LITTLE SHIPS (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

 

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.

MONOLOGUE MONDAY PART 1 (Thornhill Theatre Space)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8fJX4VI7U0

Available until: Unknown

Thornhill Theatre Space’s second virtual fringe festival, #TTSFringe2, opened on 2^nd August with three brilliant and thought-provoking monologues. The festival will run throughout August with new work uploaded most days and we have very kindly been asked to be a Digital Sponsor, supporting the festival with reviews of and tweets about as much of their work as possible.

To find out what will happen as part of the Festival in the future (though some videos are probably already available), check out the Kick-Off Event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIoaVrxuKlc

Monologue Monday Part 1 gives the Festival a very strong start. After eighteen months of monologues, there are still so many new stories to be told about new characters and the three monologues featured here are great and varied examples of the way a monologue can be used and the diverse range of subjects.

LEAR ALONE (And Tomorrow Theatre Company/Elysium Theatre Company/Scenesaver)*****

  

By Cal

Link to Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWyfBfRxhmk

Episode 1 with subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rey2Zp7KAwk

Other episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRc2lmDAjXa1_wLCuL-PKFw/videos

Available until: Unknown

There have been many adaptations of Shakespeare plays which have been made digitally available in lockdown, but all of them can teach you something new about the plays that inspired them and Lear Alone is definitely not the exception. On the contrary.

AS YOU LIKE IT (Guildford Shakespeare Company)*****

 

By Louise

Link: https://booking.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk/booking-start

Available until: 15^th 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.

UNTANGLING SCIENCE EPISODE 4 - THE SUN*****

 

By Megan

Links: https://www.untanglingscience.com/episode-4-the-sun

Transcript: https://www.untanglingscience.com/blog/episode-4-the-sun

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-4-the-sun/id1573107927?i=1000530964648

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0fuoMDNFbDPZEpsT1czeet

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1804642/8973120-episode-4-the-sun?client_source=small_player&iframe=true&referrer=https://www.buzzsprout.com/1804642/8973120-episode-4-the-sun.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-8973120&player=small#

Untangling Science is so brilliantly put together. The four episodes so far have covered very different subjects (DNA, viruses, the periodic table and the Sun) so if you look at the list you might think it’s jumping around all over the place but it’s really not and the things you learn in previous episodes turn out to be really useful for future episodes.

MASKS AND FACES (Finborough Theatre)****

 

By Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aTlHSECRcE&t=2s

With subtitles: https://www.scenesaver.co.uk/production/masks-and-faces-subtitled

Available until: Wednesday 25^th August 2021

Masks are so much a part of our lives now, I mistakenly expected this to be a new play about current times. I was only about 170 years out of date. Masks and Faces is a Victorian farcical comedy, first performed in 1852.

LA TRAVIATA (Glyndebourne Festival Opera)*****

 

By Megan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcIwYTkaB0M

Available until: Sunday 29^th August 2021, 5pm

Glyndebourne Festival Opera is going ahead this year which is brilliant but they are still very kindly putting some of their previous productions on their YouTube channel for us to enjoy. Or get very sad about in this case.

La traviata is one of the best-known operas with really gorgeous, emotional music and a story which is easy to follow and which actually makes sense most of the time. (There are subtitles if you don’t speak Italian.) It is based on Alexandre Dumas fils’ novel La Dame aux Camélias. The opera is set in the past world of courtesans and consumption but I think it is very relatable to the present day. A lot of people know what it’s like to be separated from someone you love and I think the whole world knows how cruel illness can be.