Covid musical comes to Edinburgh Festival Fringe

A musical about the Covid-19 pandemic created by a Surrey actress is heading to the Edinburgh Festival.

Natasha Mould, from Walton-on-Thames, wrote the show when she found herself unemployed and taking on a care job during the pandemic.

2020 The Musical includes songs about being on furlough and working with the elderly.

Ms Mould went from acting in 9 to 5 The Musical in the West End to a full-time care job in a nursing home.

She said: "I was about to go on tour with a Strictly Come Dancing show when we got a group text telling us not to come to rehearsals and that was it.

"We didn't get paid. I was wondering what I was going to do next."

Three days later she began working as a carer for the elderly.

Ms Mould said many of her friends worked in supermarkets during the pandemic, a time when many people changed their lives "to keep afloat".

2020 The Musical focuses on how the lives of theatre workers changed, she added.

"So much love and community and positivity came from such tragedy, so I am sharing the stories people did not know," she said.

"2020 was a horrific year for pretty much everyone, but it is about finding that positivity."

2020 The Musical is being performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 14 to 27 August.