This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:07] Gordon Cox: Welcome to Stagecraft, Variety's Theatre Podcast, bringing you backstage and behind the scenes with the stars, creators, and industry leaders keeping theatre alive during the pandemic on Broadway, in London, and around the world.

[0:20] Gordon Cox: I'm your host, Gordon Cox.

[0:22] Gordon Cox: On this episode of Stagecraft, I'm talking to Lynette Linton.

[0:25] Gordon Cox: The young writer, director, and arts leader, is the artistic director of London's Bush Theatre.

[0:30] Gordon Cox: And she was just wrapping up her first full season at the Bush when the pandemic hit.

[0:34] Gordon Cox: As a director, she helmed the Donmar Warehouse's production of Lynn Nottage's Sweat, which went on to a West End run and won Best Play at last year's Evening Standard Awards.

[0:43] Gordon Cox: Her staging of Richard II at Shakespeare's Globe last year was the first ever company of women of color in a Shakespeare play on a major UK stage.

[0:52] Gordon Cox: Her most recent work as a writer is the short film Look at Me, which just aired in the UK as part of ITV's Unsaid Stories series of shorts, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

[1:02] Gordon Cox: Linton is in the virtual studio with me to talk about staying nimble, surviving the pandemic, and how the theater industry is forging ahead across the Atlantic.

[1:12] Gordon Cox: Hi Lynette, thanks for joining me.

[1:14] Lynette Linton: Thank you for asking me.

[1:17] Gordon Cox: Well, I want to start by talking about something that seems pretty exciting in terms of progress on your end, which is that your theatre just opened, but first, or reopened the building. But first, let's, for listeners who might not be familiar, can you tell us a little bit about the Bush and its work?

[1:34] Lynette Linton: Yes. Um, the Bush Theatre is a new writing venue in West London in Shepherd's Bush. Um, and we are known for championing playwrights and emerging talent and running workshops and schemes to work with writers and support them through their first play. Um, I took over as artistic director last year, so I was officially in the job for a year before Corona struck. Um, and we launched my first season with like a season of debut plays from British and Irish writers. And we're quite and we're also a community theatre, so we do a lot of community work in our local area. And yeah, so we are pretty cool.

[2:13] Gordon Cox: And you were almost done with your first season when Corona shut everything down. Is that how that works?

[2:18] Lynette Linton: Yeah, almost done. We had one more show. So we were uh we had The High Table in our main space and Collapsible in our studio space, and then we had one more show that was gonna start in May. Um and yeah, we didn't even get into rehearsals for that show. So we nearly got to the end, which is sad.

[2:36] Gordon Cox: Yeah. So tell us about reopening. You reopened this building, you've got this complex, it's got two theatres, it's got a bar, right? Tell us about the building and what you're doing there.

[2:45] Lynette Linton: Well, the building is an old library, which I always love. It feels like that, and I think I always talk about how I feel the presence of the building, and I've missed the building because it's got such a history in its area. Um, and when I one of the hardest things I found among all of the hard things that we're all going through was how much I missed the building, and when things were happening in the world, our response is always to make art, but also to open our spaces for the community to be together and heal together, and we weren't able to do that at all because of COVID. So as soon I knew that as soon as we were going to be able to safely open for our community, that's what we were gonna do.

So I knew as soon as I could do that with social distancing in place, that was what we would do. And so we're one of the first theatres in London to do that. Um, open for community work, um, open for young people, and then also open our bar so people can come and have a pint if they want, which is quite nice.

[3:37] Gordon Cox: And is that all outdoors? Tell us about some of the safety measures that you have to think about.

[3:41] Lynette Linton: Yeah, so um, it's not all outdoors. Uh, the way our building works, we've got a lovely terrace that the doors open up, so you can sort of sit inside, but you've got the space outside. So most people are doing that, obviously, because it's safer. Um, but we've done loads of risk assessments and insurance to uh safeguard the building, theatre, the theatre space itself. We put lines on the floor. So we're gonna be running summer workshops next week for young people who haven't had as much Wi-Fi or want introduction to drama, and so we've put all these precautions in place so no one will be near each other. There's aircon, there's all of all of the stuff that we all hand washing, sanitizers everywhere, all of that. Um so we put in a lot of precautions that have taken a lot of work. So shout out my general manager who's worked really hard on that.

