Scenes for Survival
www.nationaltheatrescotland.com

What Do We Need To Talk About?
www.publictheater.org

A minor consequence of lockdown was that it seemed theatre critics would have to find other things to do for the duration. But, to my surprise and pleasure, playhouses have shown such digital ingenuity that the supply of new drama at least equals that of TV and radio.

The latest impressive project is Scenes for Survival – produced by the National Theatre of Scotland with support from BBC Scotland – which is accumulating, at the rate of three releases a week, a box-set of 40 short dramas filmed within isolation rules.

A frequent frustration of theatre production is the difficulty of persuading busy screen stars to commit to being in one place for several weeks, and in-demand writers to find the time a full-length play demands. Lockdown digital drama, though, can potentially cast any actor anywhere, while effective scripts can be as short as a few minutes.