Performer inspired by COVID lockdown
NICOLA FINDLAY
An East Kilbride dramatist and actor has come up with a creative new way of sharing his work after festivals across the country were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.
Lorenzo Novani, 37, a former pupil of the town’s St Andrew’s High, began performing in amateur theatre, working his way up to the professional scene.
His latest project is a collaboration between two other writers, Kenny Burnham and Jill Korn.
They got together through video calls during lockdown and began to write theatrical monologues about people in isolation which became ‘Journey Around My Tenement’.
But instead of performing live on stage they are taking the performance online.
It is being pre-recorded and will be available from August 13 to 20 on a YouTube channel.
Based on the story of three households living on one stairwell, it follows three characters alone at home and addresses how solitude affect our fears, anxieties and dreams, with Lorenzo’s character drawing specifically on the COVID-19 lockdown.
He didn’t originally take a path down the performance route, studying for a Sport and Exercise Science degree at university instead.
But it was the arts that drew him and he started writing in 2015 with ‘Cracked Tiles’ – a tragicomedy about a fractured relationship between father and son.
He took this to the Edinburgh Fringe, performing the monologue on stage but he has been involved with the iconic event every year since 2013. The dramatist also took another production Loving the Enemy, to the Fringe last year.
The monologue was adapted from Hilda De Felice’s piece based on her Italian father’s real-life story of his time in the British Army during the Second World War.
Lorenzo told the News: “Writing has been mostly a part-time aspect of my life since 2015.
“I decided to stop chasing other acting roles and just focused on my own work.
“But over the last year I have been full-time, performing my own work all around Scotland.
“I was involved in amateur theatre from my mid-20s and the interest has always been there.
“But the professional acting opportunities that were out there and that I was going for weren’t really the most fulfilling which, was the catalyst for me getting out there with my own stuff.”
And while lockdown has posed major challenges for the arts, Lorenzo has used it to work on his writing and looking to add another string to his bow.
He has used his degree and created a series of fitness videos aimed at everyone from youngsters to OAPs while also running himself to keep active.
“It’s been a hard time and tours I had planned including the Brighton Fringe and the Scottish Mental Health Festival have been cancelled and funding I thought I was getting is also up in the air,” he added.
“The Edinburgh Fringe being cancelled is also a huge blow for performers.
“I won’t take a hit from that financially like I will from the other events, but I will miss the support and the buzz from mixing with other artists.”
Looking to the future, Lorenzo added: “I honestly don’t see the performing arts bouncing back quickly from this – it will be some time before it comes back.
“That’s part of the reason why I am looking at setting up a fitness business and using my degree as something to tide me over meantime.”
To view ‘Journey Around My Tenement’ search on Eventbrite and make a donation, after which a private link will be sent to access the YouTube channel.