By Emma
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1z5tLKQO9k&list=PLwhWmWJPoEmF8P780nCvmV74Zv_kK-FGQ&index=1
Available until: January 7th
I think there are two ways of
interpreting the title of this story. ‘Baby fever’ could be a desperation to
have babies or the fact you almost feel like you’ve got a fever because you’re
so stressed by your children!
By Arran
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XefWZ0R6Mgk
Link to Act 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEtPaI_0iRw&t=5s (Acts 1 and 2 are separate concerts but I
thought I’d post the links in case you were wondering why I’d only reviewed Act
3)
Link 2 Act 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTL8QqaxR0Q
Available until: Unknown
I hadn’t heard of Joe Allen the
restaurant before lockdown but I thought it had a nice name. One of my
favourite footballers is called Joe Allen. So I watched the concerts and it
seems like a really lovely place. Imogen says she’s going to go there all the
time when she’s a West End star.
By Cal
Link to 29th November
performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHGXRWCb5JQ
Available until: Unknown, but there
are three recordings of this event. This is the 29th November
performance. There were also performances on 28th and 30th
November.
It’s always interesting watching plays
on Zoom and seeing into actors’ homes, but in this play, I really enjoyed the
use of backgrounds to give a sense of place. The International Actors Ensemble
has taken advantage of this option and although all the actors have slightly
different screens, it does look like they’re all in the same place. It worked
really well, especially as much of the play took place in a really lovely
bluebell wood. Wish I was there! I’ll happily swap November for summer.
By Lottie and Ricky
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k_yEBBEvyw
Available until: Unknown
Lottie aged 6
By Louise
Link: https://stream.roh.org.uk/packages/don-giovanni-2019/videos/don-giovanni
Available until: 27th
December 2020
The Royal Opera have been really
wonderful for keeping us entertained during the pandemic. They stream their
past productions online for a very small price, as well as putting on socially-distanced
shows for a very small or no audience, which can be watched online.
This production of Don Giovanni
is probably my favourite ROH streamed production so far, but I did enjoy all
the other productions a lot. It is a beautiful opera musically anyway and it
has lots of interesting characters, but in Kasper Holton’s production – revived
by Jack Furness - they are especially interesting because he has shown the
characters in ways I have never seen them before. The ending is really
interesting too.
By Cal
Link: https://hopemilltheatre.co.uk/events/rent-online £20
Available until: Shows Friday and
Saturday at 7.30pm and Sundays at 7pm. The final performance is Sunday 20th
December. The video is available from 7.15-11pm so you don’t need to watch it
live, but you do need to watch it on the same night.
Content warning: Drug-use, strong language & themes of adult content.
Parental guidance required for children under 15.
169 years ago, a man
called Henri Murger wrote a series of stories called Scènes de la
vie de bohème. This inspired not one but two composers to write an opera
called La bohème. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s 1897 opera is actually really
good, but it is Puccini’s 1896 opera that was embraced by the public – and
which inspired composer, lyricist and writer Jonathan Morgan to create a
musical based on La bohème but set in
Lower Manhattan in New York. Sadly he did not live to enjoy the success of the
musical, he died the night before the Off-Broadway premiere in 1996. But the
show has proved popular. There have been a number of UK productions including
three in the West End and one in a paper mill, as well as an eight-year run on
Broadway.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVuCKaetRss
Available until: Saturday 28th
November 7pm. You’ll need to start watching it before 5.30pm.
Content warning: 12+. The play contains flashing
lights, adult themes and strong language, some of which is racially offensive.
Post-Show
Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhIFndYCMG4
It’s difficult to put into words how
good this is. It’s an incredible play. A really important play. A play which I
really wish was available for more than 24 hours.
Death of England:
Delroy was filmed at the National Theatre on
its opening night. It was also filmed on its closing night. Lockdown only
allowed the theatre one opportunity to share it with the world – until now
(though I really hope there will be more performances in the future).
By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkYg80kjIAI
Available until: It says it’s
available for 48 hours so that’s probably until 7pm on Sunday 29th
November.
An American in
Paris is a really beautiful musical. There
are lots of stories about several men falling in love with the same girl and
all thinking she will marry him, but these srories are usually either a farce
(which means it’s a lot of fun, but maybe not very romantic) or the lady
behaves in a very unfair and not very ladylike way and it’s really sad and it’s
hard to feel happy for the successful man because you can’t help wondering how
long he’ll be successful for.
By Imogen
Link: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show/fiver-the-concert/#schedule £15
Available until: There are livestreams
on Saturday 28th November at 3.15pm and 7.45pm. It seems to be
available for a while after the show too so you don’t have to watch it
completely live and you can pause it.
