Protect the Heart of the Arts 💕🎗️🌈 😷
banner
heartofthearts.bsky.social
Protect the Heart of the Arts 💕🎗️🌈 😷
@heartofthearts.bsky.social
Maintained by Slightly Overqualified Stagehand @justjennagain.bsky.social 🎭

Advocating for COVID safety on-set and onstage 😷

🚨There is a LONG COVID CRISIS in performing arts🚨 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-PVLP_aQpcp-I2eXvcMOsALLRBD-sFxqdWJOhm
Pinned
COVID COMPETENT CAST + TECH 😷🎙️

Working as a CC creative can be tough, so am building a team for a podcast helping the most vulnerable members of our community.

Am applying for a $20k grant for salaries, and having a prospective team would increase chance of success.

Interested? Comment or dm.
Reposted by Protect the Heart of the Arts 💕🎗️🌈 😷
This is excellent! Thank you @zackpolanski.bsky.social Another way in the music industry can be supported is with #CleanAir and masked audiences. Musicians are being hugely hit by #Longcovid. I had to step completely away from performing due to the risk and lack of availability of regular up to 🧵
Zack Polanski talks keeping music alive, Kneecap and tackling “darkness, fear, and anger” in 2026

The Green leader talks to NME about proving the party as "the real alternative" in UK politics, fighting for young people and culture, and if the numbers really add up

www.nme.com/news/zack-po...
Zack Polanski talks keeping music alive, Kneecap and tackling "darkness, fear, and anger" in 2026
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has spoken to NME about his hopes for 2026, pland to help music, culture and young people, and selling his vision
www.nme.com
January 24, 2026 at 10:41 AM
Reposted by Protect the Heart of the Arts 💕🎗️🌈 😷
This is excellent! Thank you @zackpolanski.bsky.social Another way in the music industry can be supported is with #CleanAir and masked audiences. Musicians are being hugely hit by #Longcovid. I had to step completely away from performing due to the risk and lack of availability of regular up to 🧵
Zack Polanski talks keeping music alive, Kneecap and tackling “darkness, fear, and anger” in 2026

The Green leader talks to NME about proving the party as "the real alternative" in UK politics, fighting for young people and culture, and if the numbers really add up

www.nme.com/news/zack-po...
January 24, 2026 at 10:58 AM
Reposted by Protect the Heart of the Arts 💕🎗️🌈 😷
Update - will be livestreamed on tiktok @serinathecreator, not on Youtube, but will be posted on Youtube later.
January 21, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Protect the Heart of the Arts 💕🎗️🌈 😷
Thanks for namechecking @inclusivenew.bsky.social's INN the Arts Group's coproduced good practice framework for safety from airborne infection in the arts (DM for a copy). I certainly can't take all the credit! Looking forward to Serina's play - remarkable for itself modelling good practice.
“In the UK, advocacy for clean air in live performance has been growing. Dr. Sally Witcher OBE @salwitcher.bsky.social founder of INN the Arts (“Indoor Safety in the Arts”), has developed a framework of best practices aimed at reducing airborne infection risk in theatres and venues.“
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage

A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...
January 21, 2026 at 4:04 PM
“Two COVID conscious performances took place in New York. First was ‘Wake Up and Smell the C*VID: An Evening Without Eric Bogosian,‘ produced by Holy Erotic Propaganda Arson (HEPA), based on monologues of how COVID/Long COVID are impacting artists’ lives.”
www.thecanary.co/global/world...
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage

A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage
A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co
January 21, 2026 at 12:05 PM
“A Pan***ic Play sits within that international landscape, but it is also a local project with the specific aim to put testimony at the centre of the performance. @heartofthearts.bsky.social spoke with producer Serina Estrada about what it means to stage COVID in 2026.”
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage

A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage
A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co
January 21, 2026 at 11:55 AM
“Protect the Heart of the Arts, sounding the alarm on COVID’s impact on the arts, maintains a spreadsheet of celebrity illnesses/deaths. They also distributed Long COVID ribbons at the BAFTAs hosted by David Tennant, after which actor Joanne Froggatt wore one on BBC’s One Show.”
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage

A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage
A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co
January 21, 2026 at 11:53 AM
“In the UK, advocacy for clean air in live performance has been growing. Dr. Sally Witcher OBE @salwitcher.bsky.social founder of INN the Arts (“Indoor Safety in the Arts”), has developed a framework of best practices aimed at reducing airborne infection risk in theatres and venues.“
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage

