, inspired by the stories of Birmingham and is residents, is due to premiere next May.

When you are an actress, a scriptwriter, a children’s author and a jazz singer, not to mention a mother, a friend, a lover and plenty else besides, how do you describe yourself? 

As Ada Morghe, Alexandra Helmig has the answer. Don’t put her in a box. This is the inspiration of Ada Morghe’s current journey - a jazzy, soulful, deeply personal and suitably titled second album, ‘Box’.
 
Written and recorded between Livingstone Brown’s studio in London and Peter Gabriel’s studio in Wiltshire,  the 10-track album features the recent singles:  the tight, upbeat funk ‘Wake Up’, the love letter to air ‘Oh My Love’ and the romantic Parisian inspired ‘Water Lilies’, which has just been placed on YouTube’s Jazz and Blues Experience playlist with over 1.36 million followers. Plus the highlight of the album, new single ‘Box’.  
 
The groove-based focus single ‘Box’ was co-written with Andrew Roachford, who knows a thing or two about being put in boxes. When he was having hits like ‘Family Man’ and ‘Cuddly Toy’ at the end of the 80s he was forever described as the Black guy who did rock music. 
 
Ada explains: “He related to the idea in the song. We both had the same question: in your professional life, do you need to have that identity for people to rely on? It got us talking about all aspects of life and being put into a box. We can often judge and make assumptions based on first impressions: by the way people look or the roles they play personally and professionally, but everyone can have several identities. Only by talking and learning from others can we find this out”.
 
Roachford says: “Writing with Ada was a unique experience and I’m happy that we managed to capture Ada’s strong individuality when we wrote this song Box”.  Directed by Annika Blendl and Leonie Stade, the video was shot in Munich before lockdown in March.

Ada specifically employed a team of people in front and behind the camera that had various professions and identities, to reflect the message of the song, “It’s about diversity and tolerance, the courage to express yourself and awareness. The video should be fun to watch and encourage to think outside the box”. 
 
The rest of the album stretches from the melancholic elegance of ‘Rainy Day’ to the hazy, Radiohead cover ‘Weird Fishes’. There is the jazz seduction of ‘Sugar Lips’, a perfect vehicle for the warmth and smokiness of her voice. Ending with the beautiful ‘Demons’, an orchestral epic with shades of Scott Walker and a message of self-acceptance, Box marks a true coming of age.

For someone who cannot be put in a box, how does Alexandra feel about being labelled as a jazz singer of verve, passion and elegance?
 
“Music makes sense to me because everything is in there,” she replies. “There is the writer, the musician, the performer. And this album is about where I am now.” 
 
Alexandra’s career in music began in earnest three years ago, after she wrote and starred in a play, then a film, called ‘Mother Bee’. A pun in its German title, Frau Mutter Tier, refers to an overprotective mother. Having been encouraged to also write songs for the film, those compositions fell into the hands of former Prince collaborator Hans-Martin Buff and just six week later, Alexandra found herself recording at Abbey Road.

That ultimately put Alexandra in the relatively unusual position of releasing her debut album ‘Pictures’ in her 40s, which has gained over 1 million streams across DSPs.
 
The album tracklisting is:
 
1. Wake Up
2. Water Lilies
3. Rainy Days
4. Box
5. No More Fools  
6. Oh My Love
7. Honey Juice
8. Sugar Lips
9. Weird Fishes – Arpeggi
10. Demons

Town Hall Symphony Hall, Birmingham have announced that the annual Brass Gala will take place online in partnership with 4 Bars Rest.

The event, which usually takes place at the world-renowned West Midlands concert hall, will be broadcast to Facebook and YouTube on Fri 11 September at 7PM featuring performances by Cory Band and Black Dyke Band, cult brass heroes Mnozil Brass, and the next generation of brass musicians graduating from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Cory Band and Black Dyke Band have both recorded brand-new performances for the gala during lockdown and will be closing the event with a world-exclusive digital massed-band performance. After visiting Town Hall in 2017 as part of their Cirque World Tour, Mnozil Brass will be premiering previously unreleased footage from that tour as part of the virtual gala.