[4:23] Gordon Cox: Yeah, yeah. And it feels like in particular, the community is very important to the Bush and uh in everything it does and in the work you do. Tell us about how you think of the Bush being woven into the community and why that's so important for the theatre.

[4:38] Lynette Linton: I think that theatre full stop should be, and all and and uh when it has lost its why it's there, which is to feed the community and be fed by the community, it's lost what it's supposed to be doing, right? So theatre is about telling stories and bringing us together, and we learn from everybody outside our doors, and uh we're supposed to be representing what's actually going on in the world. So I don't understand how theatre can't be community led in that way, if that makes sense. I wouldn't be in my position at all if I hadn't um access to young people's schemes and and understood what theatre was. It wasn't something that came naturally to me. So I feel so passionate about that. I feel so passionate that we are in a we're in such a beautiful space in Shepherd's Bush. So it needs to feel like a place that everybody feels welcome.

[5:24] Gordon Cox: And how's it going? Is it are people turning up? And you've been open for like about a week now, right?

[5:29] Lynette Linton: We've been open a whole week today. People are coming, um, excuse me, and the community are coming, and we're doing community work with different charities. Um, so it's nice, it's a pace that we can control, which is lovely. Um, and we're just and we're gonna keep it's really lovely weather over here at the minute as well. A little too hot, so that's helpful. Um, because people are coming out and having a cold beer on the terrace and stuff like that. And so, yeah, it's um it's really nice to be open again.

[5:58] Gordon Cox: And so there's no theatre happening yet in the building in terms of performances, that is.

[6:02] Lynette Linton: Um no, but we have we have been for the last you know, since we got shut down, we have been producing loads of online work. Um we haven't we haven't put out any of our um existing productions, so like archive um recordings because we felt like the time would be now to make new work. So we we did our Monday Monologue series, and um in reaction to George Floyd's death and the Black Lives Matter movement. Um our associate director also curated his name's Daniel Bailey, he's amazing. He curated uh the protest series, so we've got and we've got masterclasses online. Um we've been doing loads of work, we haven't done physical performances because that's not safe at the minute, but we are putting loads of new content out.

[6:40] Gordon Cox: And what do you have a prognosis for when you think live performances with groups of people might happen again?

[6:49] Lynette Linton: I don't, and I am taking it day by day. That's my answer to that question. Uh I'm sure you're aware that um we were at a place where we were gonna that the government had said we were able to, and they pushed that back now. So because of that, and because of how much it's all changing day by day for all of us, I'm I'm sort of trying to be positive. We've got plans in place, but also very nimble and able to shift those if we need to.

[7:16] Gordon Cox: Yeah, people on Broadway are very uh are watching very closely all the stuff that's going on in the UK because they're talking, you know, there was that sort of initial West End performance with uh is it was it Beverley Knight um that uh that in one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's theaters and it seems like you know the Bridge Theatre is sort of raring to go as so many theatres are um what how do the kind of what's the kind of calculus for I imagine the calculus for a kind of West End theatre and for theatres like the Bush which are much more intimate you know they're smaller venues um that must be an entirely different sort of set of concerns.

[7:56] Lynette Linton: Yeah and a very different setup over here. So we're we're you know that uh we call the West End theatres sorry the commercial sector um they are funded by individuals we are subsidized so we get arts council grants um the Bush does so some of our money comes from the arts council and then and then we fundraise the rest of it so they are right completely different in how they're set up structurally anyway. And then now with Corona there's this there's you know we're all I think the thing we all have in common is yearning to get work back on but we're all in we're all in very different situations I think individually and where is the the Bush as a subsidized theatre um in terms of how it how it how it's gonna survive in the next uh you know few years in terms of is that support that fund there was that big um government sort of rescue fund is that part of the thing that goes to does that help you guys?

