Arriving in London, I got the text: 'Welcome to the Apocalypse'
Natasha Greenblatt | Posted: March 20, 2020 5:44 PM | Last Updated: March 20, 2020
Stuck abroad amidst the COVID-19 crisis, playwright Natasha Greenblatt found creative solace with family
I was in England when the reality of COVID-19 hit the western world. I was on my way to Brussels to see a play I was set to produce in Toronto in November. And because I was going to be in Europe, I thought why not stop off and see my family in London?
I woke up in the plane after an overnight flight on March 12. As soon as I got through customs and managed to log onto the airport wifi, I got a message from my creative partner in Belgium saying: "Don't come. The show's been cancelled."
Then I got a message from my cousin, Sam, saying, "Welcome to the Apocalypse."
I went directly to Sam's flat in north London where he lives with his girlfriend, Alice, and their friend, Chloë. They'd already decided that they were going to practise social distancing. They're all filmmakers. And Sam and Alice were mainly working from home anyway, so it was a fairly easy transition.
I quickly realized that I wouldn't be going to Brussels. I bought the cheapest flight back to Toronto from London. It was for Mach 21, just over a week away. "It will be a coronavirus writer's retreat," we all said. And although it was devastating that the play was cancelled, I was pretty excited to spend a whole week with my cousins.
Creativity borne out of chaos
We settled down to a simpler existence. We were social distancing, but we didn't stop everything. We still went to the store to buy extra ingredients we needed for cooking. And we did a lot of cooking. It was so nice to spend time together, chopping onions, sharing recipes and eating home cooked meals.
We kept talking about what was going on in the world, how unbelievable it all was. Whether England was doing enough. What was happening in Italy. And what it all meant for everyone. We realized how lucky we were to be able to work from home. Many people didn't have that luxury.
On the second day I was there, Sam had a great idea for a funny Instagram video (his true passion in life). The video would tell the story of a near distant future where the only professions left were medicine and TikTok — cut to a dance break. So, while Chloë and Alice kept working, Sam and I went into the world to buy some costumes.
It was a sunny Friday afternoon. The high street was full of people buying groceries and eating at restaurants. Everything still felt pretty normal. We found everything we needed at a hardware store and came home to choreograph the dance.
That night after dinner we shot the film. The four of us collaborated and laughed our butts off, and Sam's dancing was magnificent. It felt like a special kind of moment that was only able to happen because of these strange circumstances.
Looking back on it, it feels like we were in this magical bubble where we knew things were bad, we knew things were different, but we didn't know the full extent of what was about to happen.
The bittersweet return
The next day Canada issued a statement telling its citizens abroad to come home early. People started sending me the same CBC article. I'm not sure if it was the jet lag or the anxiety, but I was having trouble sleeping. I was compulsively checking for cheap flights leaving earlier than Saturday. The airline wasn't taking calls and when I filled out their online form, I got an automated response that I'd have to wait at least four days to hear from them.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was set to make an announcement at 1p.m. Around the same time, the U.K.'s Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally took the stage to tell its people that they needed to take action. As we huddled around a phone to watch the televised announcement, it felt like we were in a wartime movie where people gather in bomb shelters to listen to the radio.
Back in Canada, Trudeau announced he was closing the borders for everyone except citizens and permanent residents. It was time to go home. I booked a flight for the next morning and spent one last evening with Sam, Alice and Chloë.
Leaving London was bittersweet. In the time between taking off from Toronto on the morning of March 12 and returning five days later, the world had turned upside down.
I was coming home to 14 days of self-quarantine and a life of uncertainty. But I don't regret going. Maybe because it was so much fun to create, cook and laugh together as we grappled with the unfolding new landscape. Maybe because I don't know when I'll see my family again.
I do know that it was probably the last real socializing I will be doing for a while that's not over the phone, on a screen, or at a distance.
About the Producer
Natasha is a theatre maker, performer, and the co-artistic director of Two Birds Theatre. A graduate of the National Theatre School's acting program, Natasha won a Dora award for her performance in Get Yourself Home Skyler James by Jordan Tannahill (Roseneath Theatre). She is currently in self-quarantine with her boyfriend, Ornab Momin, and their dog, Mario.
This documentary was produced with and edited by Julia Pagel.