Fiver is a great show because the star is a member
of the audience! At the start of the show, Alex James Ellison invites an
audience member onstage and grinds against them till they give him a £5 note. I
wonder how successful that is. I mean he is so hot, some people might hold out
on him all night and only admit right at the end that they don’t even have a
fiver. I mean not many people do. It’s all plastic nowadays. Cash isn’t even
legal right now in some places.
By Dave
Link: https://thefosseforestballet.com
Available until: Pay what you can and
you get 24 hours access. They’re halfway to their initial goal so it’ll
probably be available for a little while longer.
The bad news is I wasn’t totally
convinced by this but I have good news too. I hated Fleabag, didn’t get The
Office, in fact I haven’t seen any sitcoms I’ve enjoyed that have been made
this millennium (unless Staged counts). Yet these shows are really
popular. So the fact I’m not totally convinced is quite likely to mean the
Fosse Forest Ballet team has a hit on their hands.
By Aashiq
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/home
£18 +£3 booking fee
Available until: Further livestreams
on Friday 27th November at 7.30pm, Saturday 28th November
at 2.30pm and 7.30pm, and Sunday 29th November at 5pm.
The Last Five Years is a great musical
for lockdown. So great, it’s been done twice. A filmed version with Lauren
Samuels and Danny Becker, both filming their own section of the music. (And
they were wonderful. I absolutely adore Lauren and Danny. They could probably
sing one of Donald Trump’s speeches and I’d still love them. Well, probably. If
I put them on mute, anyway.) And now a filmed version of Southwark Playhouse’s
staged production, starring Molly Lynch and Oli Higginson.
By Louise
Link: https://www.thetheatrecafe.co.uk/livestreams/out-of-the-spotlight-into-the-darkness-episode-2/
Available until: It says N/A
The second episode in this really
enjoyable series features fourteen singers. They each sing a solo song and two
of them sing a duet together as well. They sing songs from fifteen different
musicals, ranging from Guys and Dolls which was first produced in 1950,
to A Star is Born, a film musical which was released in 2018. Every
decade apart from the 1980s is represented but I think the music from the 1980s
often isn’t appreciated nowadays.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2A42wEBwQw
Available until: Unknown
This is a series of several plays, all
related to the pandemic. It’s a very interesting selection because they’re very
short and not very much happens in most of them, but every one of these plays
made me think about an aspect of the pandemic. They say we’re all in the same situation,
but in many ways, we’re not. We’re all at home, but we have different homes.
Different lives. And every single one of these characters has an important
story to tell.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/surrey/performance-preparation-academy/saturday-night-fever/e-gjqdde £22
adult, £17 concession, PPA graduate £12, PPA student £5. + booking fee
Available until: This production must
be watched live. There are livestreams Thursday-Saturday at 7pm and a Saturday
matinee at 2.30pm
In some ways this musical seems so
old-fashioned. The idea that if you get pregnant you have to marry the guy or
have an abortion. There’s nothing about adoption or being a single mum or
giving it to your parents to look after. There were only 2 options, abortion or
marriage. I do think it’s good it’s basically the girl’s decision, if she won’t
get an abortion then the marriage has to happen. But I’m glad we’ve moved on
from that.
By Louise
Link to playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp9ljWlQivIN3lhFgJNXBZ9zZyzPnxcon
Available until: Unknown
This is a really lovely and clever
adaption of King Lear, set in the COVID era. There are sixteen episodes,
all a couple of minutes long and it looks like they were posted on sixteen
consecutive days.
The series was written by Abey
Bradbury and it’s so good. She takes all the important events in King Lear
and fits them really convincingly into the modern COVID world. It really
surprised me how well it worked. King Lear is about the dividing up of
lands and it has a very historical feel (King Lear is thought of as
Shakespeare’s fictional King, but he’s based on a legendary King called King
Leir), but I suppose the lands aren’t really the important part of the play –
it’s about the relationships between parents and children. That is something
which has gone on for centuries and will probably continue to go on forever.
By Emma
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYxe-LGOBjw
Available until: Unknown
I think this is a really good play.
It’s only ten minutes long but it’s enough to get a really good sense of who
the characters are and how they feel. It’s part of a longer story which has
been going on for a very long time but you don’t need to hear the rest of the
story. You can feel what it is like.
By Cal
Link: https://vimeo.com/482609041
Available until: Unknown
I first read about this film a while
ago and wondered if there would be an opportunity to see it so I was very happy
when it was posted on Vimeo.
It tells the story of Jason, who has
arrived at a police station following arrest. At first, we don’t know what’s
happened. The story moves between the present and the past. Jason and his
partner Emma are holding a gender reveal party and they want to share the
moment with the people who matter to them most. Unfortunately, this means the
guest list includes two people who really don’t get on. These two men have
caused trouble in the past and Emma is concerned there might be further
problems between them at the party.
