The Man in the Window: A lockdown love story for our times

❉ A short film in 8 fragments exploring the shadowy edges of interaction in a socially distanced world.

Inspired by the NHS! (sort of)

Based on a true story! (ish)

Wholesome and uplifting! (not really)

Written and directed by Nick Myles and performed by Raphael von Blumenthal, The Man in the Window is a short film in eight fragments exploring the shadowy edges of interaction in a socially distanced world, and is FREE to view on YouTube in three parts.

Queer playwright Nick Myles responded to Covid-19 and the collapse of the theatre industry by switching media and writing a “lock-down love story” exploring the shadowy edges of interaction in a socially distanced world.

The Man in the Window tells the story of Marcus, a single gay man who on the first “Clap For Carers” night notices a neighbour across the road to whom he takes an immediate shine. Despite an almost complete lack of reciprocal interest, Marcus’s imagination begins to build a relationship between the two men…

“It started as a prose story about the strangeness of lock-down and the effect it was having on my mental processes” says Nick, of Whitechapel, East London. “But as I was writing it I began to realise that it’s ideal form would be a film. It was a first-person confessional narrative that seemed purpose-built for a video diary-style treatment, and as a veteran of stage monologues I knew that it could replicate that intimacy between a solo performer and an audience.”

Nick cast actor Raphael von Blumenthal as Marcus, and a peculiar rehearsal process ensued. “It was so different but also utterly familiar” says Nick. “It was me with a pad watching an actor do their stuff and then giving them notes. The fact that we were on Zoom instead of in the same room was unconventional but actually irrelevant in the end. And the experience of watching Raphael bring this strange character to life was just as fascinating as any theatre project I’ve done.”

❉ You can watch the complete film for FREE online on Hidden Bell Productions’ YouTube channel.


❉ News source: Hidden Bell Productions. With thanks to Nick Myles.

❉ We Are Cult is not responsible for the content of this news release.

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