New comedy show reflects realities of lockdown living
Anew online comedy is embracing the limitations imposed by life in lockdown. The Insiders is a six-part online comedy series following the highs and lows of a couple living through isolation.
As creative industries across the world work out how to operate within the realities of lockdown and social distancing, The Insiders features two actors using one phone to tell their Covid story with hope, resilience and humour.
Entirely written, filmed and edited during COVID-19 lockdown, the actors take on every production role to exercise their creativity and produce one of the world’s first homemade Covid drama series.
The Insiders handles reallife Covid lockdown themes from panic buying to the ultimate staycation. It also courageously tackles the more serious issues of navigating financial uncertainty, relationships and mental health.
The first three episodes ranging between three to five minutes each - are already available on YouTube and have already had more than 2,200 views within the first two weeks. The first episode went live on April 28 and the series finale is due for release on June 7.
Theseries has been written, filmed and produced by London-based actors Edward Wolstenholme and Maria Forrester. The couple first met five years ago whilst training at the Oxford School of Drama and are engaged to be married. Edward has worked as an actor in the West End and for the National Theatre. His TV and film credits include Doctors, The Crown and Wonder Woman. Maria is a Romanian actress, with credits including shows at the Bunker Theatre in London and work on several short films and commercials. She is also developing a play about integrating into UK life from the perspective of an Eastern European.
Edward said: “Everyone’s trying to find a way to deal with the stresses and uncertainty brought around by the lockdown.
“While some write their experiences down in a diary, we decided to dramatize ours on film. All we had was the equipment already in the flat and, until now, the only thing we’d self-filmed was our own self-tape auditions. This was completely different!”
Maria said: “Yes, there’s a homemade feel to the series and we embrace that.
“After all, we’re two actors using a phone. Not having a production team around us, we had to trust our instincts, our connection to the material and, of course, each other. It’s been a challenging process but a hugely rewarding one.”
Visit https://www. youtube.com/channel/ UCq5T_AJcbfpTe88GO_ n9i6Q to watch the series.