Melbourne became a ghost town during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pubs and venues closed their doors, leaving many of the city’s artists and creatives without a stage to perform on or an audience to perform for. Yet over successive lockdowns, it was the creative industries that kept communities strong, as we all adapted to unprecedented circumstances.  In The Stage Goes Dark, four creatives share their struggles and victories during the pandemic and cry out for an overlooked community, calling for a lifeline.   Guests: Eilish Gilligan Brenton Harris Neil Morris (DRMNGNOW) Virginia Gay   Credits: Producer: Erin Dick Executive Producer and sound design: Sarah Mashman Engineer: Tegan Nichols Theme composer: Oliver Beard Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions Management team: Abe Killian and Sime Knezevic Made in co-operation with: SYN, Melbourne   This episode was made on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and the muwinina people from Country around nipaluna. These lands were never ceded.  From the Embers Season 2: Phoenix is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Monash University’s Fire to Flourish program and The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative and broadcast across Australia via the Community Radio NetworkSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.