Before the COVID-19 lockdown and no visitor policy on all Oxford Health sites, wonderful fun was being had in our community hospitals with the Creating with Care arts programme.

Here we share a short film produced by Get the Picture and Age UK: Mary Lou Revue’s Bedside Cabaret. 

Now of course we can only share it digitally but it’s just the ticket to lift spirits! View it here

The duo behind Mary Lou Revue are Marie-Louise Flexen and Steve Skinley, pictured above. With an Arts Council England grant and support from Oxford Health Charity’s Creating with Care programme they became artists in residence at the Witney Community Hospital last summer. There they developed and rehearsed their show Bedside Cabaret, a glimpse of which you can see here. The cabaret brings ‘musical refreshments’ to patients – songs that bring back memories and put a smile on everyone’s face. 

Now that bedside visits – and all site visits – are off limits, Mary Lou Revue is putting together a CD for the hospitals. A virtual show is in the makings, too. 

“We have wanted to find ways to keep the relationship with our artists going and help keep them in employment  – and keep everyone’s morale up,” says arts co-ordinator and programme lead Angela Conlan.  This three and a half minute film will certainly do that.