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGPmIG1CEA
Available until: Unknown
Content warning: Murder, rape,
violence, mutilation, blood, gore, cannibalism… not for the squeamish
This isn’t one of Shakespeare’s easy
plays. It’s not usually seen as one of the problem plays, probably because it’s
very obvious that the characters are awful and we’re not expected to sympathise
with them. It’s more one where you sit back and enjoy the horror – and if you
like horror, there’s plenty to enjoy. Cal commented in another review that
Shakespeare was very cheeky with his humour (and he wasn’t referring to the
cheeks on your face) and Shakespeare was also not averse to writing dark, nasty
stories of murder and mutilation. He could basically do anything and he writes
this one with relish!
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt7-7RvQgSs
Available until: Unknown
Everyone says it’s wrong to judge
people, that you should keep your minds open, that you shouldn’t assume. But
that’s easier said than done.
With a play you’ve got a natural
interest in what happens next and that’s fine as long as the story is good
enough to hold most of your attention.
By Emma
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgL3vp8bEK0
Available until: Unknown
I don’t want to be mean but Frozen
leaves me a bit cold. I don’t really enjoy the story and I don’t especially
like either of the princesses. This is a problem when it comes to enjoying the
story but I think Disney Cruise Lines has adapted the musical really well for a
cruise audience and there are lots of good things about their production.
By Cal
Link:
Available until: Unknown
This is a really difficult play. There is so much in it
that’s wrong. So many characters who behave badly – and most of them get away
with it. I don’t know why this play is so particularly difficult when the world
is full of stories about people behaving very badly – and it’s not all fiction
- but Measure for Measure usually makes me feel very uncomfortable.
By Lottie & Ricky
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yyP8EV3eeA
Available until: Unknown
Lottie age 6
By Alan
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/shows
£18
Available until: Further livestreams on Monday 23rd-Saturday
29th November, with 2.30pm matinees on Saturday 28th and
Sunday 29th.
I don’t always like juke box musicals as I think they can be
a bit lazy but I don’t really see this as a juke box musical. There’s no plot,
it’s more the story of music from around the 1920s which was obviously 100
years ago. Peter Polycarpou does most of the presenting and the explanation of
what music was being written but he is helped in this by Sally Ann Triplett who
does some of the narration and sings quite a lot of the songs.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri--_c4YTEw
Available until: Unknown
Sofa Shakespeare is a fun idea, but their productions are
always well put together and of a very high standard. This production of Othello
features only actors from the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour)
community.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdUycGf_uJk
Available until: the end of Sunday 22nd November
14 Voices from the Bloodied Fields has been created
to commemorate the centenary of a tragedy which has come to be known as Bloody
Sunday. I have not given a star rating and this is not so much a review as a
description as it feels wrong to give a rating of this sort of performance. But
I wanted to write something to acknowledge the piece and maybe draw other
people’s attention to it and possibly even encourage them to watch something
they might not have watched otherwise.
By Tommy
Link: https://stream.roh.org.uk/products/ariodante-in-concert £10
Available until:
Sunday 20th December 2020
How wonderful to see a full live opera at the Royal Opera
House once more! Of course, it was not possible to see this opera in person and
might not have been as fully satisfying experience for them as it was for their
online audience, but I really hope they were able to find some enjoyment in
their excellent performances of this beautiful opera and to know that it was
very much appreciated by those of us who are missing opera.
By Emma
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3e38CvjFsY
Available until: Unknown
Everyone talks about the sexism of the past (as well as of
the present) and they are so right to do that because a lot of things are very
wrong. But Shakespeare has written some really great female roles that show
women as being intelligent and enterprising and 100% capable of taking care of
themselves and the men too.
By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVtdtBbUwK4
Available until: Forever
I almost didn’t want to watch this because I knew that when
I did, it would all be over. But I also really wanted to watch it because I
knew it would be brilliant and it was.
Mostly, TSMGO have presented Shakespeare’s First Folio plays
in order (as far as we can be sure of the correct order). I think the only
changes they made were posting the three parts of Henry VI in
chronological order (Part I was actually written last) and now swapping the
order of Henry VIII and The Tempest and ending with a more
popular work. I think both these decisions are really good. Henry VI
makes more sense in order and although there is something to celebrate at the
end of Henry VIII, it’s not a very well-known play and although it has a
beautiful ending, it ends quite quietly. The Tempest definitely ends
with more of a bang.
By Aashiq
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/17
Available until: further livestreams Saturday 21st
November at 3pm (captioned) and 7.30pm.
Philip Ridley has released lots of brilliant monologues in
the The Beast Will Rise series on the Tramp youtube channel, but this is
my favourite of all. It’s a great story with great characters and I think there
is a lot in the story that most people can relate to, even if not everyone goes
to quite the same extremes.
