I'm not sure if we'll be doing any more reviews. One of the last reviews we posted (now deleted) really upset a theatre company a lot. That's the very last thing we wanted and we feel it's time to take a step back.
By Louise
Link: https://dundeerep.co.uk/whats-on/saturdays-doon-the-jm
Available until: One more livestream on Saturday 22nd May at 7pm.
Saturdays Doon the J.M. is sad and happy at the same time. It’s sad because of the underlying story and the reasons why the two characters, Eleanor and Andy, aren’t able to live together anymore. But it’s also really happy because now they are together, they’re mostly really enjoying themselves.
By Cal
Link: https://space.org.uk/event/lydia
Available until: One more performance on 23rd May at 7.30pm
Growing up is an interesting process. We all have to do it at some stage. We’re usually a bit too anxious to get there and when we finally do, we often change our minds and want to be a kid again. We tend to assume grown-ups know everything and then we’re either disappointed with them when we find out they don’t, or we’re thrown into chaos when we hit eighteen and realise we still don’t know everything. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to do, and yet we get very little choice in the matter.
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG7hk-U9daY
Available until: Unknown
Organised Chaos is one of those plays you’d probably class as a comedy because it does make you laugh but underneath it has some very serious points to make.
By Louise
Link: https://playcanv.as/p/A5qC9ftM/?overlay=false
Available until: 30th May 2021
I really like the Royal Opera’s 8bit series. They have really pushed the boundaries and tried to do things which are different and not usually something you see on the opera stage, but the works they’re producing still feel like opera.
By Lottie and Ricky
Link: https://dundeerep.co.uk/whats-on/dundee-delight-dice
Available until: One more performance on 22nd May at 2pm. You’ll have access for 72 hours.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IEU6B_50fw
Available until: Unknown
Ribbons was performed as part of the Saplings series in early March 2020. It was filmed in a crowded auditorium with lots of close contact between the two actors.
By Megan
Link: https://www.forty-fivenorth.com/the-giant-pacific-octopus-maratime-school
Available until: Unknown
A lot of people wonder what might happen if it wasn’t possible to live on Earth anymore. The usual solution which people come up with is that we should all get into a spaceship and find another planet to live on but The Giant Pacific Octopus Maritime School has another idea. We should all go and live underwater.
By Sophie
Link: https://www.junction.co.uk/my-illness
Available until: It might end on 16th May 2021, at the end of Mental Health Awareness Week.
Warning: This short film has references to self-harm and suicide.
Recommended age guidance: 14+
My Illness is part of a project designed to raise awareness about mental health problems in young people. The video (which shows various images, but not the people speaking) features real young people talking about the feelings they’ve experienced, the help they received and their feelings of hope for the future.
By Emma
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sng2hPgYvE&t=4s
Available until: Unknown
I Just Called to Say is a really emotional monologue and it only gets more emotional as you slowly work out what the situation is and what it means.
By Dave
Link: https://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/events/shuck-on-demand
Available until: 28th May
A lot of theatres have used the pandemic as an opportunity to tell stories. One or two actors onstage, social distancing, sometimes reading aloud and sometimes from memory.
The Nottingham Playhouse also used this approach with Ghost Stories with Mark Gatiss and it’s a good idea. It helps to keep the performers safe, it reduces the need for props and as a sort of amalgamation between audiobooks and theatre – a sort of onstage, in this case acted out audiobook – it’s bound to appeal to a lot of theatregoers because we like to be told stories and if we can see the story being enacted in front of us, even better.
By Cal
Link: https://www.theplacebedford.org.uk/shows/sophia-2018-online-film
Available until: 23rd May 2021
Most films are there to tell a story and to entertain the audience. If there’s any education or awareness-raising aspect, that’s a bonus, but the primary purpose of a film is usually to entertain in some way (and to make money, though that’s more a necessity than a creative element).
By Emma
Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwhWmWJPoEmHqEQek0JGlt2JEeD4eVPIX
Available until: Unknown
Aurora Theatre have been posting a lot of videos throughout lockdown and we’ve reviewed quite a lot of them. Their plays have been really international with cast and crew members in different continents.