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire have commissioned composer Ryan Linham to create a brand-new composition for all of those brass players graduating from the Brass Department called Legend of the Lockdown Leavers, recorded during lockdown, which will be opening the Virtual Brass Gala.

Head of Brass for Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Amos Miller said: "The Brass department at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is delighted to have been invited to take part in this virtual gala performance. Whilst we are sorry not to be physically with our illustrious colleagues this year, we are hugely looking forward to being involved in the future."

4 Bars Rest Editor, Iwan Fox said: "We're delighted to have been invited by Symphony Hall to partner on this year's Virtual Brass Gala. Symphony Hall has become the annual home for brass banding over the past 25 years - what could be better than world class bands in a world class concert hall. Sadly this year we can't be there in person, but we're delighted to support the venues during these tough times. This year's Virtual Brass Gala will be a truly magnificent celebration of Brass banding, and definitely not one to miss!"

Chris Proctor, Head of Programme at Town Hall Symphony Hall commented: “Since 1997, our Autumn Season has started with the annual Brass weekend in September including the British Open Brass Band Championships and Brass Gala. For the first time in over 20 years, the weekend of events are unable to take place in our venues. I’m so proud that, in partnership with Iwan Fox and 4 Bars Rest, we have been able to work with these brass bands and find ways to bring the music to audiences online.

“The future of Birmingham’s Town Hall and Symphony Hall, and our future as the music charity responsible for them, looks very different from the plans we began the year with.

“Throughout this period, we remain committed to inspiring a love of live music, through performance, participation and learning across this city.” 

A survey conducted by the Music Venues Trust revealed that only 13% of venues could open with 2-metre social distancing in place and of those the majority said it would be financially ruinous to do so due to the reduced number of attendees. As concerts and gigs are still being cancelled as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, Town Hall Symphony Hall has continued to bring live music to the people of Birmingham and beyond.

Digital broadcasts from Town Hall and Symphony Hall in the last three months have amassed almost 200,000 views, whilst over 150 singers have joined online music making workshops.

Tune in on Facebook and YouTube on Friday 11 September 2020 at 7pm to watch the Virtual Brass Gala.

As a theatre which stages one of the UK's most popular pantomimes Birmingham Hippodrome has announced that it has cancelled its Christmas programme due to Covid-19 and will not reopen this year and that its major live performances were "not financially viable" amid social distancing.

With productions in the main auditorium not resuming until February at the earliest, it said, it means that the festive pantomime, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, will not go ahead.

Annual performances of The Nutcracker by Birmingham Royal Ballet, which uses the theatre as its home venue, have also been scrapped there.

The Hippodrome said the move followed discussions "at length" with both the ballet and pantomime producer, Qdos.

Fiona Allan, the theatre's chief executive and artistic director said it was "a massive blow" to lose the shows.

"It leaves us in a very difficult financial position... a quarter of our annual income comes from this Christmas season, 150,000 people come through our doors between pantomime and The Nutcracker, so it's really quite devastating. We're just trying to weigh-up it up, what it means, if we can continue to operate as we did before."

The Hippodrome had previously announced scale backs because of the pandemic. In June, the theatre said about 60 employees - around half its staff - could be made redundant in a bid to stay afloat.

It benefitted from the government's £1.5bn support package for the arts, announced in July, but Ms Allan said social distancing prohibited full-scale productions.

Goldilocks, starring Jason Donovan, has been rescheduled for the 2021 Christmas period.
Reacting to the news on Twitter, Emma Rowley said: "My heart literally breaks with this news. I'm so sad to everyone at my absolute fave [sic] place."

Leon Phillips added: "This is sad to hear, but at a time like this what else can you do, safety of your audience and staff members is very important, and your [sic] being very responsible at this moment.

"It's nice to see how understanding your audience member [sic] are as well."

Birmingham Royal Ballet says it is "working hard" to find a new host for The Nutcracker and The Hippodrome said it would be contacting ticket-holders for the ballet production over the coming days.

Qdos announced it was pushing back pantomimes in Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh and Southampton to next Christmas amid ongoing uncertainty about when theatres would be able to reopen fully.

Its managing director Michael Harrison said: "The Birmingham Hippodrome pantomime is the UK's biggest regional panto and postponing the show has been a difficult decision."