A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage
A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co
January 21, 2026 at 11:49 AM
“A Pan***ic Play, produced and performed by Serina Estrada, draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting ‘real, lived experiences‘ of the ongoing pandemic. The production runs 21–22 January at The Art School at 20 Scott St, Glasgow as part of Emergence Festival.”
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage

A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage
A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co
January 21, 2026 at 11:38 AM
“For much of the theatre industry, COVID-19 has been treated as a crisis we ‘came through.’ But a new production in Glasgow documents how COVID and Long COVID are shaping people’s lives. It comes amid a wider push for COVID-conscious practices in theatre and live performance.”
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage

A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage
A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co
January 21, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Protect the Heart of the Arts 💕🎗️🌈 😷
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage

A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...
A Pan***ic Play brings the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to the UK stage
A Pan***ic Play draws on a model similar to The Vagina Monologues, presenting “real, lived experiences” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
www.thecanary.co
January 21, 2026 at 11:13 AM
“Perhaps the most famous celebrity mask wearer is Tom Hanks, who was photographed on the NYC subway wearing a face mask.

Hanks clarified on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, ‘I’m doing a play right now so I cannot get sick… I’ve had COVID enough in my life.’” #oneofthetwo
December 30, 2025 at 9:24 PM
“The WHO lists 7 million COVID‑19 deaths worldwide. However, all‑cause mortality statistics, which estimate pandemic excess deaths based on historical baselines of expected mortality, suggest that the true global toll of COVID range as high as 30 million persons.” #oneofthetwo
December 30, 2025 at 9:09 PM
“The segment aired in the midst of exponentially increasing COVID-19 infections, long-term illnesses and deaths. SARS‑CoV‑2 transmission is increasing in the US, with the CDC estimating that, as of mid‑December, COVID‑19 infections were increasing in 31 states.” #oneofthetwo
December 30, 2025 at 9:03 PM
“Because the uncomfortable truth is that the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t care if you’re an establishment comedian.

You can’t ‘rebrand’ your way out of vascular damage.

You can’t do a GQ profile that gets your T Cells back.”
#oneofthetwo @weeklyshowpodcast.bsky.social
December 30, 2025 at 9:02 PM
“Do you see the hypocrisy?

Because I do.

When I get COVID, it’s like, ‘Holy shit, this is real, this is violent.’

When someone else wears a mask, it’s like, ’Haha, what are you hiding, you little freak?’” #oneofthetwo @weeklyshowpodcast.bsky.social
December 30, 2025 at 8:57 PM
“Jon Stewart isn’t the only comedian on a flagship show who has experienced a serious health event since the beginning of the pandemic. In 2023, 6 weeks after his second reported COVID infection, Stephen Colbert was hospitalized with sepsis from acute appendicitis.” #oneofthetwo
December 30, 2025 at 8:44 PM
“Comedians like Jon Stewart are positioned to see that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the decommissioning of the comedian political class, are symptoms of a wider problem.

This is not a shift of party politics, but rather restructuring towards managed collapse.” #oneofthetwo
December 30, 2025 at 8:23 PM
“In Aug 2024, Jon Stewart shared that he had contracted COVID.

‘Apologies for last week. I did not do a show because, as a frail old man, I got COVID for the first time and holy shit am I not a fan. So it knocked me on my ass. I was knocked out, feverish for days.’” #oneofthetwo
December 30, 2025 at 8:20 PM
“Enabling of illness and death is not a byproduct of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but a feature of governance.

When you place Stephen Colbert’s medical emergency and cancellation alongside that political environment, you see previously high‑value icons treated as disposable.”
November 21, 2025 at 12:52 PM
"Stephen Colbert had an emergency appendectomy weeks after a COVID related show cancellation in 2023.

Accounts like @1goodtern.bsky.social and @meetjess.bsky.social generated 700-1.6k likes for commentary engaging w/ research linking COVID with downstream complications such as acute appendicitis."
November 21, 2025 at 12:47 PM
“According to The Economist’s global excess deaths tracker, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may have killed more than 30 million people worldwide.

COVID killed more people in four years than HIV/AIDS did in 40.“
November 21, 2025 at 12:41 PM
“If Public Relations can shape public perception of a celebrity, even without direct contact to the content, how might our beliefs about more existential topics have been influenced?

How do we know what we know about the COVID-19 pandemic?“
November 21, 2025 at 12:33 PM