ORGANISED CHAOS (Coronavirus Theatre Club)***

  

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.

SHUCK (LaPelle’s Factory/Nottingham Playhouse)***

 

By Dave

Link: https://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/events/shuck-on-demand

Available until: 28^th 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.

OUR DARK SIDE AND THE MOON: A NIGHT-TIME DUET (8bit/Royal Opera)****

  

By Dave

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJfbSr2XIvA 

Available until: 30^th 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.

AN ACORN (Oldham Coliseum/impel Theatre)**

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.coliseum.org.uk/shows/an-acorn-recorded-6401ag

Available until: 17^th 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.

MAIN-MAIN ENGINE ROOM TAKEOVER (Rumah Khai/Omnibus Theatre)*****

 

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.

FERAL (Atmospheres 2021/Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama)****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/feral

Available until: 9^th 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.

THE TEXT (Actor Monologues by Philip Pugh)****

 

 by Dave

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.

THE HELPLINE (Coronavirus Theatre Club)***

  

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.

THE NEIGHBOURS (Penny Dreadfuls from the Moth Sanctuary)****

 

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.

LOVE AND INFORMATION (Silk Street Theatre/Guildhall School of Music and Drama)***

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/summer_2021/love_and_information 

Available until: Livestreams on Saturday 1^st 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.

SUGAR (Covid-19 Monologues/Elysium Theatre Company)*****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T3Cu18dqK4

Available until: Unknown

The final monologue in Elysium Theatre’s first series of Covid-19 Monologues is the longest of the four. But it’s well worth listening to every word.

It’s 1721 and we’re in Bristol. The Reverend Harcourt is asleep but he hears a knocking on his door. It won’t go away. His wife still seems to be asleep and Harcourt probably wishes he was too but when you’re a reverend there are obligations.

OH FOR ****’* SAKE (I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU) (Nottingham Playhouse/In Good Company/Arena Theatre Wolverhampton)**

 

By Dave

Link: https://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/events/oh-for-fcks-sake

Available until: 14^th May

Captioned version available. You’ll have access to both versions when you book.

Content warning: Contains strong language, scenes of a sexual nature and some cartoon violence. 15+

Comedies can be really difficult if you happen not to find them funny and unfortunately that was the case with this one. However although I didn’t really enjoy the play itself, the subject of it was very interesting and I did enjoy thinking afterwards about the ideas in the play.

TESTAMENT (Via Brooklyn)****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.viabrooklyn.org/testament 

Available until: April 24^th 2021. The rental lasts 24 hours.

Content warning: MATURE. This video contains mature, or explicit, or sexually suggestive content. It may not be appropriate for all viewers.

Testament is based on three stories from the Bible with a modern twist. I’m not a Christian myself, I’d probably call myself an agnostic of Muslim descent but they’re all characters I have a vague knowledge of. But even if you don’t know the Biblical characters, I don’t think that matters. Testament is a strong enough piece to stand up on its own.

VESPERTILIO (King’s Head Theatre/Shoot Media)****

 By Dave 

Link: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/vespertilio

Available until: 5^th May

I always thought bats were cool. I used to have a bat detector. It was mostly pipistrelles - sopranos and altos. I looked for Daubenton’s bats, flying low over the river but I never saw any. Or noctules. They were supposed to be around but they must have run off when they heard the bat detector clicking.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Lawrence Batley Theatre)***

  

By Dave

Link: https://www.thelbt.org/shows/the-importance-of-being-earnest-2

Available until: Tuesday 4^th May. You’ll be sent a link on the day of your chosen performance and you have access for 48 hours.

Content warning: Contains some strong language. 14+

This isn’t the Oscar Wilde play. Let’s get that right of the way right now. It’s set in the modern world with vloggers and followers and cancel culture. It follows the main basic story of The Importance of Being Earnest and most of the characters correspond to an equivalent character in the original play but it’s not Oscar Wilde.

CRUISE (Aria Entertainment/Lambert Jackson Productions/Shoreditch Town Hall/Stream Theatre)*****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/61 

Available until: Livestreams every day at 7.30pm until Sunday 25^th of April, with matinées at 2.30pm on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Cruise is a sad story but it’s also a story that’s full of love and hope. The play is being streamed live over the next week and then it’s transferring to the Duchess Theatre where it will be played to a live audience. I really hope that, on at least one occasion, the audience will include me.

WINNINGS (Compacts)*****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P03qjE7QShw 

Available until: Unknown

We’ve kind of been putting off watching the last Compacts play. Once you’ve watched the last one, it’s over. It’s silly really. But it’s such a great series with an unbelievable range of stories, characters and ideas so it's been good having one more to look forward to. But Rick Allden's been waiting long enough!

EVERYBODY (Richard Burton Company/Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama)***

 

By Dave

Link: https://rwcmd.ticketco.events/uk/en/e/everybody

Available until: It’s hard to be sure when the site’s down but judging from the other RWCMD plays, it’ll probably be available till 24^th April.

Everybody is based on the 15^th century morality play Everyman by an unknown author. It is probably the most confusing play I’ve ever seen so just to warn you, this might be a terrible review. But I do think this play is worth seeing because it’s an opportunity to see some really talented and versatile performers.

THE WRITER (Richard Burton Company/Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama)****

 

By Dave

 

Link: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/writer 

Available until: 22^nd April 2021

The Writer isn’t an easy play to review. There’s a lot I can’t say because I don’t want to ruin the surprise. But I’ll start off and let’s see what happens.

The play begins in a theatre. A young woman enters the circle. A man comes onto the stage and sees her. He actually looks like a young man but he’s not that young. That did confuse me for a bit but then I realised this is a student production so it’s going to be ageblind. He asks her what she thought of the play and she tells him.

THIS IS THE PLAY WITHOUT A TITLE (The Far Away Plays)****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23fpdOl28lk 

Available until: Unknown

We’ve known about The Far Away Plays for a while but this is only the second time we’ve actually watched one. I doubt it will be the last. Judging from the standard of this play, we’ve missed some really great performances.

This version of This is the Play Without a Title was written by Simon Harris but it’s actually based on a play by Anton Chekhov. Chekhov didn’t much like it, it was never performed in his lifetime and he thought it had been destroyed but his sister had hidden it. After Chekhov’s death the play was rediscovered and performed. The work was untitled but an article in the Sydney Theatre magazine suggests it might have originally been called Fatherlessness, and it has been presented under many titles including A Long Play Without a Title, Chekhov’s First Play, Platonov, which is the name of the character at the centre of it all, and rather more confusingly, Wild Honey in an adaptation by Michael Frayn. Chekhov’s other works include A Story Without a Title so maybe that influenced the sort of title this play is usually given.