It’s safe to say we’ve all had a strange week. With The World Figure Skating championships already having been cancelled, this week was never going to look how I’d imagined it. Last weekend I took part in The Mark Drama (a retelling of the events of Mark’s gospel told as theatre in the round via guided improvisation), taking on the role of the disciple John. On Saturday we performed to just under a hundred people before enjoying Pearl’s yummy sticky toffee pudding. Then on Sunday we performed again to around 150 folk after sharing lunch together, the individually sealed sandwiches being the only real sign that we were living in unusual times. That and the director, Jon who had joined us from Spain for the occasion having to leave the final rehearsal in order to catch the last flight back to Madrid. By the time of our performance on Monday at Globe Cafe (ran for students from overseas by Friends International) British Prime Minister had announced just an hour or so before that we were to avoid all ‘unnecessary social interactions’. With most of the cast having already made their way to church, the meal already prepared and folk arriving to watch we made the decision to go ahead. Albeit with 1 less pharisee and the part of disciple Andrew played by a different actor.
The points in the performance where Jesus heals various ailments and especially the cries of “don’t touch her” as he approached the leper took on new meaning. We performed to a packed room and as most folk had already gathered before the announcement it made little sense health-wise to postpone. Looking back at the pictures of the weekend I’m so grateful that we had the opportunity to walk in the disciples footsteps ahead of this week. The amount of times they say something and with the now benefit of hindsight you realise how God was preparing them for greater things to come offers real assurance.
Come Tuesday it seemed inevitable we would soon be working from home and so much of the day was spent waiting for an official announcement from The Church of England (as I work in a church office as an administrator) and by mid-afternoon it was announced that all acts of worship and mid-week meetings were to be suspended until further notice. Thankfully the Church I work for (Jesmond Parish Church) already live streams it’s evening service each week. Following the announcement my office phone was set to divert to my mobile, staff meetings switched to meeting via Zoom (a real Godsend at the moment) and arrangements made to Live Stream both morning and evening services and a talk for younger children (who would normally be attending Sunday School) added into the mix along with printable worksheets and topics for discussion. All of which can be accessed via http://www.clayton.tv or via their youtube channel (handy for viewing on a smart telly) https://www.youtube.com/user/ClaytonTelevision
Tuesday nights are usually spent attending Longform Improv classes at The School of Improv. I’ve been attending the school’s classes since January 2018 and the chance to ‘play’ with the friends I’ve made their is always the highlight of my week. Knowing how much we were all going to miss that Ian & Bev (the School’s founders) arranged a quiz night streamed via Facebook, in which I came a some what respectable 3rd out of 35.
Wednesday was my first day working from home – ever. The morning started with Staff Prayers (where we usually meet in person, read a passage from the Old Testament, a Psalm (read responsively) a passage from the New Testament, feed back about the events of the last few days and then split in to groups and pray about the next few days. This time we met using https://zoom.us/ it’s definitely not the same as being in the same room but being able to see and speak with one another is a real blessing. It’s also interesting to see the spots people chose to film from. On Wednesday I’ll hold my hands up and admit I wasn’t intellectual enough to join those opting for a bookshelf background but rather hastily wrapped a hoodie over my pyjamas! Thankfully though after a quick call to IT my computer was set up on the church network enabling me to access all the shared files and respond to emails. Over the past few months I’ve been attending level 2 acting classes at the Theatre Royal on Wednesday nights meaning I haven’t been able to attend home group (church small groups where we are able to meet to pray and study the Bible and get to know people on a deeper level than on a Sunday). With classes suspended our home group like many had a record attendance (once again via zoom) as couples who normally have to alternate due to childcare were able to attend together).
On Thursday with more free time, I began learning BSL (British Sign Language) via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCShTpm99s4piz3NycQZsNxg so far I’ve mastered letters, numbers and basic greetings. I’m not very good at ‘switching off’ at the best time of times so figured I’d rather use my time productively than waste the opportunity the ‘gift of time’ offers. Although, I’m yet to write my King Lear (which Shakespeare wrote whilst in quarantine during the plague outbreak). While the evening offered the opportunity for a group of us improvisers who had been playing Dungeon World (a table top role playing game) but unable to arrange a game since last year to utilise the video call function on Facebook messenger and escape to a land of make believe (my character was Marion Burry, a gin-swilling baker).
Come Friday it was time again to meet for Staff prayers followed by another day of email checking, popping out to the pharmacy and shops for friends in isolation and choosing a Taskmaster task to post on Facebook for improv friends to complete (as an administrator naturally i have a very official and detailed 2 tab spreadsheet, lest I lose those excel skills). The evening was spent playing the big no budget game show with led by Ian and Bev. If you head to The Suggestibles Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/suggestibles/ you can find all the details of what’s happening and join in!
With total lockdown seeming ever more likely on Saturday I drove up the coast to Bamburgh. I’ve always found being closer to the sea makes me calmer and more peaceful and knowing it might be a long time before the opportunity arose for my own wellbeing I needed one last walk on the beach. When I arrived it seemed a lot of people had thought the same. However unlike the covidiots ripping the contents of Tesco’s from the shelves, the couple of hundred or so folk on the beach were all respectfully obeying social distancing lengths and there was an eerie silence.
After a walk along the sands and sandwiches on the dune I headed home hoping it’s not too long again. The evening was spent back online viewing Saturday Night at The Stand, this week 4 comedians broadcasting live from The Stand Edinburgh. Free to view but with a donate button to help keep their 3 venues afloat. As well as being a member of the Stand I’ve been blessed to perform their 3 times last year. As well as being Newcastle’s only full-time comedy club, it’s the only place such a newcomer would get the chance to perform to a couple of hundred people, as well as hosting The Suggestible’s on the third Thursday of each month. While normally on a weekend they would seat maybe 500 across the three venues, close to 8,000 viewed Saturday’s gig, hopefully many took the opportunity to donate. If you missed it, it’s happening again next Saturday with the line-up yet to be announced. You can find all the info and link here:https://www.thestand.co.uk/news/saturday-night-live-from-the-stand-this-saturday/
With Sunday upon us and no need to physically travel to church, I took the opportunity to have a lie in and still turned up early (a real rarity). With many churches now streaming services it’s tempting to take the opportunity to see what others get up to. However my Mam (who normally attends a church that wasn’t streaming but rather had posted out their sermon in written form) was keen to view Clayton.TV and so we sat down together.
As well as learning BSL, running Taskmaster and partaking in games and quizzes, I’ve also begun posting 1 of my favourite pieces of Christian music each day. Though on Friday it was the secular ‘True Colours’ sung by a choir of kids heading off from their final day of school that got be bubbling. My tears though are not for me but rather for the kids who like many who attended the school I was a governor for, school was their sanctuary, the place where people cared. It is for them I pray not myself.
This blog was primarily begun for me to vent about ice skating and rest assured despite the lack of current skating I will carry on posting mainly about such things but I wanted a record of this week. Today I also took a step closer to returning to the dancing on ice dream and ordered a balance board (due to arrive on Monday) and leg stretcher (for which I’ll have to wait a while longer) both of which I had been anticipating purchasing once I was in my own home but with house sales off the cards for the foreseeable and time aplenty I figured I might as well get working on that scorpion off ice while I have the chance.
White Skates 