CUTIE CROTCHETS (Coronavirus Theatre Club)****

By Imogen

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-s36InfIl0

Available until: Unknown

I hope I never have to sink this low. I seriously hope I never have to sink half as low. It’s bad enough that my school production has been cancelled three times and my professional engagement. I can’t believe I’m saying this but it’s lucky I’m still young enough to go to school. At least I don’t have to go out and get a boring job. Or stay at home and get a boring job. That would be just too humiliating. And if I have to do the job the main character does in this play I would die.

SHOWSTOPPER! THE IMPROVISED MUSICAL*****

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/showstopper-the-improvised-musical-livestream-tickets-133746047027?aff=Twitter

Available until: Saturday 6^th February

I always thought the Showstoppers were good but I think this might be their best ever. It was one of my dream Showstopper line ups, the audience came up with a great story idea and I really enjoyed the music.

In case you don’t know the format, the Showstoppers improvise musicals from suggestions from the audience. They usually do this in a theatre but obviously they haven’t been able to do that so they’ve been doing livestreams with suggestions coming from youtube chat. The audience get to suggest things like the main story of the musical, the title of the musical (this is chosen at the start of Act 2), new plot ideas, locations for scenes and lots of songs in different musical styles.

MEET MO (Press Play Here/Theatre Royal Stratford East)***

  

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-2UxBsQPQA

Captioned version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6FnVLoLHcI&t=0s

Audio-described version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guF0zDN41U4&t=0s

Available until: Unknown

There are no content warnings, but it is quite filthy in more ways than one. Cat sick, body part puns and an image nobody needs in their head. (I don’t blame the cat. I really don’t.)

Mo is a nan, living alone in the pandemic. She’s expecting her granddaughter, but she’s late. Mo thinks about some of the things her granddaughter might be doing instead of visiting her nan.

LA BOHEME (OperaUpClose/Soho Theatre on Demand)***

 

By Dave

Link: https://sohotheatreondemand.com/show/laboheme

Available until: Unknown. You can rent for 48 hours.

Updating opera to the present day doesn’t always work. Our lives are so different from the way people lived when a lot of the most famous and best-loved operas were composed at least a hundred years ago so understandably, it can be very difficult to set them in the present day. I’m sure you’d also have big problems if you tried to set an opera like Dr Atomic in the 19^th century. Everything would just seem wrong.

I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE (Lambert Jackson/London Coliseum)***

 

By Emma

Link: https://londoncoliseum.org/whats-on/i-love-you-youre-perfect-now-change

Available until: Livestreams on 29^th and 30^th January at 7.30 with a matinée on Saturday 30^th at 12pm (midday)

Recommended age guidance: 16 + Contains strong language and scenes of a sexual nature

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change makes me feel very glad I’m happily married and that I met my husband at school. The thought of going through all the excruciating dates and situations we get to see in this musical is enough to put anyone off dating for life!

THE SAME RAIN THAT FALLS ON ME (The Space UK/University of York Drama Society)****

 

By Tommy

Link: https://online.thespaceuk.com/show/the-same-rain-that-falls-on-me

Available until: 31^st January 2021 (according to The Stage)

The Same Rain That Falls On Me is about a situation which is always relevant and always one of deep sadness, but perhaps it has a particular relevance in the time we live now. So many people have tragically lost family members and friends to COVID-19. The situation is, of course different: in the current climate, the long hospital bedside vigil is an impossibility; only short visits via modern technology are permitted.

FROM THE STONE AGE (Place Prints/New Perspectives)****

 

By Sophie

Link: https://www.newperspectives.co.uk/?idno=1168&s=82

Available until: Unknown

This Place Print is in two parts. Part 1 is called Cave Girl and Part 2 is From the Stone Age. The stories feature the same characters, but they are separate. Part 1 was reviewed yesterday.