[8:46] Lynette Linton: Hopefully we have to apply for that money and we will be applying um and so I'm my answer is hopeful for that um I think that we are small and nimble um and uh I'm we're sailing through. I keep using loads of like sailing metaphors to get us through this. Um so I'm hopeful. But again, I always reiterate day by day because this this thing is such an unprecedented is the word that everyone keeps using, isn't it? Like we just don't know what tomorrow brings. So day by day I have to take it so that we can sell this shit through. But right now, today we're in we're in a place where hopefully it looks okay.

[9:22] Gordon Cox: Have you felt that guidance in the UK industry overall has been pretty strong? Have you felt uh I don't know, shepherded or um helped, or is it is it does it feel more every every person for themselves?

[9:37] Lynette Linton: I think what's been really lovely is that I felt I felt um particularly in the in the subsidized sector, um, that I've been able to lean on my peers, so other artistic directors run venues, we're we're I'm able to reach out to them and other and uh and so there's a lot of people I don't feel like it it doesn't feel like you're on your own in this, if that makes sense. Um so I've I've been able to develop quite a lot of friendships with colleagues of mine who I hadn't spoken to before. So that's in a way a really lovely positive that's come from this.

[10:05] Gordon Cox: Um so as you try to look ahead, what is coming up in the next, let's say, month for you at the Bush?

[10:14] Lynette Linton: Um I would um could you mind if I talk a bit longer than a month? Because I feel like the...

[10:17] Gordon Cox: No, please.

[10:19] Lynette Linton: No, please do. As I've mentioned, I think we're doing as much as we can. And once we know that we can do the limited uh activities that we put in place safely, we will expand that. Um and then the other side for me is supporting our creative freelancers. So we have hundreds of freelancers we work with per year, and as soon as we can start uh putting work back on, the priority is is to get to get as many freelancers in to employ them, you know.

[10:45] Lynette Linton: And so for me, all the plans that we're putting together is both of those missions, both of those layers of how we can support the community and how we can support our freelance family in the Bush.

[10:57] Gordon Cox: Yeah, how is the kind of safety net for freelance artists in particular in the UK doesn't really exist here.

[11:06] Lynette Linton: So I just wonder if it's—oh yeah, it doesn't really exist. I mean, there's been some support from the government in terms of self-employment support, but there are hundreds of people that have fallen through that net as well, you know, because there's all eligibility and you have to, you know, be able on paper to fit the criteria. So I think there's a lot of people that have completely fallen through that, which is really sad and devastating. And I think because we don't know when, you know, here pubs and restaurants are reopening and you go out onto the street and it feels like things are slowly starting to get back to normal with masks, to be honest. But theatre isn't, so I think that there's an element here of going, okay, cool, so how are we going to be supporting freelancers and people going forward if our industry is still closed? And so that's what I mean about for the Bush, the priority is to make work so we can employ as many people as we can.

[12:02] Gordon Cox: Right, yeah.

[12:03] Lynette Linton: Because as I said, there's a lot that's fallen through the cracks, and also the— as you know, support is stopping, so...

[12:03] Gordon Cox: Right, right, yeah. And of course, in the midst of all this, the Black Lives Matter movement kind of returned, and in the wake of the uprisings that came after the murder of George Floyd, and here on Broadway, it's prompting some really serious discussions about the ways that Broadway and the US industry needs to change. How are you finding that playing out on your side of the pond?

[12:33] Lynette Linton: Yeah, I think it's a similar thing here. We at the Bush have been very vocal about that conversation and have put the work out responding to it, the protest series there.

[12:45] Gordon Cox: You mentioned that, yeah.

[12:45] Lynette Linton: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was in direct response to—and those were new works as part of the protest series.

[12:45] Gordon Cox: Yeah, yeah.

