The Write Escape: How One Actor Coped with Covid

John Griffiths

ISBN 10: 1800463820 / ISBN 13: 9781800463820

Published by Matador, 2021

About this Item

Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. A copy that has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Seller Inventory # wbb0025040403

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Write Escape: How One Actor Coped with Covid
• Publisher: Matador
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1800463820
• ISBN 13: 9781800463820
• Binding: Soft cover
• Illustrator: Harmer, David
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 230 grams

About this title

Synopsis

What were you doing when the lights went out on 16th March 2020? John Griffiths was about to step out on stage at the Waterside, Aylesbury, in The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. But, with less than an hour to curtain up, the curtain fell. Who dunnit? Why, Covid, of course. The Write Escape takes up the story from there... 

Early in the first Lockdown John had domestic chores to distract him, but they couldn't fill the artistic hole the loss of performing had left behind. Thus John decided to start each morning with three Ps - nothing to do with a weak bladder. Every day kicked off with a prayer, a poem and a psalm. All this reading got the creative juices going, and he began to write a daily blog. When several people said he should put these pieces in a book, he succumbed to the flattery and decided it was a good idea. This is the result. 

The book spans the Ides of March to the Ides of September, and covers a variety of subjects and styles. It includes epigrams, limericks, haikus, obituaries, anecdotes, recipes and sports reports. We meet, among others, Her Majesty the Queen, Florence Nightingale, Nelson Mandela, Louis Pasteur, Ben Stokes, Kenny Dalglish; and writers including Shakespeare, Byron, Oscar Wilde, Ogden Nash, Dylan Thomas, Wordsworth, Masefield, Betjeman and Duffy; and mark schooldays, holidays, festivals, anniversaries, weddings and, sadly, funerals. But the overall tone is one of hope, and faith in the human spirit to adapt, to persevere and survive.

About the Author

Born, raised and educated in post-war Swansea. After university and teacher-training, John Francis took up a post in an Ealing school in 1970. Seven years later John changed his surname to Griffiths on becoming a professional actor. All went well until Coronavirus struck. This book is the result.