BBC Arts Announces Line-up for Culture In Quarantine; Includes RSC and Margaret Atwood!

BBC Arts today announced further programming for Culture In Quarantine, a virtual festival of the arts rooted in the experience of national lockdown, with more to be announced over the coming weeks.

Virtual Festival of the Arts includes:
-Extraordinary access to shuttered exhibitions and performances around the country
-Emergency fund with Arts Council England to support independent artists
-A virtual book festival curated with Kit de Waal
-A puppet show from Margaret Atwood for Front Row Late
-Bac Beatbox Academy's hit show Frankenstein
-Classic Shakespeares with the RSC
-A brand new play from David Greig

Beginning this month, Culture In Quarantine across television, radio and online, will give the nation access to the arts at a time when we need it the most. Providing extraordinary access to shuttered exhibitions, performances and museums, a virtual book festival and much more besides. The BBC mission is to increase access to the arts, at a time when the buildings that support them are closed, and to support artists and arts organisations in the process.

Tony Hall, BBC Director-General, says: "It's important during this period that we maintain access not just to news and information, but to the arts and culture. For many people they are a valuable part of their lives and a way of stimulating imagination, thought, and escapism. It's a vital part of who we are as individuals and part of our identity as a nation.

"So I'm delighted that we have been able to work with organisations up and down the country to deliver everything from virtual access to exhibitions and book festivals, through to performances. There is something for everyone. By working together, we can still have a vibrant period of culture to brighten our lives."

On the performance side, the line-up includes: a brand new play by David Greig, Adventures With The Painted People, on Radio 3, a new work from the Balletboyz on BBC Four, and six classical Shakespeares with the RSC as part of an education initiative for BBC Four, featuring stars like Christopher Eccleston and Hugh Quarshie.

On BBC Four and iPlayer, there's also a chance to see Mike Bartlett's Albion and Emma Rice's Wise Children, Northern Ballet's Dracula, Battersea Arts Centre's Frankenstein - How To Make A Monster, Opera Mums With Bryony Kimmings, and the Royal Opera House's recent staging of Fidelio.

Plus Scene For Survival - a responsive digital programme of work from National Theatre Scotland - and, on Front Row Late, Margaret Atwood has created her own puppet show to accompany her narration of an Edgar Allan Poe story!