We have had brilliant art created during lockdown – but what comes next?

From film to television, actors and directors will have to get used to a new way of working. But will critics cut them some slack, asks Charlotte Cripps

John David Washington, right, stars in Christopher Nolan's upcoming film ‘Tenet’ (Getty/Warner Bros Pictures)

We’ve had brilliant art created during lockdown – including ITV’s Isolation Stories directed via Zoom and starring Sheridan Smith – but now it’s easing, what’s next? Not surprisingly people are nervous about returning to work.

In an interview this week, Amy Schumer said she’s not going back to stand-up until she’s sure it’s safe to do so.

“Are we going to open it up and people are going to wear bandannas over their mouths so you can’t even hear a laugh? You need masks with good acoustics,” she said.

Cinemas are planning on opening; Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster Tenet is kicking off proceedings with the film scheduled for its UK release on 17 July.

But most independent cinemas in the UK revealed this week, that social distancing measures will wreck their sales revenue as they predict having to halve their seating capacity.

TV production is restarting too. Emmerdale is the first UK soap to resume filming after lockdown. Strict social distancing protocols are in place in the Leeds studios while filming episodes showing characters dealing with lockdown.

Likewise, Radio 4’s The Archers, which returned this week with “life in Ambridge under lockdown”. Originally described as “an everyday story of country folk”, it now bills itself as a “contemporary drama in a rural setting”.

But will social distancing herald the end of romance on onscreen for a while? Nobody will be able to get near enough for a kiss.

It’s all very well – and vital to get the economy back on track – but the question remains: Will this half-hearted approach ever work?

Maybe critics will have to take into consideration that it was harder for actors and directors than usual in their reviews. It will explain why the chemistry isn’t so heated or why a storyline is missing that punch.

But looking at what art has come out of the pandemic so far, perhaps we have only seen the beginning of what good work is on the cards.

Yours,

Charlotte Cripps

Culture writer