After her Stone Age experiences in the last episode, Kerry finds herself once more in a difficult and potentially supernatural situation. She’s out with Sharon, Gary and Dean again, driving through the Sussex countryside. It’s a bit too late to get home before dark, but if they can get home before daylight, that would suit them rather well.

CAVE GIRL (Place Prints/New Perspectives)*****

 

By Sophie

Link: https://www.newperspectives.co.uk/?idno=1168&s=82

Available until: Unknown

Content warning: This episode contains some use of strong language.

This Place Print is in two parts. Part 1 is called Cave Girl and Part 2 is From the Stone Age. The stories feature the same characters, but they are separate. Part 2 will be reviewed tomorrow.

The fourth episode in the Place Prints is about a group of four students. They’re supposed to be filming for their media studies course and one of them, Kerry, thinks a castle will be the perfect location.

Her enthusiasm is not matched by her friends’. Gary and Dean seem more interested in messing around, teasing Kerry for her interest in the castle. Sharon feels the ground is wholly unsuitable for her shoes. But the four of them continue… and Kerry is overtaken by a strange sensation.

LUNGS (Old Vic in Camera)*****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.oldvictheatre.com/whats-on/2021/old-vic-in-camera/in-camera-playback-lungs

Available until: Livestreams at 7.30pm on Thursday 28^th and Friday 29^th January.

Lungs was first performed at the Old Vic in late 2019, starring Matt Smith and Claire Foy. They were set to reprise their roles in New York in March 2020. We all know why that didn’t happen. But in June, the production was performed live in an empty Old Vic to a virtual audience and now the Old Vic are giving us three more showings of this incredible play from the livestream recordings.

ON THE TOWN (iPlayer)*****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00789db/on-the-town

Available until: 31^st January, 10.15am

A lot of people want to see more new musicals in the West End and I want that too. It’s important to give new musicals a chance. But I also think it’s important to revive the old musicals. Some of them are really good and a lot of fun to watch, like On the Town.

ROMANI GIRL (Press Play Here/Theatre Royal Stratford East)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V32ISI-BEws

Link with captions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdT5Jp-i8pM&t=0s

Link with audio description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRADL-ZQb2A&t=0s

Available until: Unknown

Romani Girl is the story of two girls who are friends. They say they’ll be friends forever, but then one of them meets a boy and everything changes. Everyone’s experience is unique, but most people have experienced something like this. It doesn’t even have to be a relationship. A new job, a new hobby, an old hobby that suddenly asks for a bigger commitment… there are so many things that can come between you and your friends.

ROMEO & JULIET (Lamphouse Theatre/Suitcase Shakespeare/Thespie)***

 

By Dave

Link: https://thespie.com/digital/suitcase-shakespeare-romeo-and-juliet-vimeo/2796

Available until:

If anyone tells you Romeo & Juliet is funny, that probably means they’ve seen this production. It’s one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies and whether you’ve read or seen the play or not, most people know that things don’t end well.

Things don’t end well in this production either but there’s still a lot of fun along the way.

THE WOMAN HATER (Red Bull Theater)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk6ZMl-rcbI

Available until: Saturday 30^th January 12.30am GMT. Friday January 29th January 7pm EDT.

Frances Burney, also known as Fanny Burney, is well-known for her novels, the best known of which is probably Evelina. But she has also written quite a few plays, which have been neglected by theatres until recently. One of her plays, A Busy Day, was performed in the West End. The Woman Hater was performed at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond more recently. The theatre rightly has a very good reputation, but it’s a small theatre and its works don’t attract the same attention as those in the West End.

THE SHOWDOWN (Coronavirus Theatre Club)****

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpvV_lH1k1Y

Available until: Unknown

Deborah has decided to run a book club. It’s specifically for women who feel a bit lonely. She never actually said it was for older women but everyone seems to understand that. All the women in the group are above a certain age.

GRIM’S DITCH (Place Prints/New Perspectives)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.newperspectives.co.uk/?idno=1168&s=82

Available until: Unknown

There are a lot of places in the UK called Grim’s Ditch. There is even one not that far away from where I live, though I have never been there. At least, I don’t think I have.