By Aashiq
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kibhkp1zynQ
Available until: Unknown
Content warning: This isn’t exactly about a swing in a
theatre who understudies every role. In case you were wondering. Strong
language, sexual content, probably 18+
By Emma
Link: https://barntheatre.org.uk/all-venues
£13.50
Available until: Further livestreams on Friday, Saturday and
Sunday at 7.30pm. The stream is available for 24 hours.
Stephen Sondheim wrote a lot of songs for his musicals but
not all of them made the final cut. Marry Me a Little is a collection of
cut songs from several of his musicals including Company, A Little
Night Music and Follies, plus a couple of songs which I think did
make the final cut for their musicals but they were reused here, probably to
make the story clearer.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpxXLpIpLYs&t=3s (This was a Secret Stream, but it's publicly listed on Theatr Clwyd's youtube channel so I'm guessing it's okay to post the link. I can take it down if not.)
Available until: Unknown
In our lives, we might not spend a lot of time with people
who are very different from us. If two people have very different lives, they often
never meet, at least not for long enough to form any kind of connection. But
sometimes, people who are very different do meet and they find they have more
in common than they ever expected. The three characters in Giant Steps
are very different, but two of the characters’ paths keep on crossing – and it
is through one of the things they do have in common that they meet the third
character in this play.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.thetheatrecafe.co.uk/livestreams/out-of-the-spotlight-into-the-darkness-episode-1
£9 for single episode or £25 for the complete 3 episode series
Available until: The Theatre Café website says N/A.
The Theatre Café have been one of the most active venues
through this annoying lockdown business. They started off by streaming concerts
from performers’ homes and more recently they’ve actually been letting the
performers into the café. The Apollo Theatre is one of the theatres that have
really tried to get up and running again. The Government messed all that up but
even though the Apollo can’t let audiences in they can’t stop the performers.
Some of this show is filmed at the Apollo and some is at the Theatre Café.
By Dave
Link: https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/hedda
from £10
Available until: Further livestreams on Thursday at 2.30pm
and Thursday and Friday at 7.30pm
Content warnings: Loud noises and themes of suicide.
Recommended 15+
Hedda is a modern retelling of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda
Gabler which is performed by members of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Lucy Kirkwood’s script has the same basic idea of Hedda being trapped in an
unwanted marriage and wanting to do something to stop herself from going crazy
with boredom.
By Cal
Link: https://ett.org.uk/watch-and-listen/phoenix
Available until: Unknown
Content warning: Strong language, references to coronavirus
Transcript: https://ett.org.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Mike-Bartlett-Phoenix-TRANSCRIPT.pdf
Phoenix is a short story by Mike Bartlett, which is
read aloud by Bertie Cavell.
English Touring Theatre hoped to run a project called Signal
Fires, where audience members sat around fires for evenings of storytelling.
That couldn’t happen, but they have tried to reproduce the project online with
the short story, Phoenix.
By Cal
Link: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/9/mrs-goldie-vs-the-world
Available until: 27th November 2020, 1am
Ms Goldie vs the World is presumably autographical.
It’s written and performed by Nicky Goldie and it’s all about her relationship
with her ninety-four year old mother. It’s presented as a monologue, with Nicky
sharing her thoughts, frustrations and memories with the audience.
By Alan
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dalKG4ZiYg
Available until: 23rd November
Content warnings: Blood, guts, gore, violence, gunfire
Macbeth is fiction but it is based on real people.
There was a Macbeth who became King of Scotland circa 1005. Unlike in the play,
he was king for over 17 years. Macbeth’s grandfather was king so Macbeth was
part of the Royal Family and King Duncan was his cousin- so Macbeth was technically
next in line after Duncan’s sons. (The rules of succession weren’t always
followed, part of the plot of King John is based on the fact John was
actually 3rd in line after his deceased brother Geoffrey’s two surviving
children but the previous king, his brother Richard I, wanted John to be king after
him so that’s what happened. Macbeth was at least 4th in line and
probably wasn’t Duncan’s first choice but he had a lot of support from others.)
by Sophie
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9RnRxg88Fg&t=1s
Available until: Unknown
Content warning: contains very
strong language (spoken and projected) with content and themes which some audiences
may find upsetting. Recommended for ages 15yrs+. (You don’t see any violence,
but there are very vivid descriptions.)
Note: The sound is very quiet and
the subtitles are small so if you are hearing impaired, you might need the
sound on full blast and/or sit close to the screen. It’s worth the extra
effort.
In the Absence of Silence has been developed over a number of
years through work with female survivors of domestic abuse. The idea was formed
in 2011, the work was begun in 2012 and the first version of this play was
performed in around 2014. Six years later, Chickenshed Theatre have posted
their production on youtube.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqVKp1pRUyE&feature=youtu.be
Available until: I think the early hours of 21st
November 2020 if you’re in the UK but probably the afternoon/evening of the 20th
if you’re in the USA.
