I JUST CALLED TO SAY (The Covid-19 Monologues/Elysium Theatre Company)*****

 

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.

CLOSE QUARTERS (Aurora Theatre)***

 

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.

SELFIE (The Place Bedford)***

 

 By Emma

Link: https://www.theplacebedford.org.uk/shows/selfie_onlinefilm

Available until: 15^th May 2021. You can start watching it anytime between now and 15^th 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.

SCHOOL’S OUT (Virus Free Monologues)*****

 

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!

BLONDE THE MUSICAL (Derby Live/Kristian Thomas Productions)**

 

 By Emma

Link: https://www.livetickets.org/whats-on/blonde-the-musical

Available until: 16^th 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.

THE RIPPLE EFFECT (Actor Monologues by Philip Pugh)****

 

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.

DO YOU LOVE ME YET? (Theatr Clwyd/Oxford Playhouse/TORCH/Bristol Old Vic)***

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.theatrclwyd.com/event/do-you-love-me-ye

Available until: Livestream on Friday 30^th April at 7.30pm, available for at least three hours after the broadcast.

Do You Love Me Yet? is a really lovely idea and it’s a shame there are only two livestreams. I hope they’ll do more in the future, but the theatres involved in this will probably be too busy doing live shows for audiences. Which is definitely a good thing.

ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN ERA (GymJam/Oxford Playhouse)**

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/whats-on/all-shows/anthropocene-the-human-era/13828 

Available until: 10^th May 10am

Anthropocene: The Human Era is mostly very pretty to watch but I don’t really understand it.

It’s partly a choose your own adventure game. You choose between different options and you learn something about the environment. This is framed by an outer story of a woman called Megan who says goodbye to her partner Max, then her friend Giulia comes rushing round with magazines, chocolate, wine… and a pregnancy test. So I don’t know what the wine’s doing there really. Wine seems a bit tactless when there might be nothing to celebrate and if there is something to celebrate, you can’t drink!

JACKAL RUN (Guildhall School of Music and Drama/Breach Theatre)*****

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/spring_2021/jackal_run 

Available until: 30^th April

Jackal Run is based on a true story. It is absolutely terrifying to think that any of this could be real. It seems so cruel and unethical but it happened and maybe it’s something that could happen again.

NINE EXPERIMENTS TO CHANGE THE WORLD (Southwark Playhouse Young Company/Southwark Playhouse)***

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show-homepage/nine-experiments-to-change-the-world 

Available until: 22^nd April

Nine Experiments to Change the World is a Zoom play which was written (apart from the bits by Shakespeare, Tony Kushner and maybe other people I didn’t notice) and performed by the Southwark Playhouse Young Company.

UNMATERNAL INSTINCT (Coronavirus Theatre Club)***

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfZWH3QJfMg

Available until: Unknown

Not everyone wants to be a mum and that’s completely okay. They should never be pressured or guilt-tripped into it. They should be allowed to live their own life.

FAKE (Elysium Theatre Company)***

   

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVWP265YLvA 

Available until: Forever

There are a lot of conspiracy theories going around at the moment. I think there always have been. It’s probably not just recently that people have been saying the moon landings are fake. But now it’s got a bit more dangerous. Some people don’t believe the coronavirus is real and that means they’re risking people’s lives.

THE HANG OVER (Coronavirus Theatre Club)****

  

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6CTlxYcfnI 

Available until: Unknown

I’m not going to say ‘we’ve all been through it’ because some people haven’t and I actually haven’t been through it properly because so far, it’s always turned out to be my boyfriend (this was before I got married and decided I’d better start pretending to be a grown-up) but I think it probably is a situation we’d all recognise as a nightmare.

AS YOU LIKE IT (Shake-Scene Theatre Company/Cream Faced Loons)*****

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnxD1zy6g88 

Available until: Unknown

This production of As You Like It was the first ever collaboration between Shake-Scene Theatre Company and the Cream Faced Loons. I’ve watched productions from both of them and really enjoyed them. I’ve seen quite a few Shake-Scene productions and I reviewed their The Merry Wives of Windsor which I loved. But they’re equally good at tragedy, their Macbeth was actually quite emotional and The Winter’s Tale is a beautiful story with a bit of everything and Shake-Scene’s production was lovely.

L’HEURE ESPAGNOLE (Grange Park Opera/Wigmore Hall)****

  

By Emma

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUfUg7_bbJc 

Available until: Unknown

L’heure espagnole is really quite a naughty opera but there’s something really sweet and funny about it too. I think maybe the characters are deep enough for us to be interested in them but not so deep we’re actually going to feel bad for Torquemada?

SOME GIRL I USED TO KNOW (Home House/The Umbrella Rooms)****

 

By Emma 

Link: https://somegirl.co.uk/ 

Available until: Saturday 1^st May. You have access for 72 hours.

Some Girl I Used to Know was inspired by the film of Shirley Valentine. I’ve never seen it but Sophie said the play was good so I read it and it is really good. I wouldn’t say I identify with it exactly because Shirley is quite a lot older than me but she’s a really great character and a nice person and when actors started filming monologues I did think how nice it would be if one of the theatres put on Shirley Valentine.

LEM & GINGE: THE PRINCESS OF KAKOS (Written on the Waves/Forty-Five North)***

 

By Emma

Link: https://www.forty-fivenorth.com/lem-n-ginge-the-princess-of-kakos

Available until: Unknown

Lem & Ginge: The Princess of Kakos is an audio comedy in four parts. It’s about two actors who are looking for some stage work. I’m sure most stage actors can relate to this at the moment. Camping in a field is cheaper than a Travelodge and it’s while they’re in this field that they discover the Princess of Kakos has a big problem.

ONE HAND TIED BEHIND US: MOTHER’S LITTLE HELPER (Old Vic)*****

 

By Emma 

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=520obrdEjU0 

Available until: Unknown

I’m not sure if the woman in this monologue makes me want to laugh or makes me want to rescue her but it’s very good.

INSIDE (Orange Tree Theatre/The Umbrella Rooms)***

 

By Emma

Link: https://orangetreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/inside/about

Available until: Livestreams on Saturday 27^th March at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.

Inside is a set of three short new plays by writers who were first introduced to the theatre world by the Orange Tree Theatre. There is another set of plays called Outside which will be livestreamed next month.

BUMP (Half Moon Theatre/Lots of Odds)***

  

By Emma 

Link: https://www.halfmoon.org.uk/events/bump 

Available until: Screenings every day except Sundays till Thursday 4^th April. The email arrives at 11am on the day of the performances and you have two weeks to watch it.

Bump could have been about a lot of different things and as Half Moon Theatre do a lot of plays for children, I thought it might be about a toddler who falls over sometimes. I wasn’t completely wrong as there will be a toddler in the future but for now, the only bump is a baby bump.