This Grim’s Ditch is in North Wessex, or Berkshire. Grim is another name for Woden, who I know best as Wotan in Der Ring des Nieblungen by Richard Wagner. The Anglo Saxons believe he was the one who dug the ditches. Perhaps he was hoping to make a river and attract English Rhinemaidens.

RICHARD III (International Actors Ensemble/Circle in the Sand/Alex Theatre)*****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj1ge02w53o

Available until: Unknown

There’s just one problem with this production of Richard III.

I don’t know how any other production is ever going to live up to it.

SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS (Bristol Old Vic)****

  

By Lottie & Ricky

Link: https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/swallows-and-amazons £4.50 to rent for 48 hours or £12.99 for a season pass which enables you to see five productions.

Available until: 28^th February

 

PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE (BBC Shakespeare)****

 

By Sophie

Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pericles-Prince-Tyre-Shakespeare-Collection/dp/B000KPCBNE/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Pericles&qid=1611435798&s=dvd&sr=1-1

Available until: Until Amazon sells out!

This production marks the end of my attempt to see every Shakespeare play at least three times. This does not include the Two Noble Kinsmen, Edward III or Sir Thomas More (which are not often performed) but does include the best-known thirty-seven. My next goal will be to see all the Shakespeare plays at least four times. It’s fair to say I’m looking forward to some more than others.

STARTING POINT (Distanced Scenes/Two Bob Films/TwoFiveFour Productions)****

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoHxNAhglgA

Available until: Unknown

Starting Point is about a Zoom date. It’s about two people on their own in lockdown who are fixed up by a mutual acquaintance. It was always going to be an awkward situation.

But they probably had no idea how awkward. If they had, they probably wouldn’t have agreed to the date at all.

60 SECOND SHAKESPEARE (Cream-Faced Loons)****

 

By Arran

Link to The Tempest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n724MPCKnE

Link to Macbeth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvaSW709vtA

Link to Romeo & Juliet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgU1lrKeZy4

Available until: Unknown

60 second Shakespeare is performed by Abey Bradbury and she performs all three of the Shakespeare plays above in about 60 seconds. The videos are a bit longer but if you take out the credits it’s about 60 seconds.

MARGUERITE AND ARMAND (Royal Ballet/Royal Opera House)****

 

By Megan

Link: https://stream.roh.org.uk/packages/marguerite-and-armand-2017/videos/marguerite-and-armand-2017 £3

Available until: Sunday 14^th February 2021

Marguerite and Armand tells the same story as the opera La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi. The ballet and the operas are both based on Alexander Dumas’ play La Dame aux camélias which means The Lady with the Camelias. Marguerite and Armand are the names given to the characters in the play and the names have been kept for the ballet.

THE MOTH (Elysium Theatre Company)****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--zeNIX27vo&t=6s

Available until: Unknown

There’s no official content warning on The Moth but you might want to be a bit careful. It’s a brilliant play but if you’re a big sensitive about war stories and death, you might be better off giving this one a miss. On the other hand, if you are okay with that sort of thing, I really hope you’ll give it a watch.

The Moth is a monologue, written by Paul Herzberg and directed by Jake Murray. A man, John, sits in his kitchen. A clock just over his shoulder shows the time to be just after ten past five. It’s quite dark but not too dark. It could be my device of course but some stories can be more easily told if it’s a little bit dark. Just enough to make you feel a little bit more hidden. Or maybe John has been talking for a while, working up to telling his story, his words so compelling, nobody has thought of switching the light on.

KENNEDY: BOBBY’S LAST CRUSADE (Stream Theatre)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/24

Available until: Livestreams on Friday 22^nd, Saturday 23^rd and Sunday 24^th at 7.30pm and on Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm.