Close Quarters is a bit different because the two characters are in the same place and they’re not social distancing but it’s still really good. It’s a sitcom about Greg and Samantha, a couple who are getting on quite well but they’re not ready to move in permanently.
By Cal
Link: https://brightonfestival.org/whats-on/house-mother-normal-online-3112
Available until: 31st May. You’ll be sent a link shortly before 8pm on the day of the booked performance. You’ll have access for 48 hours. Captioned version is available.
It is incredibly brave to produce a play such as this in current times, but it is a decision I completely support and, if anything, the production might be a little overdue.
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJfbSr2XIvA
Available until: 30th May
Our Dark Side and the Moon is part of the Royal Opera’s 8bit series of newly-commissioned vocal and dance pieces that can be enjoyed for free online. The aim of the series is to push the boundaries of opera and ballet and this one is inspired by the Moon and Mars landings.
By Jack
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emHS99RaRlg
Available until: Unknown
The Statement is a bit dark but I like it!
A student has died and the Head has to prepare a statement to say how sad she and the whole school are to learn of this girl’s untimely passing.
By Louise
Link: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/sacrament
Available until: 12th May
Trigger Warning: This production contains scenes of sexual violence.
Sacrament is quite a grown-up play in some ways. I hope it wasn’t wrong for me to watch it. I couldn’t find an age rating, but I’m fifteen so I’m old enough to watch some grown-up things. I think this is a really lovely play about finding out who you are.
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/102
Available until: 16th May
There are some things in life which don’t really belong in the medium of comedy. These include, but are not restricted to, bombs, guns and childbirth. Bombs and guns can intentionally cause death; in childbirth, death is unintentional but no less tragic. In order to make these things funny, you would need an extraordinarily gifted writer and performer who can find the humour in these situations but deliver it with compassion and respect.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9qZXxsGi3M
Available until: Unknown
Night Work is another incredibly creepy original story from Moth Sanctuary Productions in their Penny Dreadfuls series. As always, the standard is very high and each story introduces us to a completely different world with new characters, situations and horrors.
Link: https://www.theplacebedford.org.uk/shows/selfie_onlinefilm
Available until: 15th May 2021. You can start watching it anytime between now and 15th May, but once you’ve started it, you have to finish watching it within 48 hours.
I think we all know really that social media isn’t necessarily the best idea. It can get you into all sorts of trouble and so many things can go wrong. But sometimes it feels as though there’s no other option than to use social media and when you do finally give in and try it, you realise how addictive it can be.
By Dave
Link: https://www.coliseum.org.uk/shows/an-acorn-recorded-6401ag
Available until: 17th May 2021
The thing about audiences is we can be very lazy. We’re usually happy to put in the psychological work to find out what it’s all about. We’re usually happy to put in the emotional work so we can engage with the story and the character. We’re usually happy to put in the physical effort involved in getting to the performance. But we do have limits.
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRfptpSM5Iw
Available until: Unknown
Main-Main is a word from the Malay language and it means ‘playing’. The idea behind it is to encourage the artists to play in whatever way they want to. To explore their creativity and share it with us. The result is very interesting, original and thought-provoking.
By Emma
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydBtniuBniA
Available until: Unknown
School’s Out is such a clever monologue. I really like plays that surprise me and don’t go where I’m expecting it to go. “School’s out” is a really well known phrase so I went into this with expectations of what it would be about and I was wrong. I love being wrong about things like this!
By Megan
Link to Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vej2H3bvpg8
Link to Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVeVMYuvDs0
Link to Episode 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whpD5itVWlM
Available until: Unknown
Dinosaurs and All That Rubbish is a play in three parts, based on a picture book by Michael Foreman which was published fifty years ago. It is an adventure story for children and it’s a lot of fun but it also teaches children about the importance of science and caring about the environment.
By Dave
Link: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/feral
Available until: 9th May 2021
Feral is a stunning and inventive opera. At just under ten minutes, it’s probably not quite the shortest opera I’ve seen or heard (I think Samuel Barber’s A Hand of Bridge just about has the edge there) but the ideas in it are so interesting, I could easily see it becoming a full-length work.
