In the third of our ‘Health, Wellbeing and the Arts’ Faculty of Arts at Home films, explore with Dr Anna Harpin (Theatre and Performance Studies) the nature and politics of loneliness in her film ‘Only the Lonely’. This brilliant, poignant meditation on the ‘age of loneliness’ makes some radical proposals about altering our thinking about loneliness as a problem of the individual to something we can collectively change as a society.

In the second of our ‘Health, Wellbeing and the Arts’ Faculty of Arts at Home films, explore with Dr Elizabeth Barry (English and Comparative Literary Studies) ‘Beckett and the Age of Covid’. This film presents her fascinating research on the representation of aging in work of Samuel Beckett. Liz is interested in how Beckett’s work can be understood in relation to the experience of aging in lockdown and beyond, and how the current pandemic amplifies generational tensions.

In this film, Professor Nadine Holdsworth (Theatre and Performance Studies) talks about her work on the ‘Homeless Monopoly’ project, a game which has been developed by Nadine, Jackie Calderwood and partners to facilitate better understanding of homelessness (and its causes) in young people. This film gives us insight into what can be achieved through partnership working (both with the charities that support the homeless, and with the homeless citizens of Coventry themselves).

Dr Heidi Ashton (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) discusses how freelance workers in the creative sector are ‘Free Freelancers’ in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Heidi details the precarity of this sector, the ways that freelance workers have fallen through the gaps of government safety nets, and the difficulties faced in monetising freelance work on digital platforms.

In this film, Dr Maria Barrett (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) examines this time of crisis for UK theatres as an opportunity for government, policymakers, theatre management teams and activists to reenvisage the sector and reach out to those not normally reached by, or represented in, our theatres.

Dr David Wright (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) examines the social divisions in the consumption of culture at home, and looks at the extent to which the digital cultural offerings of lockdown are available to all. David also asks what the risks are of privately owned platforms controlling our access to culture.

Today, explore with Dr Chris Bilton (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies) a view of the ‘undigital’ creative economy and the impact that COVID-19 has had on it. Chris asks us to consider what performances, publications, and works of art and culture we value, and encourages us to try to support artists and creators directly.

Associate Professor Michael Meeuwis (English and Comparative Literary Studies) explores the history of Victorian theatre and, particularly, the Victorians’ love for amateur theatricals at home. Michael makes the link between these performances and how we’re keeping ourselves entertained during lockdown.

In this episode, Professor Roberta Bivins (History/Centre for the History of Medicine) explores how the NHS has always encouraged us to take action to protect our own health, and asks important questions about what kind of NHS we want in the future. Visit the website of the People's History of the NHS to learn more about the project.

In this second of our weekly Faculty of Arts at Home films, Professor Rachel Moseley (Film and Television Studies/Centre for Television History) explores the role that television has played in informing, educating and entertaining us about the domestic arts (cooking, sewing, home decoration, etc.). Rachel looks at the way the lines between public and private space have become blurred during the Covid-19 crisis and how we might make sense of this through television studies.