[12:45] Lynette Linton: They were new works, and we worked with some of our artists to make something, and it was a fast response, and so they came out quickly because, again, this feeling of being alone in your bedroom, you know, was also part of that. When it actually, as I said, I would have opened the building and made everyone come—well, not made everyone, but invited people to come together to be in this moment of healing, and we couldn't do that. So art was our way forward and always will be. But I think that systematic change is a huge thing that I've been fighting for for a long time, and I've been very vocal about. Here in this country, there's still such a long way to go when it comes to diversity and representation in theatre and all the industries across the creative industries, across all industries, actually. But, um, so yeah, there's a lot of that what is happening here too, and it needs to be.

[12:45] Gordon Cox: What's your take on how the equity work in the UK theatre industry is faring compared to how it's going here in the US?

[13:53] Lynette Linton: Yeah, I think we had slowly started to see some stage changes on stage, and we started to see more representation there. I think behind the scenes, there was and still is so much work to be done. And because the Bush is a new writing venue, one of my particular focuses is on writers and how many Black British writers or British Asian writers were getting their work commissioned and on main stages. We had only in the last year—last year was the first time a Black British female writer was in the West End, you know, in 2019. So that shows you that, you know, that's the levels we're dealing with here. And I also think it's really important to make sure that COVID doesn't—I'm gonna swear because you said I could—fuck up the progress, you know, because we don't want to be looking back and then everybody's doing work that, you know, isn't going forward because they're scared of what COVID's done. So we're gonna really fight against that here, I hope, because I will, yeah.

[14:56] Gordon Cox: Are you finding for you personally at the Bush, you're talking about being nimble in the era of COVID? Does that also allow you a greater nimbleness to sort of rethink the way you do things systemically in terms of representation and equity and things like that?

[15:12] Lynette Linton: Um, I think the answer for that is yes, and also should be the case across the board, if that makes sense. I think that, like, I think the conversations around traditional theatre sometimes can feel quite old school in a way that's not helpful, you know. And I've spoken quite a lot publicly about this word risks, and I and I've been like, I want to take risks, and then I now retract that word because I'm like, risks, what does it mean? Oh, art is risky, you know. And so if you look on a good story, it is universal because it's a good story, if that makes sense. So I think that we've got a reputation for unheard voices and championing diversity, and I think that it needs to be a thing that's now worldwide in the theatre sector. It shouldn't feel like that's a risk and feel separate from putting on a Shakespeare because, come on now, we've been doing that for hundreds of years.

[16:04] Gordon Cox: Yeah.

[16:04] Lynette Linton: And in a way, thinking about that as risk is part of the thing that keeps people away from it, right?

[16:11] Gordon Cox: Yeah, and you know, it's that whole conversation around what the canon is. You know, when we talk about the British canon of work, you know, it is dominated by Shakespeare and a lot of white male writers or white writers, and that needs to shift because that's a tradition, and we need to be past that now. It's 2020.

[16:27] Gordon Cox: So yeah. Who are, in your estimation, in the UK, doing work either creatively or as an activist that you feel like we should all be following here in the US?

[16:39] Lynette Linton: Oh well, you know that Renze Kenny's Misty was about to come to New York before coronavirus hit. He is incredible. His show Misty started at the Bush Theatre before I had taken over and had a West End transfer and was coming to the Shed in New York. And so that was a beautiful—it is a beautiful, I hope it still gets there. It's a beautiful piece of work around gentrification in London, what it means to tell Black stories. And I find I've always been a massive fan of his work, and he's incredible, and you should all know who he is. I think he's brilliant. We've got incredible activists and companies such as the Black Ticket Project, which is now a project that's set up for young Black people to come to the theatre for free and to get more Black people into the theatre, which is exciting, and everybody should look that up. And maybe there should be a model or something like that in America as well. Maybe there is, I don't know.

[17:37] Gordon Cox: Not widespread that I know of.

[17:40] Lynette Linton: So yeah, that's good to know of that.

[17:43] Gordon Cox: Yeah.

[17:47] Lynette Linton: I'll have more with Lynette right after the break.

[17:59] Gordon Cox: And now here's more with Lynette Linton. So I'm talking to you the day after you're also a writer, and you wrote a short film that came together in four weeks, as you were saying. It's part of Unsaid Stories, which is an ITV series of short films inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Tell us about sort of what inspired your film and how it came together so quickly and safely.

