The second pair of plays from #FinboroughFrontier’s quartet of pieces #VoicesFromUkraine reflecting on the situation in the war torn nation is now available. They join the first couple to form a suite of programmes focusing on life in the country as the inhabitants are invaded by a hostile force and their response to the situation.
‘Lovely hybrid between audiobook & theatre experience’: KISSES ON A POSTCARD (Online Show)
Streaming in two versions, a concept album at two hours available for free, and a four hour one for purchase, Kisses on a Postcard is an episodic piece which can be enjoyed in short bursts between 20 and 40 minutes each.
‘There’s enough here to keep the listener enthralled’: THE MACHINE STOPS (Online Show)
In The Machine Stops E. M. Forster unusually abandons his general milieu of the genteel classes and takes a look at a supposed future – the theme of connection, however, is still very much in evidence as he examines a world that is literally falling apart.
‘Not an easy watch but it is a vital one’: GRENFELL – Tabernacle (Online Show)
Broadcast on the fifth anniversary, one cannot but conclude that Grenfell, Scenes From The Enquiry is a devastating critique of a system which put money before people and allowed a tragedy which claimed the life of 72 victims to take place.
‘Chatty, open & brave’: SHATTERED – Brighton Fringe (Online Show) ★★★★
Diana Varco brings her own experiences to this one-woman show, now streaming at the Brighton Fringe. The topics of abuse and sexual assault may not be an obvious choice for comedy, but Varco delivers her story in the form of a stand-up routine across 54 minutes.
‘Empathy & connections appear in the most unexpected places’: FRAGMENTS – Brighton Fringe (Online Show) ★★★★
Developed by Broken Silence Theatre for the digital segment of the Brighton Fringe Festival, Fragments is a triple bill of short audio plays celebrating playwrights from Sussex and the South East of England. Covering topics such as doubts and pressure, belonging and loss, each of the plays gets under the skin of the raw emotions that are seldom candidly talked about in public.
’An interesting addition to the audio theatre scene’: FIZZY SHERBERT (Online Show)
All three of the short plays that feature in Fizzy Sherbet’s audio series centre on writer/performers who, not unnaturally, bring a depth of emotion to their own work.
‘Unrushed & sympathetic performances’: THE RED – Original Theatre (Online show) ★★★★★
Back in 2019 when Marcus Brigstocke premiered The Red at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I was lucky enough to meet him at one of the food venue vans and was personally flyered by him.
‘Part slumber party, part storytelling show’: OLD FRIENDS – Cambridge Junction (Online show)
Performance maker Tamara Micner’s online show ‘Old Friends’ is a peculiar bag. Part-slumber party, part-storytelling show, it taps into a relatively universal experience, that of losing a childhood best friend; something that relates to all of our lives: who among us are still in touch with everyone we held close as children?
‘Nothing in the play is ever about the surface of things’: seven methods of killing kylie jenner – Royal Court Theatre (Online show)
While the title of Jasmine Lee-Jones’ play is provocative by anyone’s standards, there is more to it than meets the eye.
WATCH: Access All Areas & Disability Arts Online are transforming leadership in the arts
Access All Areas and Disability Arts Online brought together an outstanding group of talented and innovative arts leaders to London’s Battersea Arts Centre for a unique event to reconsider and transform the cultural industries’ approach to accessibility and inclusion.
NEWS: Cabaret & Spring Awakening lead 31st annual Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards
Two Almeida musical revivals – Cabaret in the West End and Spring Awakening – were the biggest winners at the 31st annual Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, for the first time held just one week before the Olivier Awards.
‘A bottle & two men, but also much more’: THE RED – Original Theatre (Online show)
A father and son meet in a wine cellar. The son is a recovering alcoholic, and his dad (a ghost, who left the son a nice bottle of red wine in his will) doesn’t seem to understand the harm a glass of booze will do.
The Red – the newest digital produ…
But I’m a Cheerleader: A useful reminder how long the development timeline of new musicals invariably is
Based on a 1999 film about a gay conversion therapy summer camp for young gay men and lesbians, But I’m a Cheerleader was first presented in extract during Paul Taylor-Mills’ MTFestUK seasons of workshop presentations of new musicals.
NEWS: Online rehearsal platform We Perform It announces £1000 competition
We Perform It is pleased to announce that the 2022 We Perform It Online Acting Competition is now open. Entry to the competition is free and with a prize of £1,000.
‘An important show deservedly being shared with a wider audience’: RIOT ACT – Stream Theatre (Online review) ★★★★
This is a piece of verbatim theatre, telling three stories of queer activism from the mid-20th century to the present day; Alexis Gregory conducted interviews with Michael-Anthony Nozzi (a survivor of the Stonewall riots), Lavinia Co-op (a 70s drag artist), and Paul Burston (a 90s AIDS activist).
‘A show that examines class quite candidly’: KIPPS – The New Half a Sixpence Musical (Online review)
Kipps – The New Half A Sixpence Musical is “new” in the sense that it’s an updated version of a musical first performed in the early 1960s to showcase the singing, dancing and banjo playing talents of Tommy Steele.
‘Treats its characters & subjects with respect & dignity’: RIOT ACT – Stream Theatre (Online review)
Alexis Gregory’s one-man show is a passionate and engrossing piece of theatre, created and assembled from verbatim accounts from gay men who have encountered key points in queer history.
‘Big decisions were driven by this constant fear of missing my fertile window’: Writer & director Simona Hughes on the inspiration for About 500
About 500, which takes its title from the number of ovulations a woman is likely to have in her life, finally gets its live premiere this month, rescheduled after two Vault Festival cancellations. Writer and director Simona Hughes took time out of rehearsals to tell us more about the show and its journey.
NEWS: Twice-cancelled Vault show About 500 gets premiere at Union & Omnibus Theatres
About 500, Simona Hughes’ acclaimed play about women’s infertility, finally gets its live premiere this month with limited dates at London’s Union and Omnibus Theatres. Time to get booking!