Pandemic drama’s celebrity lock-alikes
THE STARS WILL BE OUT FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THE COVID-19 VARIATIONS IN BIRMINGHAM. DIANE PARKES REPORTS
It’s a strange type of humour – it’s the comedy of Covid hair and Zoom gloom
FOR Olivier Award-winning composer Richard Thomas, the past two years have not been easy. He caught Covid-19 twice, suffered long Covid for months and saw all his work stop because of lockdowns. But as a writer, he also wanted to capture the unique situation humanity found itself in – and so he composed The Covid-19 Variations.
Calling the 23-minute piece a ‘‘piano drama’’, Richard says The Covid-19 Variations takes us from the eve of the pandemic and through its various phases, featuring Richard’s own experiences of being ill during that time.
Now the work, which was premiered online in September 2020, has been partnered with a series of short films created by Alison Jackson and featuring celebrity lookalikes, from Elton John to the Royal
Family. The new production premieres at the Birmingham Rep on February 8-9 and includes a 45-minute panel discussion.
Richard, who grew up in Selly Park but now lives in London, says his first bout of Covid in March 2020 laid him low.
“It was crushing. I’ve never had anything before where I just had to totally surrender to it. My partner was calling the hospital and they were telling him that I shouldn’t go there unless I was really deteriorating and we didn’t really know what to do.
“I was pretty much incapacitated for several months. I couldn’t breathe or walk very well. I would do about 20 minutes of writing and then go to bed. Then I got it again just before the lockdown in Christmas 2020, but it wasn’t as bad that time.”
Coincidentally, one of Richard’s
friends, pianist Philip Edward Fisher, who was also born in Birmingham but now lives in New York, suffered Covid early in the pandemic.
“It was literally the day after New York locked down when Phil went down with it,” Richard recalls. “He has no family there and neighbours were doing his shopping and gingerly leaving it at his door. Phil and I were swapping notes. We were like two old men comparing the effects.”
When they heard that New York’s Guggenheim was offering grants for online performances, the two decided to work together on a Covid-inspired piece. Richard composed The Covid-19 Variations and Philip played the work, which was recorded and shared online.
“The idea just pinged in my head of The Covid-19 Variations,” Richard recalls. “I thought ‘what would be the story of Covid in 19 little pieces?’ I spoke to Phil about it and we looked for the things everyone would recognise.
“So, it starts with BC, Before Covid, and goes to AC, After Covid? Then when lockdown first started, everyone had all this free time and decided they were going to learn a new language and do fitness, but they didn’t and basically everyone was just watching Netflix and going stir crazy. Then the person at the piano gets sick and goes through that and then comes out the other end.”
As the composer and writer of Jerry Springer: The Opera, a show
which saw demonstrators demanding the production be withdrawn, Richard is no stranger to controversy. But he believes The Covid-19 Variations will resonate with audiences who will appreciate both its pathos and its humour.
“Because I’ve had Covid I can precisely see the comedy in it,” Richard says. “In the piano drama you’ve got an ‘every person’ and you think it’s all laughs and then boom, halfway through he gets Covid and the whole piece goes into something else.
“When Phil first heard it he found it really moving. Musically it’s like Gershwin drama at the beginning but at the end you feel like you’ve gone through something and it’s changed you.
“Covid impacted people in so many ways but comedy is what I do and I wanted to plug into that. With comedy it’s often about how close you get to that line. It’s a strange type of humour – it’s the comedy of Covid hair and Zoom gloom.”
Philip will be performing The Covid-19 Variations in Birmingham and the production now has an added dimension with films created
by BAFTA-winning artist Alison Jackson, whose video for Duran Duran’s Anniversary single featured celebrity look-alikes from George Clooney and Brad Pitt to Victoria Beckham and Lady Gaga.
“I sent the recording of Phil playing the Covid-19 Variations to Alison and she just loved it,” says Richard. “Her work is amazing; she’s very funny but also very skilled. It’s like she has this bank of look-alike people across the world and when she needs someone they just come out of hiding for her.
“Her work is also very powerful. One moment you think you’re having a laugh and then you realise it’s something much darker and that’s what it’s all about for me. It works for The Covid-19 Variations because you’re giving people comedy and then you hit them with something else, something deeper.”
As a Brummie, Richard is delighted the production will premiere at The Rep. The performance includes a drink and an after-show discussion with Richard, Philip, Alison and The Rep artistic director Sean Foley.
The Covid-19 Variations – A Piano Drama plays The Rep on February 8 and 9. For tickets click on www.birmingham-rep.co.uk