Bastille’s electrifying new song might feel like a bit of a surprise release, not least to the band themselves, but as frontman Dan Smith says: “We finished the song and it felt urgent. We didn’t want to sit on it.”
 
A thunderous, furious short sharp shock, ‘What You Gonna Do???’ comes after the dust settled on the band’s acclaimed third album Doom Days — the final instalment in a trilogy that’s spanned eight years and brought Bastille multi-platinum sales, global success and a position as one of the world’s most streamed bands. Fans may have grown accustomed to albums arriving with fully formed, meticulously executed creative ecosystems, but this time it’s all change.
 
“This next phase feels like a new beginning. It’s about completely tearing up our process, being spontaneous and starting again,” Dan states. “We’re just really excited by the new songs. I think we’re making some of the best music we’ve ever made. We want to put it out now and not wait for the whole album to be done before anyone starts to hear it. This is about where we are now and hearing us in real-time”
 
Produced by Dan and Mark Crew it’ll surprise anyone who thought they knew what to expect from the band - The song features Graham Coxon on guitar and vocals. 
 
The tongue-in-cheek chorus of ‘What You Gonna Do???’ explores a frustration with the attention economy in which our ears and eyes are fiercely fought over, yet so few use it for anything worthwhile. “Whether we’re outside or online we’re perpetually hit by so many people vying for our attention,” Dan adds, “but we’re just left rolling our eyes at how rarely it’s for anything that decent or funny.”

The track was written before 2020 turned on its head, but it’s hard to ignore the poignancy of a song that questions the squandered attention of billions of captive eyeballs.
 
The track’s extraordinary video sees Bastille collaborating with Rezza a British/Iranian, London-based animator who brings a seismic visual shift for Bastille: the video is a mash up of mixed media using illustration, photography and live action which resulted in a unique and innovative style that is winningly berserk.
 
Sonically ‘What You Gonna Do???’ is either the first clue to a brand new chapter for Bastille or a complete red herring. Either way it marks the beginning of an exciting and surprising new era for the band. 

Despite the theatre industry still in lockdown Worcester’s acclaimed Vamos Theatre has been busy over the last few months producing HOW HARD IS WAVING? a phenomenal 20 short films commissioned by the BBC’s Culture in Quarantine.

The first episode, which marked Vamos Theatre’s BBC debut, was broadcast on 7th July, and reached its touching finale on 1 August.
 
The 20 episodes, which are now available to stream in their entirety on BBC iPlayer, were viewed across social media, BBC Arts and iPlayer enabling the company to bring their work to a much wider audience. 

Vamos Theatre is the UK’s leading full mask theatre company and are recognised leaders in non-verbal communication training and performance. The company were in the middle of a UK national tour of their new production DEAD GOOD when theatres were forced to temporarily close due to COVID-19.
 
HOW HARD IS WAVING? was inspired by a series of films produced by the company and broadcast on its social media platforms every day during the initial lockdown period.
The commission was a huge challenge for the company during an unprecedented period for the whole country. Guided by film maker and editor Dan Hill, each of the cast performed at home filming their own footage.
 
Rachael Savage, Artistic Director of Vamos Theatre said: “It was bizarre making HOW HARD IS WAVING! at a time when our worlds were being turned upside down whilst trying to reflect honestly that world.  From hording, to running out of loo roll, to finding fun ways to stay connected and then deeper themes such as loneliness and depression, and how the care system could have been much better supported.
 
“Whilst filming I often thought, this is a piece of history we’re making, a true reflection of what our generations went through during the pandemic and an archive for future generations to come.”

Performed entirely without words, HOW HARD IS WAVING? features Ryan, alone in lockdown, who is doing his absolute best to support his family through video link alone. The shorts take the viewer on a journey through four weeks of daily online meet ups with Gran, who is living with dementia, and her carer Katie, Dad who is into DIY, and Ryan’s best friend Fingers.
 
Although the final episode was broadcast on 1st August, and to fully appreciate the detail on their smart TVs, the company recommend audiences tune into BBC iPlayer where all 20 episodes are now available to stream.
  
Episodes are 1-3 minutes in length.
 