By Sophie
Link: https://play.wiener-staatsoper.at/event/ee614b25-8435-479b-baab-21b887943915/play
Available until: 10th May at about 6pm
It is often said that the modern world is cruel and there is certainly a great deal of truth in that. But the world has always been cruel to people who are perceived as being unlike everyone else.
The difference now is that our lives are so public, it is harder even for the so-called normal people to hide the moments when they are less than perfect. Anyone can become the butt of the very next joke and many people seek out the relative safety of laughing along with the crowd.
By Cal
Link: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/coram-boy
Available until: 9th May 2021
Coram Boy appears to be incomplete, with only Part 1 featuring as part of this performance. But it’s a great opera and it’s free to watch so if you listen to it now, you’ll know if you like it and if you ever do get the opportunity to watch the full opera, you’ll know it’s worth paying for.
By Sophie
Link: https://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show-homepage/preludes-in-concert
Available until: Livestreams on Saturday 8th May at 3.15pm and 7.45pm. The show remains available for a couple of hours after broadcast.
Plays about composers have a habit of being exceptional. The first I recall was a production of the play Beethoven’s Tenth at the Watford Palace, at a time when I was much too young to appreciate the nuances of the work but old enough to believe the leading actor was the real Beethoven. Later, I saw brilliant productions of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus at the Old Vic and National Theatres, with two very different but excellent Mozarts in Michael Sheen and Adam Gillen, joined by two equally brilliant Salieris in David Suchet and Lucian Msamati. (I probably had entirely the opposite experience to most people in my delight at discovering that “Hercule Poirot is played by Salieri!” and am now very excited by Google’s suggestion that ‘the real Beethoven’ was played by another Poirot, Peter Ustinov, who also wrote Beethoven’s Tenth.)
By Louise
Link: https://events.umich.edu/event/83221
Available until: Shows on 8th and 9th May at 5pm in the UK (2pm in Michigan).
The writing team of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan are probably best-known for their longer operettas like The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and HMS Pinafore, but they also wrote some shorter works and Cox and Box and Trial by Jury work really well together.
By Cal
Link: https://lyceum.org.uk/whats-on/production/tennis-elbow
Available until: Livestream on Saturday 8th May at 7pm.
Tennis Elbow was written by the acclaimed Scottish playwright John Byrne, some thirteen years after what many probably believed to be his last play. It is a sort of sequel or companion piece to another play what he wrote (bad grammar intentional), Writer’s Cramp.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddOcAMgO8TY
Available until: Unknown
Oh By the Way, I Hate Myself is a really brave monologue. Brave for the writer and the actor. It goes against social conventions and I can imagine that some people might be upset by it. But I’m not. Although I’ll never be in this situation myself, I think it’s very real and honest – more real and honest than many people are in this character’s situation – and I think quite a lot of people would identify with it, even if they don’t feel able to admit to it.
By Aashiq
Link: https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/one_half_of_two
Available until: 8th May
Age recommendation: 12+
One Half of Two is about three young women whose boyfriends have all turned out to be complete and utter FAECES. I might not know how it feels to be a woman, but I do know about horrible boyfriends. Even my husband has been known to be… mildly irritating on occasion. And don’t even get me started on how annoying my husband’s husband can be (just to be clear, that is me, there is no bigamist ménage à trois, except in my imagination sometimes. But let’s not go into that).
Link: https://www.livetickets.org/whats-on/blonde-the-musical
Available until: 16th May 2021 on demand
I feel really mean about the two stars. I think this musical could be really good but it feels like a work in progress. I feel like I can see what the musical is trying to achieve but it’s not quite achieving it? But I think it could achieve it. It’s only an hour and a half including the interval so there’s lots of space to develop it further and show the characters and the story in more detail and make it really good.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR_sDH2QaZw
Available until: Unknown
Another great monologue from Philip Pugh in his Actor Monologues series. Very different in style and character from the first one but that just shows how versatile a writer he is.
Patrick has had some bad news at the worst possible time. I won’t go into details, he can tell you that much better himself but he has good reason not to be thrilled about it.
