Lost Dog, In a Nutshell, The Place Online

Ben Duke is the artistic director of Lost Dog, one of Britain's most exciting and engaging dance-theatre companies. Its work was last seen in London at Wilton's Music Hall just under a year ago, when Duke himself performed alongside Solène Weinachter in a reprise of their hugely successful, deeply thought-provoking Juliet and Romeo.

Now Ben Duke returns in a new work, In a Nutshell, Lost Dog's single-shot short film that imagines a world in which theatres will never open again.

Conceived at the very beginning of lockdown, when theatres up and down the country went dark, In a Nutshell will be available to view just as London theatres start cautiously dipping a toe into the water of live performance, if under a number of Covid-necessitated constraints, such as much reduced audience sizes, and mask-wearing requirements.

Uncertainty as to whether it will be financially viable to continue operating under such constraints for any length of time means the theatre world is aware it's far from out of the woods yet; so, what if live theatre as we knew and loved it were not to return – ever?

This kind of enquiry is just up Ben Duke's street, the kind of thing that appeals to his blend of curiosity, imagination, self-deprecating humour and not a little melancholy.

Sitting alone in an empty auditorium, a man explains to unseen future generations what live theatre was. He relives moments that were particularly important to him, and laments the loss of real-life connections in a world where people are not allowed near each other.

He bemoans the loss of that unique temporary community of strangers that makes up a theatre audience, and asks what is real in life if we cannot share it together.

Filmed and edited by Rachel Bunce, In a Nutshell will be available to stream for free from The Place website and YouTube channel, from Monday 23 September for a month.