The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs is an English
translation of Ana Caro’s Spanish play Valor, Agravio y Mujer. A direct
translation would be Courage, Wrongs and Woman, but the title chosen for
this production does tell you a lot more about the play.
By Megan
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw5dKqdQ7dI
Available until: Forever
Henry VIII isn’t usually performed very often but
this is the third production I’ve seen so I feel very lucky. It’s often the
very last Shakespeare play people see to complete the set and I think it must
be a lovely surprise because it’s a much better play than people expect.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r8Ll0Dz0B0&feature=emb_logo
Available until: Unknown
This Zoom reading of The Winter’s Tale was put
together by actor John Craggs, founder of the UK Actors’ Support Network. This
organisation was formed in 2018 to give support to actors, as well as providing
news and information.
By Tommy
Link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/theatre4all-online
£12
Available until: Access is for 24 hours, beginning at 10am
on the day of the ‘performance’. It will be available every day until 3rd
December 2020.
Trigger warnings: Violence, rape, anti-Semitism, abortion
Little Wars is the fascinating story of seven women and
the ways in which their lives change as a result of one single evening spent at
the house of two of the women, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. If you are
fortunate enough to be considerably more well-read than I am, you might find
those names familiar – and if not, you are almost certain to recognise the name
of at least one of the other guests. The two writers, involved in a romantic
relationship for many years, are joined by three other members of their
profession: Dorothy Parker, Lillian Hellman and Agatha Christie. Also among
them are psychiatrist Mary, who has arrived on the wrong day, and servant
Bernadette.
By Emma
Link: https://www.queens-theatre.co.uk/whats-on/show/misfits
£15.65 (you have to choose a seat when you book but it’s just for fun, you can
only watch this play from home)
Available until: Livestreams at from Thursday 17th-Sunday
22nd November at 7.30, plus matinées on Thursday and Saturday
When you think of people who come from Essex you usually
think of bad fake tans and relationship problems. But actually people from
Essex aren’t all like that and fake tan isn’t just an Essex thing. I’m not from
Essex and I’d be lying if I’d never had a bad fake tan. That’s kind of the
reason why Misfits was written. People from Essex don’t have the best
reputation and that’s not fair because I’m sure Essex has just as many
individuals as everywhere else. You can’t judge a whole county based on some
reality TV show that’s only going to attract certain types of people.
By Dave
Link: https://foodoflove.ticketspice.com/twelfth-night-welcome-to-our-table
$25
Available until: Monday 16th November at 6pm EST
(or 10pm UK time). The live shows are in the past but it looks like you can
still watch it.
It took a while to work out how to watch this but if you’re
having problems, stick with it. It’s worth the time and effort. There have been
a lot of great productions of Twelfth Night on offer during lockdown
(this is at least my sixth) and this is right up there with the best. It also
has a real individuality to its production and it didn’t feel like it was the
sixth time I’d seen it in eight months. It felt fresh and new and I really
enjoyed it.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHw92erCCYo&list=PLwhWmWJPoEmF8P780nCvmV74Zv_kK-FGQ&index=1
Available until: Unknown
Aurora Theatre had planned to celebrate their ten-year
anniversary by having actual people in the theatre. We all know too well why
that didn’t work out. But they have produced a series of thirteen short plays
on their youtube account under the name of Covid & Cigarettes. The reasons
why they needed to turn to online audiences are sad, but it does mean their
work is now available to people not just in Hong Kong, where they’re based, but
all over the world.
By Arran
Link: https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event/the-bus-stop
Available until: Tuesday 8th December 11.59pm
The Bus Stop is about a man called Jack who suffers a
disability hate crime. A passenger makes a horrible comment about him when he
can’t get his wheelchair on the bus. Jack can’t forget about the way the
passenger spoke to him and the way she saw him. People have said horrible
things to me too because I can’t always talk and even a very quick comment said
in a moment of frustration from someone who doesn’t know you can really hurt.
By Sophie
Link: https://www.emilialive.com
Available until: 2nd December 2020
Emilia has been widely revered as one of the great
plays of the modern age and there are certainly many good things in it. It’s
the story of a fascinating woman, brought to the stage by a very interesting
and multi-talented playwright and performed by a very strong team of actors and
creatives who all happen to be female.
But my feelings are very mixed.
By Imogen
Link: https://londoncoliseum.org/whats-on/title-of-show
Available until: Livestreams on 13th and 14th
November, 7.30pm
[title of show] is a musical that’s all about putting
on a musical.
I thought it was new but it actually premiered in 2004 and
was most recently performed in Auckland last year. I bet they had people
actually going to see it too.
The original cast was Jeff Bowen, Heidi Blickenstaff, Susan
Blackwell and Hunter Bell, who all played themselves. In this revival, the four
actors use the names of the original cast, rather than their own names. So Marc
Elliott plays Jeff, Lucie Jones plays Heidi, Jenna Russell plays Susan and
Tyrone Huntley plays Hunter. I think it would have added an extra twist if they
were playing themselves playing themselves, but maybe they’re not allowed to
change the script.
