By Louise
Link: https://www.patreon.com/shakesceneshakespeare
Available until: Unknown
Antony and Cleopatra is classed as a tragedy, but there is a lot more to it than that. It is also a sort of history play as it deals with real historical events and there are some very dramatic scenes with physical and verbal battles. Nobody would ever call it a comedy, but there are scenes in it which are very funny.
By Louise
Link: https://www.patreon.com/shakesceneshakespeare
Available until: Unknow
Henry VIII is probably Shakespeare’s least-known history play. King John is another one that isn’t performed often, but I think people with an interest in Shakespeare usually know it exists. Before I started watching Shakespeare in lockdown, I didn’t even know there was a Henry VIII, but I’ve been lucky enough to see four productions in lockdown. It’s a very enjoyable play – especially with a cast like this – with interesting characters and so many really powerful moments.
By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfL2t_VotoU
Available until: Unknown
Support British have produced a number of brilliant online productions during lockdown and A Christmas Carol is another opportunity to see a really entertaining play with some really excellent actors. It is also a good play for feeling Christmassy!
By Louise
Link: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/thornhill-theatre/audio-fringe-ttsfringe2-IgbFPcUSyOZ
Available until: Unknown
Emerging Voices is a collection of eight short plays by students from the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, presented by Thornhill Theatre Space as part of #TTSFringe2. The plays were written when the students were in the 10th-12th grades. If you’re in England or Wales, that’s Years 11-13 and if you’re in Scotland, that’s S4-S6. I’m in Year 10 and it is amazing to think some of these writers are only one year older than me, but they are already able to write really mature plays.
By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUldVu7FjdA
Available until: Unknown
A 2020 Vision is a really beautiful performance which is part of #TTFringe2. It’s all about the pandemic, which has caused a lot of sadness, but this play is full of happiness and hope.
It was written by Emma Wood ‘and the people of Victoria, Australia’ and it includes a selection of so many of the different situations the people of Victoria have faced since the start of the pandemic. Their words were taken from a questionnaire which asked fourteen questions over fourteen days to about two hundred people.
By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FpqZKACdCY
Available until: Unknown
Monologue Monday 2 of Thornhill Theatre Space's #TTSFringe2 features five monologues which are all very different.
Slow Dating by Adam Szdrich is a really incredible monologue about an elderly lady who tries speed-dating. The monologue is short, but it has humour, it has warmth and it has so much emotion. I really like the way it has been filmed too. Mr Szudrich and Katie Burson are both credited as directors and the cinematographer is Remy Fowler. I like the fact we are mostly at a distance because it’s like being at the theatre, but whenever there’s a really important emotional moment, we see the character’s face in close-up. I think this is a great way of using the best parts of theatre and film to create a great performance.
By Louise
Link: https://www.cft.org.uk/whats-on/event/south-pacific-stream
Available until: Streams on Saturday 21st August at 2.30pm, and Thursday 26th and 31st August and Friday 3rd September at 7.30pm. Stream available for 24 hours.
A lot of theatres are starting to focus on in-person performances only, but there are still quite a few shows available online and Chichester Festival Theatre’s South Pacific is a great opportunity to see a staged production of a really enjoyable musical.
By Louise
Link: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/thornhill-theatre/audio-fringe-ttsfringe2-K7gxudr84GU/
Available until: Unknown
Little Ships is a lovely new musical about a family in wartime. It is one of the audio dramas in Thornhill Theatre Space’s second fringe festival, #TTSFringe2.
It might be quite difficult to stage because some of it is set on the sea, but it works very well as an audio drama and it is very clear what is happening. It is set in the 1940s in wartime, but it’s very different from a lot of wartime stories I’ve read and listened to. Although a lot of bad and sometimes scary things happen, it is generally written in a lighter style with lots of happiness and love.
By Louise
Link: https://booking.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk/booking-start
Available until: 15th August 2021. The recording becomes available at 7.30pm (and 2.30pm on Sundays) on the day you book.
Guildford Shakespeare Company have been very generous with their digital productions since the pandemic and their many enjoyable productions include A Christmas Carol and Henry V. They have recently returned to live performances, but they have still very kindly chosen to share She Stoops to Conquer and now As You Like It with us. The productions aren’t free to watch online (and there is no reason why they should be), but the company went to the trouble of recording the shows and making them available to us and the standard is always very high so it is well worth the money. Guildford is quite a long way away from where I live so it would be difficult to visit especially now but I am really glad we have had the opportunity to get to know this company’s work, even though the reason is sad.
By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1hzjxF88nA
Available until: Unknown
King Lear is the latest play in a long series of Zoom plays which have been presented by UK Actors Support Network throughout lockdown. Other highlights have included well-known plays like The Winter’s Tale and The Importance of Being Earnest, as well as plays I hadn’t heard of like Hindle Wakes.
By Louise
Link: https://www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk/she-stoops-to-conquer
Available until: 18th July
She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith is a really enjoyable play. It is a lot of fun and nothing really bad happens, but even though it was written in 1773, it has quite a contemporary outlook in some ways and I think you can learn a lot about people from watching this play.
By Louise
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/168
Available until: Livestreams on Friday 16th, Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th July at 7.30pm.
It’s hard to believe Lee Mead is forty (though he was still thirty-nine when he recorded this). He looks so much younger. But he does have lots of experience as a performer and that is very obvious in this incredible concert.
By Louise
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R1S8pRoOwY
Available until: Unknown
Some people are a bit disappointed with Julius Caesar because there isn’t very much for the female characters to do. Shakespeare has written a lot of brilliant female characters, but there are only two females in Julius Caesar and they’re not always presented in a very positive way.
By Louise
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/164
Available on demand until 14th July
New musicals tend to focus on young people including Six, & Juliet, Waitress and lots of the musicals we’ve watched during lockdown. The musicals are usually about young people and they usually fall in love.
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 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 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.
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 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 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.)