[18:26] Lynette Linton: Well, my film was inspired by many experiences of family and friends and people I know and things I've read and just loads of different things about what it feels—the ongoing conversation around being stopped and searched by the police. And I felt like for me, what was never spoken about on a platform was the moment after or the moment before, you know, and how when something like that happens, it stays in your gut, it stays in your stomach, it stays with you. It's not something that happens, it's recorded, oh it happened, I'm gonna go on now. If it's a bad experience, that stays with you and can stay with you for life, you know. And so I felt like it was important to show that side of it and highlight that this is a thing that's been going on for decades, and yeah, and just see if there was some conversation to be had in that area, which we know there is.

[19:32] Lynette Linton: So it came together very fast, as you said, like literally the script was—I wrote the script in like three days, then I had to be drafted on the fourth day, and then it was cast, and then it was being filmed over Zoom and directed over Zoom, and it was so fast. I did spend some time wondering how filming worked because they were in these two people without masks were in an apartment. And I was—I assume a third person to hold the camera, which may or may not have been an iPhone or similar, but it looked digital anyway. And tell us about how those sort of precautions came together.

[20:10] Lynette Linton: Yeah, so all filming has started up here slowly, you know, and so everybody—the precautions would be that everyone's had a COVID test and that sort of stuff, excuse me. Our director, who is an incredible guy called Francis Annan, incredible, incredible director, he was directing them over Zoom. They had a DOP who was operating a camera phone in the space with them and a David supervisor, keeping making sure everything was safe. And so he was directing it over Zoom, and as far as I'm aware, I think he had like a three-second delay. So what he saw was a three or four-second delay is what I heard. And so it was filmed over three days on this phone. But there were loads of precautions in place, loads of insurance in place that was to make sure the actors were safe.

[20:59] Gordon Cox: Was there anything in that experience that made you think about new ways to think about telling more sort of overtly theatrical stories over, you know, the digital medium?

[21:13] Lynette Linton: Yeah, which may be a thing that we're doing for a while. I mean, I think—I mean, I will always say that it would have been great to have more time on that project. I'm very proud of how it came out. I was very incredibly lucky that I had such a wonderful team, wonderful actors.

[21:25] Lynette Linton: Um, you know, shout out Papa and Pippa who were in it, they were fantastic, and Carol, our producer as well. But um what I have what I am interested in is is is responding to things fast. And so just putting the unsaid stories aside for a second, the protest is an example of that. Um, and as long as you're being honest about how things have come about and how they quickly they've been made, I think that's interesting as a medium. Uh yeah, very part of the protest pieces as well.

[21:54] Lynette Linton: Yeah, tell us tell us a little bit about what the format of those were. So they were um whatever the so we spoke to six of our uh um artists, and it was whatever they wanted to do. So um someone uh Nishka Lucas wrote a song and a and a and it had a monologue, um, one was a visual piece about text messages, one was a direct monologue artistic piece which had an actor performer. It was whatever those artists wanted to do, that's what we we did. Um, and uh and that was kind of the point. It was like in this moment now, how are you feeling? And how do you want to spot respond using art? And Dan Bailey, who led the project, created a very safe space for us to be able to be honest about that and and respond in the way that they wanted to respond.

[22:39] Lynette Linton: And so those pieces of work have have been incredibly well received. Um, and I think have done the best for us on our channels ever, which is really exciting. Um that was gonna be my next question. Uh was how people accessed it.

[22:49] Lynette Linton: It was on your website. Yeah, so it's on it's on our uh on our Instagram and on our Twitter, and we also had a QA the day, a live QA the day that they came out. Um they're on our YouTube channels as well. Um and they're all different pieces of of media. So as I said, one's a song, one's uh sort of text message piece, one's uh uses photos with the monologue over the top of it. So it's all different in how those artists wanted to respond to what was happening.

[23:17] Lynette Linton: Right, right. That time and still happening now.

[23:21] Lynette Linton: Yeah. So yeah. So that uh did that feel for you like a way forward in terms of how you might think about doing further stuff in the coming weeks?

