Unlock - a new film poem by Jim Mackintosh

Perthshire poet Jim Mackintosh has woven people’s personal memories and hopes for live performances together to create the film poem Unlock.


Unlock was created following a call-out for responses about what people are missing about live performance and what they are looking forward to when theatres and concert halls reopen.


Unlock intersperses video contributions from members of the public, actors and people involved in the creative arts with scenes filmed in the locked down Perth Theatre to convey a message of hope for the future. It includes a particularly poignant contribution from late Perth actor Andy Gray to whom the poem is dedicated.


Jim Mackintosh said:


“The piece was inspired by the film poem Everyone Means Something that I created for Perth Theatre’s Fun Palaces Festival in October. We asked members of the public, actors and those involved in the creative arts to film what they miss and what they look forward to seeing once our theatres can open again.

The film is a weave of those responses stitched together with threads filmed by myself in and around the theatre.

One of the most poignant pieces in the film is the contribution from the late Andy Gray who sadly passed away in January. With the help of the theatre’s Ginger Ramsden, we were able to put a screen on the theatre stage and then film Andy’s contribution where he was so much at home. It was powerful moment and highlighted for me how much we miss our precious Arts Industry and the gaps which there will be in the audiences and on stage where friends and loved ones should be."