By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De3PzEUE7_Q
Available until: Unknown
Some people say it isn’t a good thing to have expectations
about a play, but I think sometimes having expectations can be really good. I
don’t mean good or bad expectations, I mean more about having expectations
about what the play is about.
If you don’t have expectations, the writer can’t surprise
you and I think it is very good to be surprised sometimes.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgyy6hNu4eE&t=356s
Available until: Unknown
Hoffwn i ysgrifennu fy adolygiad i yng Nghymraeg achos bod
hi’n ddrama Gymraeg (ond bron y gyd yn Saesneg) ac rwy i’n caru Cymru, ond mae
Cymraeg fel yn iaith gyfrinachol sydd dim ond ychydig o bobl yn ei deal e. A hefyd,
dw i ddim in siarad Cymraeg yn rhy dda. (Os ydych chi’n siarad Cymraeg, rwy i’n
siwr bod chi wedi sylweddoli hynny!)
That’s supposed to say: I would like to write my review in
Welsh because it is a Welsh play (but nearly all in English) and I love Wales,
but Welsh is like a secret language which only a few people understand. And
also, I don’t speak Welsh very well. (If you speak Welsh, I’m sure you’ve
realised that!)
By Emma
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tzf3FZYqKM&t=1s
Available until: 16th November 2020
I think it must be really difficult to be a man sometimes.
We say men have it easy but they don’t always because there’s so much pressure
on them. If a man said he didn’t think Fiona Shaw was very good as Richard II
in her 1997 film, you’d probably get loads of women calling him sexist. But he
might not have a problem with women playing Richard II – just with one specific
woman.
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9Qx8YXUSEQ
Available until: 11th December 2020
I’ve never seen The Gambler before so I’m grateful to
Opera Vision for giving me yet another opportunity to enjoy a new opera. It’s a
bit of a funny one because none of the characters seemed to be particularly
likeable apart from the little girl who was given a soft toy as a present but I
did still enjoy it.
By Megan
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFiQWzU5wSQ
Available until: Unknown
Tangled is the Disney version of the story of Rapunzel
and I watched it with my baby sister Barbara. She liked it a lot. She smiled
whenever she saw Maximus the horse and she didn’t cry about anything that
happened in the story. I have never seen the animated version of Tangled
but I have seen lots of other Disney films and I love the stage versions of The
Lion King and Aladdin.
By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOoto_6gmv0
Available until: Unknown
Connection tells a story which I think most people
can relate to as so many of us are going through something similar. The story
is set in the present day and the characters are a widowed man called Marco who
has recently retired and his two children, Peachy and Benny.
By Aashiq
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUXxHealWI8
Available until: Unknown
It’s horrible being a teenager sometimes. I should know. I
still feel like a teenager in my head. But some people have more than just the
normal teen problems.
By Cal
Link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fast-feed-feature-film--2/x/25148831#/
From €6
Available until: Unknown but you get 48 hours’ access after
using VIP code.
Fast Feed is depressing and uplifting at the same
time. Depressing because the events referred to really happened and are still
happening. Yet also uplifting because it makes you feel things can be better
than that because there are people who care. There are some terrible things
going on in the world, but most of us know they’re terrible and that means we
can try to make things better. But, as this film shows, it’s important that we
don’t try to take on too much.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/home
Available until: Further livestreams on Sunday 8th
and Wednesday 11th November, all at 7.30pm
Trigger warning: War, death, possible terrible writing.
Bandstand was first performed in 2015 and opened on
Broadway in 2017. The music was composed by Richard Oberacker and he wrote the
book and lyrics with Robert Taylor. It is a very good musical but it isn’t
anything like the pop style that is usually used now, like in Six or School
of Rock (which actually has a very similar plot.) It isn’t even like Waitress
which is more of a throwback to older styles but it also kind of isn’t because
Sara Bareilles (who wrote the music and lyrics for Waitress as everyone
except my granny knows) has a very individual style as a composer.
By Aashiq
Link: https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/macbeth-a-conjuring-2020/
Standard £15, members £12, Concessions £5
Available until: 11th November 2020, 12.59pm
In case you’re wondering about the title, this is still
Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It’s filmed in a smallish, rectangular room,
which is lit with candles. You could actually describe this performance as a
sort of séance, with (most of) the cast of the Globe’s 2018 production of Macbeth
resurrected for this reading.