Stream Theatre is brilliant and even though the reason for its existence is a sad one, it is really lovely to see how it has developed from when it started out, with concerts in the London Coliseum. Since then, it has expanded to fully-staged productions of musicals, plays, pantomimes, ballets and an operetta. It has not just been a UK streaming service either. We have seen Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker and a couple of excellent plays from the USA, including this one.

OFF THE MOTORWAY (Place Prints/New Perspectives)***

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.newperspectives.co.uk/?idno=1168&s=82

Available until: Unknown

Off the Motorway tells the story of an old church. As you drive past it on the motorway, you might catch a glimpse of it… sometimes. There are times when it’s invisible.

But the church has a voice; a spirit. And sometimes, it wants to be seen.

MOSQUITOES (National Theatre)***

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.ntathome.com/mosquitoes/videos/mosquitoes-full-play

Available until: Unknown

Mosquitoes focuses partly on the difference between intelligent people and stupid people and having tried unsuccessfully to grapple with the scientific parts of the play, it’s very clear which camp I fall into.

I read other reviews in order to make sense of this play and I’m still a bit lost. One of the main characters, Alice, is a scientist and she’s working on an experiment involving two protons colliding. Her emotional collisions with her less intellectual sister Jenny seem to provide some sort of parallel, but wouldn’t they be more like electrons colliding? It seems fair to say these sisters are negatively-charged.

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK POCKET PANTO (Press Play Here/Theatre Royal Stratford East)****

By Lottie & Ricky

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-pMkFvqzaM

Link with captions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P0NCAQCzaU

Link with audio description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQPebDXPCos

Available until: 17^th February 2021

 

CHOICES (Aurora Theatre)***

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtEYPFAFU8k

Available until: Unknown

A young woman is in debt so she visits a debt counsellor for support. She’s handed a long document to read, but she’s confused.

It doesn’t make sense. There’s got to be a catch somewhere… hasn’t there?

BLOOD SUGAR***

 

By Sophie

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgJovsjjBdM&t=1s

Available until: Unknown

Content warning: There’s no content warning on the video and if I told you, it would give away everything. But there are things in this story which are very wrong. Definitely more a play for adults and only then if you’re feeling strong.

ANDREA CHENIER (Royal Opera)***

 

By Dave

Link: https://stream.roh.org.uk/packages/andrea-chenier-2015/videos/andrea-chenier-2015

Available until: Sunday 7^th February 2021

Andrea Chenier is an interesting streaming choice from the Royal Opera (though they are obviously restricted to the productions they chose to film), but it’s a good choice. Mostly, they’ve been streaming the popular operas which everyone knows and this is a time when a lot of people might want a bit of familiarity. It’s not like we get much of it in the rest of our lives.

LE CABARET DE RIEN (Press Play Here/Theatre Royal Stratford East)***

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.stratfordeast.com/press-play-here

Captioned version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qD5t0Amr6A&t=0s

Audio-described version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpEHR4ueAxo&t=0s

Available until: 17^th February 2021

Content warning: Some of the Press Play Here videos contain strong language.

The Theatre Royal Stratford East have created a series of short videos to help us through our third national lockdown. I’ve only watched one so far, but the titles look interesting and varied and I’m looking forward to watching them.

OVERFLOW (Bush Theatre)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/event/overflow-online

Available until: Livestreams on 19^th, 20^th, 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd January at 8pm. Matinée 20^th January at 2pm. The 20^th January matinée is audio-described and the 20^th January evening performance is captioned.

Age guidance: 14+. Strong language, strobe lighting and loud noises are used in this production.

Overflow is a monologue play about a woman called Rosie. She’s a trans woman, but she’s also a woman. I wouldn’t really want to see her differently from any other woman. If she has problems, then I’d want to support her. Some of her problems might be related to being trans and some might not be. All her problems would matter to me if she was my friend or if she needed me in some way.

