My Festival Q&A: Jo Clifford

Jo Clifford in The Gospel According To Jesus Queen of Heaven at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, December 2018 PIC: Aly Wight

Q: What were you planning to do at this year’s festival?

A: I was planning to come back from Karachi (after seeing my Light in the Village in Urdu), rehearse The Gospel According to Jesus Queen of Heaven and perform it for a fortnight in Summerhall; and maybe even rehearse and perform our Not So Ugly Duckling with Maria MacDonell. And also prepare to travel to Rio de Janeiro to create a Queen Jesus-inspired event with a theatre group from the Amazonian rainforest for the FLUP festival in the Babilonia favela.

Q: What are you doing instead?

A: I’ve been writing and filming Sunday blessings for Queen Jesus (www.queenjesusproductions.com/a-space-to-bless); recording my part in a forthcoming NTS “Scene for Survival”; and watching the ducks out my window.

Q: What impact has the lockdown had on you?

A: I’ve been sharing a house on the Black Isle with my eldest daughter, her husband, and my grandchildren, and that’s been wonderful; I’ve also been ill with the virus and in isolation. That was very profound. I’ve lost a lot of work I was really looking forward to; and found a lot of other work I wasn’t expecting.

Q: What do you think the future of theatre looks like?

A: Very different, I hope. The companies that survive will be the ones that embrace film and social media. There’s a whole different art form being born; and I’m excited by it. And I think companies will have to be prepared to do live performance very differently, in very different spaces. The way we’ve been doing Queen Jesus for years…

Q: What do you think the future of the Edinburgh festival looks like?

A: I hope there’s less of it! I hope it’s quieter. I hope it becomes a refuge from capitalism, instead of its pure expression in all its exploitation and cruelty. I hope it becomes a place where we can come together to take pleasure in human creativity and the possibilities offered by empathy and artistic collaboration.

Q: What’s your favourite memory of the Edinburgh Festival?

When we first did Queen Jesus in the Fringe, six years ago, it was in St Mark’s Church on Castle Terrace. We were supposed to start at 10.30 at night, but couldn’t, because that’s when the Tattoo fireworks went off. So our wonderful front of house man would tell audiences to wait outside at 10.30, strike up a conversation with a stranger, and wait for something amazing to happen. And those fireworks are amazing! Meanwhile I’d be sitting on a staircase waiting to make my first entrance and I could hear the happy excited buzz from our tiny audiences and then their gasps of excitement as the first fireworks went off. And then all I could hear was the explosions, and the lights of the fireworks shining through the windows onto the staircase wall. It was beautiful. Something no-one had ever seen before; something no-one probably will ever see again. Each night a special happy moment.

Q: Do you think the world will be a better or a worse place after coronavirus, and why?

A: Coronavirus has exposed the cruelty, the injustice and the absurdity of the capitalist system. It’s made us pause on the path to self-destruction. It’s an opportunity to begin to think how to do things differently. If we’re collectively able to take that opportunity, then the world could be better. If not, if Johnson and Trump and their ilk succeed in taking us back to their “normal” it will be much worse. Realistically it will be much worse; and also much better…

Q: What’s the most fun you’ve had online?

I don’t have fun online. Fun happens with lovers and with friends…

Q: Please recommend a fun thing you can do while social distancing.

Look out at the world around you. Really look. Take a pen and paper and draw something that catches your eye. Really look at it; and try not to think as your look guides your pen on the page. It doesn’t matter if it’s any “good” or not. Try not to judge it. Remember no-one’s going to criticise it or laugh at you or put you down for doing it. Try to allow the activity to give you a break from thinking. Try to allow it to give you a chance to open your eyes: and see.

Q: Finally, please name a favourite piece of music that sums up this year for you.

A: Joni’s Mitchell’s Both Sides Now. The second version, released in 2000 on the album of the same title. I turned 70 this year, and it’s about that. And it’s about how misfortunes can be joys and joys can be misfortunes and life just goes on anyway.

And is beautiful.

Jo Clifford’s Queen Jesus blessings can be found online at https://www.queenjesusproductions.com/a-space-to-bless. You can join Queen Jesus every Sunday and Wednesday during August, at 12pm.

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