[23:29] Lynette Linton: Yeah, I think so. And I think I I you know, I'm such a theater head that I'm like, oh theatre, liveness, liveless, liveness, liveless. That it takes me a while to be convinced. It took me a while to be convinced to do stuff on video. Um and actually, you know, I've shifted now, as we all have, and uh I'm really interested in how and I and it's not it's never gonna be as simple.

[23:52] Lynette Linton: What I don't agree with or like is let's just put a camera in an auditorium and fill film the show, because I don't think theater, I don't think it translates in that way. The NT Live works because you know they are really expensive cameras and edited together in a way that works, whereas you know, if you just put a camera in an auditorium and film it, you're not catching the live liveness of theatre on the magic of theater.

[24:15] Lynette Linton: Um, so I want to stay away from that. But what I am interested in different digital capture and what we can do that's exciting and that we can afford.

[24:24] Gordon Cox: Right, yeah. It's what's important to you, you're also a director. What's important to you in in terms of uh preserving the theatricality of something when you're looking at it on a screen or recording it digitally?

[24:44] Lynette Linton: I think that um NT Live do it really well. Have you seen some of the NT Live?

[24:47] Gordon Cox: Yeah, yeah, they're very popular up here.

[24:49] Lynette Linton: Yeah. Yeah, I think they do it very, very well. But I also think what I'm interested in exploring, and this is a new territory for me, is actually like what is the um uh of course the liveness element is what makes theatre so special but you're I don't know if you actually can capture the liveness of it over this media a screen you know so I'm interested in in like you know what is the theatre version of the thing and what is the digital version of a thing and how do they merge together and how do they speak to each other and what does that look like as a new sort of new medium you know yeah um uh because an NT Live works and I think they've cracked that so if we're gonna film a show it needs to be in that medium um but I'm interested in that space between at the minute.

[25:32] Gordon Cox: Yeah.

[25:33] Lynette Linton: So we've talked a little bit about what's coming up for you at the bush but what about what's happening with you um as an artist as well you were um announced to direct a show at the national that I assume is probably still on the on the docket when they when it finally happens is that still uh tell us about that.

[25:33] Lynette Linton: Yeah, it's still around um uh obviously no idea when it's gonna happen I probably predict it probably won't happen until well it won't happen until next year now I don't think um but I it's as far as I'm aware that's still on the cards um an American it's an American play by an do you know the play I well I do I was excited for you to tell us what it is because uh she's a she's a writer that I feel like don't we don't know enough about here in America she's just so so so amazing, isn't she?

[26:18] Lynette Linton: And I feel exactly the same. So it's called Blues of Alabama oh gosh, that was a tongue tie. It's called Blues in Alabama Sky and it's by Pearl Cleage and she's incredible.

[26:26] Lynette Linton: And uh I was actually hoping to meet her during this time, which is such a shame. Um and I read it and absolutely fell in love with it because it was a story um about African American friends and it was about them living, you know, and it wasn't about necessarily talking about being African American, they're just living and vibing and having a great time.

[26:48] Lynette Linton: Um I was so excited to uh start work on that. Um and I and I I think it will still I hope it's it's well as far as I'm aware it's still on the cards, so that's really exciting.

[27:00] Lynette Linton: And I can't wait to meet Pearl. I will come and meet her once I hire properly again.

[27:05] Gordon Cox: So and and what else is on your plate artistically? Are you doing any more writing?

[27:11] Lynette Linton: It sounds like you really enjoyed working on this uh on your ancestor project.

[27:15] Lynette Linton: Yeah, I did. I am I am, I'm dabbling here and there. So I I hadn't written anything for ages. Um so this was a real nice uh sort of reawakening for me. Um so yes, I'll say uh nothing that's gonna be shared for a while because I would like longer than maybe three to four days to write something extra.

[27:33] Lynette Linton: Um but um yes, I will be writing more. Um telly's telly and film is is is interesting to me.

[27:40] Lynette Linton: Um and something that I don't know enough about, so I always want to learn. So I'm thinking about those mediums a bit more.