RIVER, OF COURSE (Place Prints/New Perspectives)****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.newperspectives.co.uk/?idno=1168&s=82

Available until: Unknown

Place Prints is a series of short audio dramas written by David Rudkin, focusing on different parts of the British Isles. It seems to focus on very specific places with a story to tell, places we probably wouldn’t know about unless we happened to live there.

THE LAST ROUTE (Compacts)*****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9tFeve8o2Y

Available until: Unknown

Here’s another brilliant play by Rick Allden. All his characters are very different, but he gets right into their heads and tells their stories in their words so well.

A TALE TO TELL (Twist and Pulse/BASE Productions)*****

 

By Lottie & Ricky

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjkhVB7747E&t=2s

Available until: Unknown

MACBETH (Shake-Scene Shakespeare)*****

 

By Megan

Link: https://www.patreon.com/shakesceneshakespeare

Available until: Unknown. If you can’t find it, you could try again another time because they do come back.

Shake-Scene’s production of Macbeth is very inventive and very emotional. Zoom theatre has been happening for nearly a year now and a lot of companies are producing special effects which are getting more and more impressive and it’s really great to watch but I think there is still a lot to say for productions that keep it fairly simple.

ROLES WE’LL NEVER PLAY (Apollo Theatre/Stream Theatre)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/23

Available until: Livestream 17^th January 7pm.

Roles We’ll Never Play was filmed in December under socially distant conditions and I was very excited when I found out it was going to be livestreamed on Stream Theatre. Stream Theatre is such a great site and as lockdown has continued, its productions have become more and more varied. It is also great that they are bringing back not just shows which they have done before but also offering a platform for successful plays which were streamed somewhere else first time around. I am really looking forward to seeing The Pirates of Penzance and Southwark Playhouse’s The Poltergeist again because I loved them the first time and I think Little Wars is one of those plays that could be even better the second time.

LA TRAVIATA (Teatro Real Madrid/OperaVision)****

 

By Imogen

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SqpcFOchjA

Available until: 14^th May 2021

I’d never even heard of Teatro Real Madrid. If you’d asked me what it was I’d have guessed that it was the Bernabeu, the stadium where Real Madrid play, their theatre of dreams. Spain doesn’t exactly have a great operatic tradition. It is a very musical nation but there aren’t many operas written in Spanish. Even the ones with a Spanish feel like Carmen aren’t written in Spanish.

TWELFTH NIGHT (American Shakespeare Center/Blackfriars Playhouse/BlkFrsTV)*****

 

By Arran

Link: https://americanshakespearecenter.com/events/twelfth-night

Available until: You can buy this on its own or in a package with A Midsummer Night’s Dream or Twelfth Night or you can buy all 3 together at a discount which sounds like buy 2, get 1 free. If you buy a package, you have two weeks to watch it. I’m not sure about if you only buy one.

I really liked this production of Twelfth Night. There are things in the play that make me sad but I think it was performed in the best way so I was less sad. There are lots of different ways you can perform Twelfth Night and I like it best when it is a comedy. I don’t know why because some of the things that happen are very serious but it was like they made all the characters as nice as they could be without making them seem not like themselves anymore.

PUBLIC DOMAIN (Southwark Playhouse)***

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show/public-domain £15

Available until: Livestreams on 16^th January at 3.15pm and 7.45pm

There’s not much privacy around nowadays. Everyone is expected to have social media profiles. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, snapchat, TikTok… But it’s not just about being a member of the site; you’re expected to produce content too. Personal content. This might be ignored by absolutely everyone or you might be attacked for posting it, but it’s still expected.

COSI FAN TUTTE (Scottish Opera/Theatre Royal Glasgow)****

 

By Megan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MFdnPptcSw

Available until: 7^th February 2021

Scottish Opera’s production of Cosi fan tutte is really lighthearted and fun but it does take the story seriously and shows the characters as real people. The title is usually translated as ‘So do all women’ but this production seems to focus on the fact that everyone makes mistakes. So it’s like Cosi fan tutti. ‘Tutti’ means all males but it’s also used for a mixture of men and women.