By Louise
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/105
Available until: This cast, the ‘Spring’ cast, will also appear in the performance on Friday 7th May at 7pm. The ‘Summer’ cast will perform on Thursday 8th and Saturday 10th May at 7pm.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual content, sexual violence,
domestic abuse, topics of abortion, death and suicide. There is no age
recommendation, but I am 15 and I would say I’m only just old enough, but I am
quite innocent so maybe it is a 12A. If you are wondering if your child should
watch this musical, or if you’re wondering yourself it might be too upsetting
to be enjoyable, there is a very good synopsis on Wikipedia.
Spring Awakening is a sad and devastating but beautiful story about a group of young people who are growing up. It is based on a German play, Frühlings Erwachen, which was written in 1891 by Frank Wedekind.
By Cal
Link: https://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/events/rootless-island-baby-on-demand
Available until: Friday 28th May
It’s very easy to blame the social workers.
From my own experience of the care system and adoption, and from experiences of people I know who have been let down by social workers, it is clear that their work is not always of an acceptable standard. There are the ones who promise everything you need and then don’t deliver it – it’s hard to describe that feeling of believing someone is finally listening to you and has finally seen you as a person and not just another case file, only for this feeling to be snatched away when they claim the conversation you clearly remember didn’t happen.
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdYJpVM3Grg
Available until: Unknown
I can’t say what makes The Helpline a clever monologue because that would give the whole game away. But take it from me, it’s clever.
A man is calling what seems to be some sort of sex line. His wife doesn’t know. He’s even got a new phone so it won’t show up on the phone bill. There’s a girl working there called Roxy and he really likes her a lot. No other girl will do. He’s getting desperate now. It seems almost like an obsession.
By Imogen
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qry2
Available until: 16th May 2021
Sir Matthew Bourne is one of the greatest ballet choreographers and directors alive today. He has adapted many well-known stories, some ballet some not, like The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Carmen (as The Car Man) and most famously of all Swan Lake to give them a more modern twist and greater relevance to the 21st century.
By Cal
Link: https://www.instagram.com/tv/COSUCT2jw0X
Available until: 30th May 2021
It is important for opera companies to try to reach out to new audiences. While there are young people like me and some of my siblings who genuinely enjoy opera and have even, in some cases, either sung arias or even appeared in an opera, young opera fans do seem to be few and far between.
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DTO8eDMYf8
Available until: Unknown
The Neighbours is the third in Moth Sanctuary Productions’ series of Penny Dreadfuls, a set of spooky short stories written by Andrew Bate and Chloe Gorman. This is the first in the set that’s written by Chloe.
If you thought your neighbours were bad, they might seem quite human after you listen to this story.
By Cal
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/101
Available until: 9th May on demand
The Weir is the latest in the series of plays made available on Stream Theatre by the Irish Repertory Company – and it’s another really great production. Conor McPherson isn’t as big a name as Samuel Beckett or Eugene O’Neill, but he’s still a great playwright and arguably a more accessible one.
By Louise
Link: https://www.theatermania.stream/products/the-importance-of-being-earnest
Available until: Unknown
The Importance of Being Earnest is one of my very favourite plays and this production is perfect. If you enjoyed the recent modern production at the Lawrence Batley Theatre and you would like to see the play it was based on, or if you already love the play and would like to see it again, you might really enjoy this performance. (You could also watch SupportBritish’s production on YouTube. We haven’t watched it yet as we were a bit scared Roundabout Theatre Company’s production might be taken down before we could see it, but SupportBritish’s plays are always of a really high standard and the actors are so lovely and I am really looking forward to watching their Importance of Being Earnest in the future.)
By Emma
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUZ0XJnQ17s
Available until: Unknown
Content warning: (not a real spoiler, it’s in the video description) mentions of suicide
We have been retweeting Philip Pugh’s Actor Monologues for a while but this is the first time we are reviewing one. It won’t be the last. This is really good and I hope we’ll review them all eventually.
Amanda is talking about something terrible she witnessed when she was at a train station. Quite a bit of time has passed since then but it’s still affecting her. She thinks about it every day and it has changed her. It’s changed her feelings, her thoughts and her behaviour. Amanda was probably always a caring person but this incident has opened her eyes to how much some people really do suffer.
By Dave
Link: https://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/watch-ghost-stories-on-demand
Available until: 17th June 2021. You can watch on demand at any time and the rental period is five days.
