Amid the Covid crisis, comes news to gladden our hearts – Scotsman comment

Amid the litany of bad news about the coronavirus pandemic, comes something truly beautiful.

Actors Emily Winter and Leah Byrne from Dundee Rep Ensemble and dancer Oscar Perez of Scottish Dance Theatre make a surprise appearance on a doorstep in Broughty Ferry (Picture: Neil Hanna/PA Wire)

Dundee Rep and the Scottish Dance Theatre are to stage socially distanced shows on doorsteps and in gardens over the festive season as a rather special kind of a Christmas present.

People are being invited to nominate someone who lives in Dundee to receive one of the surprise, ‘pop-up’ performances as a gift. While the live audience will be limited, the shows will be filmed and made available to watch on the theatre company’s website.

Andrew Panton, of both groups, said he was “inspired, heartened and in awe of the creative response not just of the team here at the Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre but of the wider community this year as we come to terms with the coronavirus pandemic together”.

It may not be ideal, but such innovation is required if we are to navigate the current crisis and all of us, whether in business or as individuals, should be thinking about how we can maintain our way of life despite the regrettably persistent interruptions caused by the virus.

At a time when theatre groups have been unable to perform to packed audiences, going out to find their public is a way of spreading the products of their creativity and talent, which many of us will have been missing. It could also help to ease any sense of isolation that those lucky audience members may have been experiencing.

And, furthermore, it is quite simply a very nice thing to do.

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