By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmvB4heou2c
Available until: Unknown
There are a lot of plays which just seem to be about people treating each other badly. It’s become especially common in modern times and it can be seen not just in plays but in films, TV programmes, books, any media that contains stories also contains nastiness.
By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z032twTjIMg
Available until: Unknown
Lockdown must be so difficult for the people who have just started a relationship. It’s obviously way too soon to move in and it’s not always practical to bubble so what are you left with? A meeting at a two-metre distance, shouting your personal business in the street? At one time, even that wasn’t allowed.
By Louise
Link: https://soundcloud.com/southwarkplayhouse/they-also-serve-by-wendy-buckley-and-john-mcrae
Available until: Unknown
They Also Serve is a beautiful, inspiring and important play. It is dedicated to Leslie Gay, one of the founding members of the Southwark Elders Company. It is so wonderful that the Southwark Elders Company have managed to create something so special in his memory. They can be so proud of this play.
By Dave
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sGir07KhVY
Available until: 13th June 2021
Sometimes it’s not obvious which productions were filmed during the pandemic. There are no masks in sight and if the cast are in a bubble, there’s no social distancing. Even if social distancing is considered necessary, it’s often worked around so skilfully, you probably wouldn’t guess it was filmed in the pandemic if you didn’t know.
Link: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/15/barnes-people-billy-me-starring-jon-culshaw Also available as a set with the other episodes in the Barnes’ People series: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/14/barnes-people-complete-series
Available until: 31st July 2021
If any actor’s going to know what it’s like to serve a monarch, it’s probably Adrian Scarborough.
In 1994, he served King George III when he played Fortnum in the film The Madness of King George. In 1999, he appeared in a series entitled Let Them Eat Cake. In 2003, he was in the vicinity when Oliver Cromwell overthrew Charles I in To Kill a King. In 2007, he appeared in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, when Elizabeth I was on the throne. He played a BBC Radio Announcer in 2010 in The King’s Speech, a film about George VI. He played King Lear’s fool in 2014, and in 2018, he returned to serve George III in the play on which the film was based, The Madness of George III, this time playing one of the King’s doctors.
So who better to spill the secrets about working for our current Queen, Elizabeth II?
By Imogen
Link: https://barntheatre.org.uk/secret-society-240221
Available until: Performances every night at 7.30pm until Sunday 7th March.
The Secret Society of Leading Ladies is like a private concert just for you. The Barn Theatre has gathered together fourteen musical theatre stars, each singing a showstopping song from a hit musical. There are songs from modern classics like Waitress and Mean Girls (nothing from Six though despite having two Queens in the cast) but they’ve also got musicals like The Wizard of Oz and Fame for old people (though I quite like Fame to be fair, I saw Keith Jack in that and he is to die for.)
By Cal
Link: https://www.stream.theatre/season/25
Available until: Livestreams Monday-Saturday at 7pm, with matinées on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2.30. Final performance Sunday 14th March.
Stream Theatre has come such a long way since its first weeks of concerts in the London Coliseum. They’ve progressed from streaming concerts to full-scale musicals and plays and it’s a great opportunity to see shows that are completely new, whether it’s a show that (unless I missed it) hasn’t made it to the UK yet, hasn’t been performed in the UK for a long time or is a very new musical.