[27:46] Lynette Linton: Theatre will always be the first love though.

[27:48] Gordon Cox: Theater is the yeah. Do you feel like I feel like the uh a an artistic director in the US wouldn't doesn't for who knows what reason doesn't feel like they have the same freedom or they don't take advantage of the same freedom that I feel like you in the UK do.

[28:04] Lynette Linton: Like you are the head of an institution but you're do you're planning to direct at another institution and you're writing for TV. And do you feel like there's uh that the industry is fairly agile like that that you can slip pretty easily between those forms?

[28:18] Lynette Linton: Yes I think so and I think it's a really I think it's really great that we have that set up here. I think that one thing I do believe in is how long I think that I don't I don't think it should be a cat but I think I don't think I think you should really think about how long you run an institution you know what I mean?

[28:34] Lynette Linton: So it should always be moving and cyclical and just changing. So I think that's part of that conversation too.

[28:39] Lynette Linton: Yeah you know who's who's running it and how for how long because things that's part of our equity conversation here in the US as well just in terms of you know creating systemic change.

[28:49] Lynette Linton: Exactly exactly um and then within that you know AD's artistic directors and are artists and were artists before they took that job and that doesn't you know and of course that is funneled into the space but it doesn't stop this sort of individual creativity.

[29:03] Lynette Linton: So we do have a great setup here that we are able to do that which I think works really well. But again I think for me it's the key of like how long you run an institution and what that is and what that is your focus for a set period of time you're there to make the change that you're there to make and then you you move on.

[29:20] Gordon Cox: Yeah.

[29:21] Lynette Linton: I you mentioned this earlier that we're we keep calling this time unprecedented but it actually you know it really is there are no real precedents that we can look to that really feel uh fully pertinent to where we are right now.

[29:34] Lynette Linton: So what for you are you taking as your load stars as you move ahead?

[29:39] Lynette Linton: I'm taking forward um the strength and um utter creativity of our of our industry and the people that work in it. This has been such a devastating time for so many freelancers, so many artists who are still fighting.

[29:57] Lynette Linton: And you know, we're in August. When did you know we shut down in March? It's such a long time. And yet, still, every time I sell onto Twitter, every time I have a conversation with a writer, I'm I'm astounded by the utter creativity that is still keeping us going.

[30:13] Lynette Linton: And I talk a lot about James Baldwin and how I look to his work, particularly around Black Lives Matter, in in what happened before. I look to his work into his art and how he described what was happening. Um and I and I and I find that useful because it helps me get through where we are now because I look to what came before and how art documented it.

[30:33] Lynette Linton: And that that sort of idea keeps me going now within the Black Lives Matter movement, but also through Corona, like how we do how we document this through art and how our artists are still thriving, even though our theatres are closed, our cinemas are about to be open.

[30:50] Lynette Linton: Or they might be already be open. But you know what I mean? Like we're our places of art are closed, but our artists are still thriving. And so that is something that keeps me going every day because I know that as soon as we can make the work again, there's going to be so much amazing work, and we'll all support each other in that.

[31:05] Gordon Cox: Yeah, yeah. Well, we can't wait to uh see what what great work comes out of all this. Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me.

[31:12] Lynette Linton: I really appreciate your time, Lynn.

[31:14] Lynette Linton: Thank you so much for inviting me. It's really lovely to chat.

[31:25] Gordon Cox: That was Lynette Linton, the writer, director, and industry leader who is the artistic director of the Bush Theatre in London.

[31:32] Gordon Cox: If you like what you're hearing on this and other episodes of Stagecraft, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.

[31:38] Gordon Cox: You can subscribe and find past episodes there, and on all the other pod places, including Spotify and on the Broadway Podcast Network, which is a great place to find more theater for your ears.

[31:48] Gordon Cox: And just a quick note to listeners about our schedule. Stagecraft is currently releasing new episodes every other week, and we're going to stick to that schedule at least through the end of the year.

[31:56] Gordon Cox: So I'll be back in two weeks with another new episode. Thanks for listening and see you soon.