The Write Escape: How One Actor Coped with Covid

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.

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.