AVALANCHE (Bloom Theatre)*****

 

By Cal

Link: https://bloomtheatre.co.uk/avalanche-1  £8 (including booking fee)

Available until: 7^th February 2021

Trigger warnings: Strong language, discussion of sexual assault.

Avalanche is written in the form of a monologue and you’ll probably feel a bit like you’ve been hit by an avalanche by the time it finishes. It is a really powerful piece. It contains some really difficult subjects, but it is well worth watching if you feel able to do that.

PARADISE COVE (Pen & Paper Theatre Company/Show Face Festival)***

 

By Sophie

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdG5pO1d4TI&feature=emb_logo

Available until: Unknown

A tragedy can affect a whole community and it can be difficult for that community to move on and recover.

But Paradise Cove has not only recovered. It is thriving.

HENRY VI PART III (International Actors Ensemble/Alex Theatre/Circle in the Sand)*****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIl4Chm_OKQ 

Available until: Unknown

The final part of the Henry VI trilogy is a triumph not just for the winner of the final battle but for the International Actors Ensemble, Circle in the Sand, the Alex Theatre and everyone else involved in this great series of productions.

And it isn’t over yet. Richard III is still to come and judging from the cast list, it’s going to be great.

CONFESSIONS: THE HOURS (Thornhill Theatre Space)**

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6IsXIu5DuY

Available until: Unknown

This play is about a woman who is being bothered by a man who lives near her. He knows where she lives and he’s made her feel intimidated and uncomfortable. She’s tried asking for help but he isn’t seen to have done anything wrong.

One day, she decides to invite him into her home.

OTHELLO (American Shakespeare Center/Blackfriars Playhouse/BlkFrsTV)*****

 

By Louise

Link: https://americanshakespearecenter.com/events/othello

Available until: You can buy this on its own or in a package with A Midsummer Night’s Dream or Twelfth Night or you can buy all 3 together at a discount which sounds like buy 2, get 1 free. If you buy a package, you have two weeks to watch it. I’m not sure about if you only buy one.

A lot of theatre companies don’t just put on plays – they have their own identity as a theatre. A big part of the American Shakespeare Center’s identity seems to be music. They performed songs in character both at the start of the play and during the interval.

THE AFRICAN COMPANY PRESENTS RICHARD III (Red Bull Theater)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1dwrpaacSg&feature=youtu.be

Available until: Friday 15^th January 7pm EST (Saturday 16^th January 1am in the UK)

Content warning: Contains themes of racism, the use of racial slurs – the N-word.

Red Bull Theater’s productions premiere in the middle of the night for UK viewers and they’re only available for a few days, but they really are worth a watch. They find so many interesting plays which I’ve never heard of and they always have something really relevant to say. The African Company Presents Richard III is set in 1821 and was premiered in 1988 (though this production is of the significant 1992 rewrite, in which a major character was removed from the play). In many ways, attitudes have moved on and it’s a good thing, but other things haven’t changed, at least not as much as we’d have liked them to and one way of showing that is to put it into a work of fiction and let us see it for ourselves. The play might be fiction, but there’s a lot of truth in fiction if you’re prepared to look for it. Far too much of this play rings true.

WAITING FOR OBAMA (PACE Center/Stream Theatre)***

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/12

Available until: Livestreams at 7.30pm every day until 17^th January. There are also matinées on 13^th, 16^th and 17^th January at 2.30pm. But if you're not bothered about seeing the actors, it looks like you can listen on Spotify for free.

Waiting for Obama is a radio play but in this production, the actors sit or stand, socially-distant, on a stage. They read their parts from books or tablets, as they probably do with a radio drama. One actor takes the role of the narrator and reads out stage directions.