Mark Gatiss and Adrian Scarborough were both excellent in the National Theatre’s production of Alan Bennett’s The Madness of George III, which was streamed for free on YouTube by the National Theatre earlier in the pandemic.
By Cal
Link: https://distanceremaining.com/categories/upcoming-online-performances
Available until: Shows at 7.30pm on Wednesday 5th, Thursday 6th, Friday 7th and Saturday 8th May at 7.30pm and on Sunday 9th at 2.30pm. Available for 48 hours from the time your performance goes live.
Age guidance: 14+ (strong language)
Distance Remaining is about three people. They all have a distance they need to travel. It’s physical and it’s psychological. They want to get there, but it’s not easy – and perhaps they can’t do it alone.
By Angel
Link: https://dundeerep.co.uk/whats-on/smile
Available until: Sunday 2nd May-Sunday 9th May and Wednesday 12th May-Sunday 16th May at 7pm. Matinées on Thursdays and Saturdays at 2.30pm.
Content warning: There’s a bit of swearing but nothing I don’t hear every day at school
Jim McLean was the manager of Dundee United Football Club between 1971 and 1993. He never played for the club – he actually spent three years at their very local rivals Dundee who are literally just down the road – but he was appointed manager not long after finishing his playing career at Kilmarnock. McLean was an inside forward (that’s like a second striker who plays in the hole except there were two inside forwards) who began his career at Hamilton Academical and also played for Clyde.
By Jack
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wc-yrjA43Y
Available until: Unknown
After their brilliant Zoom play about the Mechanicals in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bottom is seriously the best character in Shakespeare, I haven’t seen all the plays but I know people who have and they’re not arguing) Crew of Patches are back with another hilarious comedy about robbers.
By Cal
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/103
Available until: Monday 10th May-Saturday 30th May at 7.30pm. Matinées on Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm.
Rocky Road is named after a type of cake. There’s a character in this play who makes cakes and it’s fair to say they’re definitely on a rocky road so it really is a brilliant title. Of course, most people have been baking cakes through lockdown and watching Bake-Off so you probably know all this already, but it’s a new one for me.
By Cal
Link: https://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show-homepage/tarantula
Available until: Livestreams on 3.15pm and 7.45pm on Saturday 1st May. Although advertised as livestreams, they are available for a few hours after the event. A lot of Southwark Playhouse shows are made available on demand after the event so if you do read this after Saturday, it might be worth checking the Southwark Playhouse and Stream Theatre sites to see if it has been made available, but don’t just assume that will be the case – grab the opportunity to see it now if you can.
Philip Ridley has kept us all brilliantly-entertained throughout lockdown, first with his The Beast Will Rise series and then with The Poltergeist, which was so good, I watched it twice – and there isn’t a lot of room in my online theatre schedule to watch things twice. Not forgetting the small matter of university taking up my time.
By Megan
Link to 3pm show on May 1st: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/23/being-mr-wickham-live-streaming-saturday-1-may-at-3pm-bst
Link to 7.30pm show on May 1st: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/24/being-mr-wickham-live-streaming-saturday-1-may-at-730pm-bst
Link to captioned 7.30pm show on May 1st: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/25/being-mr-wickham-live-streaming-saturday-1-may-at-730pm-captioned-bst
Available until: This show can only be watched live at the above times. There will be a different Q&A after every show.
Being Mr Wickham was inspired by a very popular TV series of Pride and Prejudice which was first on TV in 1995. It was Colin Firth who played Mr Darcy who got most of the attention but most people agreed it was a very good series.
By Dave
Link: https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/summer_2021/love_and_information
Available until: Livestreams on Saturday 1st May at 7.30pm.
Love and Information seemed like a bit of an odd title when I first heard about it but after watching the show, I think it not only describes the show perfectly, it’s a pretty good description of life too.
Of course life isn’t just about love and information but it does play a much bigger role than I realised. We go through life sharing information with other people. Sometimes they want the information, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes you tell them too little and sometimes you tell them too much. Sometimes they understand what you’re saying and sometimes they don’t. We give the information in whatever way seems like the right way and the reaction we get very often does depend on love, whether that’s how much they love us or how much they love whoever or whatever we’re talking about.
