ALL MY SONS (Apollo Theatre/Digital Theatre)*****

 

By Cal

Link: All My Sons | Stanhope Productions | Digital Theatre Rent for £7.99 or subscribe to Digital Theatre for £9.99 a month.

Available until: Unknown

It would have been more fitting to review a lockdown production on the day it was announced that London was entering Tier 3 and the theatres would close, but I’d already started watching this one. But Louise is reviewing the Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol, someone will be reviewing Red Bull Theatre’s A King and No King and we have bought a lot of tickets for livestream productions over the next few weeks.

GHOSTS (Almeida Theatre/Trafalgar Studios/Digital Theatre)****

 

By Aashiq

Link: https://www.digitaltheatre.com/consumer/production/ghosts Rent for £7.99 or sign up for monthly subscription

Available until: Unknown

I used to love this play. I loved Henrik Ibsen’s presentation of mental health problems. I thought Oswald had some sort of neurological problem that affected his mental health and eventually led to insanity. Then I grew up a bit and realised that the play was actually about venereal disease and that the neurological problems were a result of the physical problems, and the mental health problems were what anyone would feel in that situation. So I went off it a little bit, not so much because of the subject matter but because it wasn’t the play I thought it was. I loved the idea of the ‘worm-eaten’ mind. That is exactly how mental health can be. Negative thoughts burrow their way into your brain and eat it from the inside out… actually, I won’t continue this totally gross metaphor, but I’m sure you get the idea.

OVER THERE (Royal Court/Digital Theatre)**

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.digitaltheatre.com/consumer/production/over-there 16+

Available until: Unknown

The story of separated twins (particularly, but not exclusively, identical twins) has been explored in many ways by many writers. William Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors has two sets of separated twins and presents the situation as a farce. Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper examines class differences (though I don’t think it’s ever confirmed that the boys are twins, merely that they are identical boys with the same birthday) and while Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers is full of hilarious moments, it ends in tragedy (which isn’t a spoiler considering this is revealed in the first scene). C. S. Lewis’ The Horse and His Boy and Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene also have storylines based around separated twins. The storyline has been told in many different ways and I haven’t even got onto the subject of evil twins.

ONEGIN (Red Torch Theatre/Stage Russia HD on Digital Theatre)**

 

By Aashiq

Link: https://www.digitaltheatre.com/consumer/production/onegin

Available until: Till Red Torch Theatre or whoever decides to withdraw access.

I hate it when I watch a play which I feel I ought to enjoy and I just don’t. It’s like I’m watching it and my brain is telling me it’s good, but my emotions aren’t listening. Not that my emotions have ever been very good listeners, but I wanted to enjoy this because I love the story. I’ve seen six different productions of the opera (if you include DVDs). I’ve sung Lensky’s aria and also Olga’s (I have a high extension) and totally murdered Tatyana’s Letter Scene (I don’t have that high an extension). I’ve seen the ballet and I’ve seen the Ralph Fiennes film. I’ve read two different translations of the Pushkin.

INTO THE WOODS (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre/Digital Theatre)****

 

By Imogen

Link: https://www.digitaltheatre.com/consumer/production/into-the-woods

Available until: Unknown

There is lots of theatre available for free on youtube but sometimes you just want to see a full-length musical and there just aren’t many available for free. Apart from bootlegs and obviously, I would never watch a bootleg. They are illegal and it shows a disgusting lack of respect for the cast and it causes theatres to lose money.