HOW HARD IS WAVING? cast includes Rachael Savage (director and performer), and renowned full mask actors, Alan Riley, and James Greaves, with Rosa Savage making her professional debut for the company. Norah the dog also takes part, playing herself. All episodes feature an original score by composer, Janie Armour.
 
Vamos Theatre’s Culture in Quarantine project was made with support from The Space, a digital agency and production company helping to promote wider engagement across the arts and cultural sector, and Battersea Arts Centre.

In total, 25 projects have been selected from across England. These pieces will be exhibited through broadcast slots across BBC Radio 3 and BBC TV, through podcasts on BBC Sounds, and through the BBC Arts website, continuing the Culture in Quarantine mission to bring the arts to UK homes despite arts venue closures, social distancing, and UK-wide lockdowns.

The socially-distanced reopening of indoor performances in England has been delayed until at least 15 August, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.

The easing of restrictions at theatres and music venues was due to start this weekend, but has been postponed amid concerns over a rise in virus cases.

In addition, masks will be required in museums, galleries and cinemas - enforceable in law from 8 August.

Mr Johnson said: "We simply cannot take the risk."

The government had been working with the arts sector on pilot performances with socially-distanced audiences in theatres and music venues in recent weeks.

Jon Morgan, director of Theatres Trust, said it was "disappointing that socially-distanced indoor performances will not be able to go ahead" as planned.

"However, in reality, the majority of theatres were not planning to reopen for shows tomorrow so a two-week delay will not make a huge difference.

"Most theatres will not be able to put on productions until we reach stage five [of the roadmap for the return of professional performing arts], which allows fuller audiences, so that is the most critical date for much of the sector."

Ken Wright, managing director of London's Phoenix Arts Club took a slightly different view, saying the government's decision to postpone the opening of live performance venues with less than a day's notice had "pulled the carpet from under us".

"We've said all along that we would 'open once and open well'. Therefore with heavy heart and broken bank balance we must announce that we will remain closed until we are certain that indoor live performance is permitted," he said in a statement.

Earlier this month the government announced a £1.57bn support package for the arts, following several weeks of lobbying from theatres, music venues, art galleries and other cultural institutions, many of which had said they were on the brink of collapse.

The government also outlined measures to "support the safe return of audiences", including:

Reduced venue capacity and limited ticket sales to ensure social distancing can be maintained
Tickets should be bought online and venues encouraged to use e-tickets to reduce contact and help with track and trace
Venues should have clearly communicated social distancing marking in place in areas where queues form and adopt a limited entry approach
Increased deep cleaning of auditoriums
Performances should be scheduled to allow sufficient time to undertake deep cleaning before the next audience arrives
Performers, conductors and musicians must observe social distancing wherever possible

The government also recently revealed its "five-stage roadmap for the return of professional performing arts", which was detailed by Mr Dowden as follows:

Stage One - Rehearsal and training (no audiences and adhering to social distancing guidelines)
Stage Two - Performances for broadcast and recording purposes (adhering to social distancing guidelines)
Stage Three - Performances outdoors with an audience plus pilots for indoor performances with a limited distance audience
Stage Four - Performances allowed indoors/outdoors (but with a limited distanced audience indoors)
Stage Five - Performances allowed indoors/outdoors (with a fuller audience indoors)

In response to the delay, the Music Venue Trust said it was "saddened but not surprised" to hear that live music music events planned for the next few weeks must now be cancelled.

"Since May 2020, Music Venue Trust has repeatedly informed the government that live music events in grassroots music venues would be extraordinarily difficult to stage, not economically viable, and at risk of being cancelled at short notice during the current pandemic," it said in a statement.

"A number of venues across the country have attempted to stage such events based on advice from the government, incurring substantial costs to make their venues safe. That expenditure now adds to the growing mountain of debts accrued by those venues working within the government guidelines."

The trust reiterated its belief that "no grassroots music venue" will be able to "safely and viably" put on concerts before 1 October "at the earliest", and questioned the logic behind the Prime Minister's new proposed opening date.

On the subject of face masks, Bob Riley, CEO of Manchester Camerata orchestra added: "Can anyone tell me why we need masks in more places from 8 August... and not now?"