Getting Close

Leaving her house for the first time during the early days of lockdown, a lonely woman reminisces over her lost love and wonders at the million different ways that life around her has been disrupted.

First broadcast on 26 August 2020. 

"It's hard: the liveness and presence of the event that has to remain vital is currently impossible and I don't think that can be replicated in other media. I suppose the hope would be that new audiences may understand the breadth of content available and seek out live work when this is possible and existing audiences - if they can afford to go - will be hungry for new work. The threat always is in relation to how financial considerations temper the appetite amongst producers for risk. My concern at the moment would be that with all the fear and danger present across the board, with all the uncertainty, we'll choose or have the choice made for us to play it safe. What is interesting for me in terms of when the idea for this piece was conceived and when I got the go ahead to write it is the change in attitude and atmosphere that has happened. It's a piece about missed opportunities and loss but I'm reminded in writing it of how much hope there was in those first weeks of lockdown - fear, of course fear, but hope in being aware of each other and seeking to be kinder and more present in the world."

KATHY MCKEAN, WRITER

"I'm delighted to be working with Kathy McKean as part of Scenes for Survival. Kathy's play Getting Close explores the significance and intimacy of human touch through a reflection on a failed relationship. This is given added poignancy by the current restrictions of social distancing. The play is a wonderful reminder of one of the things that theatre does so well - taking a specific experience, opening it up and connecting it to the wider world."

NICHOLAS BONE, DIRECTOR