Having initially interviewed Daniel at a midnight, community-inspired post-lockdown reopening of Piero’s Hairdressing shop on Mill Road, we tried the interview again – this time in daylight. It was clear Daniel had a lot to say on the subject so we put the questions to him for a second time. We explained that we have been looking to ‘bottle’ memories of community support and mutality that have been much in evidence during the lockdown period so that these things aren’t forgotten as life returns to a more normal state of affairs. We explained that we are hoping to provide some distraction for those folk who are still shielding and those who are missing their routine community activities, notably choirs, which are still unable to take place. Life continues to be very tough for those who work in the performing arts and so this is also a project that seeks to celebrate the importance of creativity and creative practice to individual and collective well-being.
We asked Daniel:
i) ways that you have seen local communities coming together during the last few months;
ii) what sort of new normal you’d like to see as we emerge from lockdown – perhaps as a result of some of the hard truths that have emerged during lockdown, e.g. social inequalities; perhaps as a result of the benefits evident from fewer cars on the streets (these were points you raised at Piero’s)
iii) the challenges you envisage in trying to realise this vision of a more sustainable, greener, and fairer future for all
iv) your sense of the value of singing, theatre, the performing arts to community life and to British society