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GSciEIl0IE&t=1s
Available until: Unknown
If you already know Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, you’re
probably not going to find a better concert version. The usual problem with
this opera is that it’s all about a creepy house and that is very difficult to
stage in a concert hall. All you can do is listen to the music and try to
imagine it. Most concert halls aren’t creepy at all – they’re new and posh and
really comfortable. It really is all down to the singers, conductor and
orchestra.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuOxCWd2ZiA
Available until: forever
Content warnings: sexual assault, violence, gore
Cymbeline is one of the funny ones – and I’m
definitely not calling it a comedy. (It’s actually listed as a tragedy, though
I am a bit surprised by this.) Cymbeline is a funny one because it
doesn’t make complete sense. You do have to suspend your disbelief. You do need
to forgive some very bad behaviour in order to be happy with the ending. You need a top-class cast in order to make
this one work. Fortunately, this production is by TSMGO so you get your
top-class cast and the rest is easy. But
it’s still a very strange play!
By Cal
Link: This production
premieres on 12th November at 7.15pm
Available until:
This film is about a single gay man who wants to be a dad. I
am a (non-single) gay man who wants to be a dad, but I think it’s very
important to make it clear that this film isn’t just for gay men who want to
start a family – any more than American Moor was just for BAME viewers,
or the A Light in Dark Places series was just for people who have
experienced mental health problems. Those plays are for everyone and I believe From
Me to Us is too – it is a very good film on a very important subject which
I believe everyone needs to know about.
By Aashiq
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UnHq07HDm4
Available until: Unknown
I love seeing the one-word titles of Philip Ridley’s The
Beast Will Rise series and trying to guess what it might be about. It could
be about anything. There’s a flavoured water called rosewater. It can be used
in recipes or on your skin or hair or it can be used for a perfume or
aromatherapy. Google says you can also buy it in Waterstones, but I think
google is lying. It’s always lying. Unless there’s a book called Rosewater,
I suppose.
By Louise
Link: https://www.brasseriezedel.com/events/lee-mead
Available until: 6th November at 9pm
Lee Mead is best-known for winning Any Dream Will Do when I
was eighteen months old, but he has also had a very wide-ranging career in
musicals, concerts, pantomimes and plays. I really enjoyed his ‘A carppella’
concerts in his car on Instagram Live earlier in lockdown, but this is the
first time I’ve ever seen him in a full-length concert with accompanists. I
really hope it won’t be the last time because he is very good.
By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyI1nqMMC90
Available until: Unknown
This is another monologue from the Coronavirus Theatre Club, one of the first. It was uploaded in April, which seems like a very long time ago. This story cuts off before the end, which is sad because I was really enjoying it, but I liked the six minutes I was able to watch.
By Megan
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=megvDyy3Wsk
Available until: Monday 9th November 2020
Shakespeare has told lots of stories (exactly how many
depends on who you talk to but he wrote somewhere between 36 and 44 plays) but
one story I didn’t know much about is the story of Shakespeare. I knew who he
married and what his twins were called. I knew he was born in
Stratford-upon-Avon. I knew he’d worked as an actor. I knew Queen Elizabeth I
liked him and he liked her. And of course I knew he was a very very good
writer. But I didn’t know very much else.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROwZ8Ql6sZc
Link with subtitles: https://www.scenesaver.co.uk/production/i-wish-to-die-singing-subtitled/
Available until: 31 December 2020
Warning: 18+ Descriptions of violence, mutilation, sexual assault, murder,
race hatred
In many ways, this feels more like a documentary than a
play. There are positives and negatives which I’ll discuss later, but it led me
to wonder why there are so few documentary plays. There are obviously a lot of
documentaries on TV and a few documentary films, but plays seem to be almost
exclusively telling stories. Some are true stories, but all are presented as a
sort of fiction.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veSOknIgBf0
Available until: Unknown
Warnings: 16+ Love, loss and
desire. Rape, incest, child sexual abuse, anorexia, drug addiction, mental
instability, murder, suicide.
This is a bit crazy but definitely fun. It’s written by
Thomas Middleton, who was a contemporary of Shakespeare’s (Middleton is
younger, but there is an overlap), and there are similarities in the language,
though I don’t feel it’s on Shakespeare’s level. Nothing really jumped out at
me in the way Shakespeare’s language does. But it’s fun.
By Sophie
Link: https://www.cft.org.uk/whats-on/event/crave
£10
Available until: The play will be livestreamed every night
until Saturday 7th November, though performances from Thursday onwards
will not have a live audience. There will also be a Saturday matinee.
It’s difficult to say exactly what this play is about or even what happens in the play. There are four characters who are onstage the whole time. They talk and sometimes they respond to each other, but a lot of the time, they’re saying what they’re thinking and feeling and remembering. Sometimes they characters are speaking out loud. Sometimes they give us an internal monologue. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. Even when they are speaking out loud, the other characters don’t necessarily hear them. They all have their own pain.
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v62xt34iI20
Available until: Unknown but most of the Royal Opera videos
are available until 24th November.