REDRUM TRUE CRIME (Spotify/Apple Podcasts)*****

 

By Sophie

Link on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FCoeRZQeDkEJ5i8bGuFpy

Link on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/redrum-true-crime/id1515905584

Link to Patreon episodes: REDRUM true crime is creating podcasts | Patreon

Available until: Unknown

This review was posted after I’d listened to approximately half of the podcasts. It is very much my intention to listen to the others and it is possible that another review will follow in due course, but there is so much to say about them and my notes for the review were already so ridiculously long, it seemed sensible to post a review now and add a second later. There are nineteen episodes currently on Spotify with others available to Patreons.

REDRUM is an excellent and fascinating series of crime podcasts written and presented by Grace Cordell and produced by Russ Clark and Grace. True crime is not my area of expertise (though I love crime fiction), but although Mobile Theatre was primarily envisaged as a means of drawing attention to the online plays that have become available in lockdown, it seems important to explore other media too. This is not always easy as there are so many wonderful theatrical productions of all kinds currently available online, but here is my first foray into the worlds of podcasts and almost my first into true crime.

HENRY VI PART II (International Actors Ensemble/Alex Theatre)*****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXZ5AKrieXQ

Available until: Unknown

The International Actors Ensemble continue their Henry VI series with a really incredible production of the second part. This play is seen by many as the best of the three and it’s believed to be the first Shakespeare wrote. It shows a slightly older Henry, trying to keep control of his kingdom as almost everyone he knows seems to be against him.

THE REST OF OUR LIVES (Future Voices/Southwark Playhouse)

 

By Aashiq

Link: https://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/future-voices

Available until: Unknown

On a surface level, this is an enjoyable play which a lot of people can identify with. Although it is about adolescents taking exams and we tend not to do that anymore after we finish our education, I’m sure it’s something everyone from (currently) Year 13 and older remembers and there are other aspects of the play that don’t go away just because we’re grown up.

THE NIGHT THAT AUTUMN TURNED TO WINTER (Little Bulb Theatre/Bristol Old Vic)***

 

By Lottie & Ricky

Link: The Night that Autumn Turned to Winter | Bristol Old Vic

Available until:

 

SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

 

By Louise

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oejlw4iBxwg

Available until: Unknown

Silence in the Library is a very creepy ghost story written by Benjamin Peel and performed by Nigel Fyfe. I like ghost stories a lot. My friends and I used to tell ghost stories when we stayed over at each other’s houses. It seems like a very long time ago now. If I get the chance to do it again (I’m sure we’ll be allowed after everyone’s had the vaccine, but my friends might decide they’re too old for ghost stories), I think I’ll play this story for everyone on my phone. It’s a really good story and Mr Fyfe tells it much better than I would.

HENRY VI PART I (International Actors Ensemble)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLJEo339aYw

Available until: Unknown

The Henry VI plays aren’t performed very often. There are three of them and they’re not exactly short and not many people will want or be able to afford to go to three consecutive performances. It would be really tough on the actors too!

PRONE TO HOUMOUS (Distanced Scenes)****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRWHN9UmImc

Available until: Unknown

It seems like lockdown has inspired a lot of people to reconnect with old friends. I don’t know if it’s just the boredom getting to us or the thought that we might never see them again if we don’t get in touch. But it happens and it’s usually either a damp squib or it’s really amazing. No middle ground. At least, it doesn’t seem that way.

BLONDE BEACH (University of the West of Scotland)****

By Sophie

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCLfWruaEVU

Available until: Unknown

This fascinating short film was written and directed by a third year student at the University of the West of Scotland. It is one of many pieces that has appeared unexpectedly on the Mobile Theatre twitter feed. Although Mobile Theatre is primarily a theatre blog, work in many other media have caught our eyes and the fact it was not made on a stage seems no reason to ignore something this interesting.

WAR HORSE (National Theatre)*****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.ntathome.com/war-horse

Available until: Unknown

War Horse is a play I’ve long been aware of but never seen. I’ve read and enjoyed the book by Michael Morpurgo, my mum’s old schoolfriend was a musician when the production transferred to the New London (now Gillian Lynne) Theatre and some of my siblings have seen it, but not me. Until now.