There’s still no timetable in place for when theatre venues will reopen so the theatrical world is keeping people’s love of the art form alive by making shows available to watch at home. Below is a list of plays that that are streaming now or coming soon. Most have a link for donations – so please consider giving some cash if you can spare it.
A twisted musical about an abandoned child with a terrible secret. A strange new act has arrived at the fairground. How did he get his hideous smile? Helped by an old man and a blind girl, his story must be told. Available until 6pm on Friday 3 July.
You have until Friday to marvel at Mozart’s meisterwerk The Magic Flute. The star of the show is the evil Queen of the Night, with her eponymous aria. After that, we’re off to the left bank of the Seine for Puccini’s ever popular tale of the Bohemian poor.
The venue’s Homemakers series presents this work from playwright and director Vici Wreford-Sinnott. Part one is themed discussions between disabled women performance makers. Part two is a short, filmed character monologue exploring what it means to be ‘looked at’. Tickets are Pay What You Can.
Here’s two short operas from the French impressionist master. L’heure espagnole is a farce about a woman juggling lovers whilst her husband tinkers with clockwork machines. L’enfant et les sortilèges, is a morality play in which fairy tale characters, animals and furniture come to life. Available until Friday 3 July.
The biggest Broadway phenomenon of recent years, Hamilton was set for a cinema release late next year but instead it’s coming to streaming this Friday 3 July – presumably to cheer everyone up. Unfortunately, they don’t offer free trials anymore, so non-members will have to pony up some dough.
This YouTube channel, which was launched by Andrew Lloyd Webber in March, features a catalogue of hits from Broadway shows – and every Friday, they upload a full musical to enjoy for 48 hours. Unfortunately, you’ve just missed The Sound of Music with Carrie Underwood. The next is TBC.
Nya is teacher in the inner-city but she sends her son to a boarding school upstate. When a controversial incident threatens to get him expelled, Nya is forced to confront her own parental decisions, and both the public and private school systems, to try and save him.
An acclaimed show from 2015, Woolf Works is inspired by the works of Virginia Woolf. A triptych, it re-creates the emotions, themes and fluid style of her novels Mrs Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves. It features an original score by Max Richter. Available until Friday 10 July.
This company champions new playwrights and helps them create works that regularly transfer to the West End or tour the country. Streaming now is Skype d8, a humorous look at the pitfalls of dating in isolation; and Beds, a bittersweet reflection on the end of a relationship.
Taking place in Stratford, Ontario (rather than Upon Avon), this Festival has a distinguished history of presenting Shakespeare’s plays and recently, they have been uploading high quality recordings of his best loved works. There’s also an interview with Margaret Atwood about The Tempest.
Alan Bennett’s classic monologues have been remade in a COVID-safe fashion. Each has a well-known actor in the lead but do they fill the shoes of the iconic original performers? There’s also two new ones: Sarah Lancashire in An Ordinary Woman; and Monica Dolan in The Shrine.
The next in the Centre’s Broadway Fridays series is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic Carousel, which was hailed by Time Magazine as “the best musical of the 20th Century”. Orchestration comes from the New York Philharmonic, no less. Available from Friday 10 July until Tuesday 8 September.
- Words:
- A. James Simpkin
- Published on:
- Tue 30 Jun 2020
Game of Thrones and Star Wars actor Gwendoline Christie is probably the most famous face in The Bard’s seasonal ensemble piece. Available until 7pm on Thursday 2 July. Then it’s a poignant drama from A Raisin in the Sun author Lorraine Hansberry. An African country heads towards civil war, whilst one family also falls apart.