The Ensembles Concert was presented as part of Meet the
Young Artists Week and it featured all the current Jette Parker Young Artists,
along with their very welcome gatecrasher, last year’s graduate German
Alcantara. They sing several duets (some of which became trios for part of the
scene), some well-known and some not, before singing a quartet as a finale.
By Emma
Link: https://www.thetheatrecafe.co.uk/livestreams/i-put-a-spell-on-you
£10
Available until: 7th November 2020
The Theatre Café are really spoiling us! Not only do we get
a Halloween-themed episode of The Theatre Channel, we get another concert! This
is different as it’s more like a concert with individual performances rather
than staged scenes but it’s a really enjoyable concert. There are so many
different ways of enjoying musical theatre performers and I think it’s
important that the online world offers us as many different ways as possible.
It helps us to miss it less and the more concerts there are, the more work
there is for performers.
By Cal
Link: https://www.whatacarveup.com
£12 or £16 with goody bag (programme plus a selection of recipes)
Available until: The performance you book becomes available
at 7.30pm on the day of the performance and can be accessed for 48 hours. The
final performance is on 29th November 2020.
Warning: 16+ - features strong language and graphic
descriptions of murder
What a Carve Up!
is based on a novel by Jonathan Coe from 1991, though Henry Filloux-Bennett’s
adaption includes scenes set in the present and addresses some of the issues
we’re facing now. I would say What a
Carve Up! is a film rather than a play as it is filmed on location - with
social-distancing, from what I remember (I was too focused on the story to take
note of this properly) though it seems very much a play about the distance
between people, whether that’s physical or emotional or a time distance or
separation due to death. The title might suggest a comedy and it has been
described as a satire, but it didn’t really seem that way to me – though
perhaps it might have done if I was old enough to remember Margaret Thatcher (I
don’t even really remember Tony Blair but I’ve been told that’s probably for
the best) or if I’d seen the comedy film from which the play takes his name.
The political situation of the present seems more a tragedy than anything else
and I can’t really imagine seeing the humour in it.
Link: https://stream.roh.org.uk/packages/jukebox-2/videos/jukebox-2
Available until: Sunday 29th December 2020
Earlier in the week, the Jette Parker Young Artists (plus
one former member of the Programme) performed in Juke Box 1. Each Young Artist
sang the opening of three different arias or songs and audience voted on
youtube and facebook for their favourite. The winning songs were all performed
in full in the Jukebox 2 concert.
By Dave
Link: https://blackeyedtheatre.co.uk/shows-2/on-demand/the-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/
Available until: This is quite confusing. Once you start
watching it, you have to finish it within 72 hours. But you can start watching
it anytime between now and 3rd February 2021. I’d guess that’s the
last date to purchase it too.
Warning: Violence/ murder.
This isn’t an easy watch, any more than the book is an easy
read. But it’s an excellent adaption which brings the story vividly to life and
makes it very difficult for us simply to watch and accept what happens. It asks
questions; difficult questions about right and wrong, good and evil, yet all
the time, it shows us characters who are human beings.
By Cal
Link: https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/deep-night-dark-night-2020/
Standard £15, Members £12, Concessions £5
Available until: 7th November 22.59pm.
Warning: The stories include descriptions of violence and
there is occasional use of swear words.
This is a selection of three ghost stories, each told by a
single actor. They’re very different in style and content, but all interesting
and creepy.
Paul Ready performs The
Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. At first, his matter-of-fact tone
doesn’t seem quite right for a ghost story and doesn’t immediately draw you in,
but as you listen more to his words, the way he’s chatting almost casually
makes the story even more chilling. Especially as his words sound like natural
speech, which makes the story feel real. He does show more emotion later in the
story, but that too is very clever because as his tension increases, so does
ours. As he talks about the heartbeat, our own respond by quickening. If the
emotion had come earlier, I don’t think it would have been so effective. As it
is, the story creeps up on you and isn’t that exactly what you want?
Andrius Gaucas performs 50
Berkeley Square by writer-in-residence Sami Ibrahim. This story examines
the different perspectives and truths to every real story. It’s a fascinating,
many-layered story and I love the way Andrius tells it. He’s delightfully
eccentric and full of personality. There’s such a great contrast between the
lightness of his narration and the darkness of the subject matter.
Jessie Bedrossian performs I am Karyan Ophidian by Abi Zakarian. It’s a compelling and
genuinely creepy story that definitely made me feel a bit uncomfortable!
Perhaps it’s especially creepy because it’s obviously set in our world. A world
of the internet. A world of lockdown. A world where we can’t be completely sure
how safe we really are…
By Louise
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/home
Available until: Live performances Sunday 1st
November at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.
I might be the wrong person to review this. It’s about being
a teenager, which I know quite a lot about, but it’s all about social media and
I don’t have instagram or twitter or anything like that. I think there is too
much nastiness and toxicity on there. You’re never safe from the bullies and
it’s like being at school the whole time and never coming home.
