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.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000qplz/uncle-vanya
Available until: 30th September 2021
It’s only fair to say that if you’re familiar with Uncle Vanya, this play won’t be quite what you’re expecting.
It follows the story. It even follows the text very closely. I don’t know any of this play off by heart, but I occasionally had a look at the text to see how closely it was being followed and other than a few cuts, it seems as though they are mainly following the text. The gist of what they’re saying is the same as the gist of what’s in my translation of the play.
By Louise
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00789db/on-the-town
Available until: 31st
January, 10.15am
A lot of people want to see more new
musicals in the West End and I want that too. It’s important to give new
musicals a chance. But I also think it’s important to revive the old musicals.
Some of them are really good and a lot of fun to watch, like On the Town.
By Dave
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p088hhjd/culture-in-quarantine
Available until: 7-12 months
Culture in Quarantine: Filmed in Lockdown is a series
of very short films. I’m not sure ‘Culture in Quarantine’ is the best possible
name for it as ‘culture’ would put a lot of people right off but I’d say it is
a fair title for the series as they are mostly based around the arts – there
are short plays in various styles, dancing and music. There are also some
autobiographical accounts of life in lockdown or the struggles people have in
their day to day life.
By Tommy
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p08ftkkx/alan-bennetts-talking-heads
Available until: June 2021
Talking Heads is a fascinating collection of
monologues written by Alan Bennett. They first came into being as two
television series, one in 1988 and one in 1998, each with six episodes. Six of
these monologues additionally formed the basis of a play, also written by Alan
Bennett, which was first performed in 2003.
By Louise
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000mmxk/bbc-proms-2020-last-night-of-the-proms
Available until: 11th October 2020
I can’t ever remember not watching the Last Night of the
Proms. It’s actually not my favourite prom as a lot of it is the same every
year so it’s not quite as exciting as the more unexpected programmes, but it’s
part of the experience and I wouldn’t ever want it to stop happening.
It very nearly didn’t happen this year. We all know why. And
that made the Last Night extra special this year. The coronavirus has stopped so
many things, but it didn’t stop the Last Night of the Proms.
By Aashiq
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p08dnl67/staged
Available until: 10th June 2021
Staged is a 6 part TV series, which was created and
filmed in lockdown by two of my fellow West End stars, David Tennant and
Michael Sheen. So if you’ve ever wanted to know what Doctor Who and Brian
Clough might have to say to each other, just click the link above. (I’m
imagining a story where Clough actually does a good job with Leeds, but this
sets in motion some sort of cosmic catastrophe and the only way of saving the
universe is for Clough to mess up the Leeds job. I love a bit of football. It’s
all drama, heartbreak and men in shorts. What more do I need in life? Besides
my job.)
By Megan
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000l9rq/beethovens-fidelio-the-royal-opera
Available until: July 2021
Beethoven only wrote one opera but he worked really hard on
it. There are three slightly different versions of the opera and four different
overtures. Some of the music was written for a different opera which Beethoven
didn’t finish. The overtures are played quite often in concerts by orchestras
and sometimes Leonore Overture 3 is played in the second act but nearly all the
performances are of the last version of the opera. There is a really good
recording of the first opera which is conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner but
I have never heard the second one.
