Lorraine Hansberry’s play Les Blancs is vividly and powerfully brought to life in Yaël Farber‘s atmospheric production.
‘Sharply funny & sweetly touching’: NIGEL SLATER’S TOAST (Online review)
Hot on the heels of their starry audio version of The Understudy, Lawrence Batley Theatre has now released an audio version of Toast to the digital space following a successful tour last year.
When I saw this show live at The Other Palace, I was str…
‘A sheer spectacle with plenty of energy & passion’: CELTIC TIGER – The Shows Must Go On! (Online review)
This 2005 production of Celtic Tiger directed, produced and choreographed by Michael Flatley has some interesting concepts – but put together comes across as an incoherent show.
‘It is emotional to watch from start to finish’: HAMILTON – Disney Plus (Online review) ★★★★★
Spectacularly unique and filled with passion, this filmed version of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton is exquisite to watch – no matter how many times you have seen it.
‘Beautifully done, if you don’t find that sort of thing unbearable’: LOVE LETTERS AT HOME – Fuel Theatre (Online review)
Love Letters At Home takes the well-worn Our Tune concept from the old days and uses it to develop a show where, no matter what’s going on and whether we are together and apart, it is always 14 February.
‘A courtroom setting gets round socially distanced difficulties’: THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS – Guildford Shakespeare Company (Online review)
Guildford Shakespeare Company first performed their adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s classic in 2015. After a successful series of Zoom murder mystery evenings, they decided to recreate their hit family production.
‘A quick diversion at just 11.5 minutes’: LAG – A ZOOMSICAL COMEDY (Online review)
At just eleven and a half minutes, this satirical musical by Haddon Kime is a quick diversion on YouTube from the Atlanta-based company Out of Hand.
‘Hearing others cheering, clapping & laughing transports you into a new realm’: TWELFTH NIGHT – The Maltings Theatre (Online review)
Shakespeare. Theatre. Press Nights. These are all concepts we are familiar with, but in this unprecedented time of COVID-19 lockdown, for a moment we were unsure how theatre would survive.
‘A delightful two hours of comedy, love & misunderstandings’: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, Bridge Theatre ★★★★★ (Online review)
Enhancing the magic and dreamy qualities of the play, Nicholas Hytner’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a delightful two hours of comedy, love and misunderstandings.
‘An entertaining & fresh take on Shakespeare’s canon’: BARD FROM THE BARN – Barn Theatre (Online review)
The Barn Theatre in Cirencester has built on its broadcast earlier in lockdown of Henry V to develop a sequence of thirty-five monologues from Shakespeare’s plays.
Series one begins with the theatre itself and a stirring speech from Henry V, but as …
‘Distinct voices ably portrayed’: THE MIKVAH PROJECT – Orange Tree Theatre (Radio review)
The Mikvah Project by Josh Azouz had originally got quite a way into its run at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond before lockdown took place.
‘Charmingly quirky’: Amélie The Musical ★★★★★ (Album review)
This charmingly quirky musical is captured wonderfully on this newly released cast recording.
‘Finding the meeting point between language & understanding’: ADVENTURES WITH THE PAINTED PEOPLE – Pitlochry Festival Theatre (Radio review)
‘If a theatrical phoenix is to rise post-pandemic, it could do a lot worse than to look and sound as resplendent as this.’
‘A powerful exploration of Covid-19 & racism’: WE R NOT VIRUS – Omnibus Theatre (Online review)
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, hate crime targeted at East and South-East Asians has tripled. We R Not Virus is a series of monologues, films and poetry responding to that.
‘Never less than arresting’: SHOE LADY – Royal Court Theatre (Radio review)
BBC Radio’s Lockdown Theatre Festival, curated by Bertie Carvel, highlights productions cut short by broadcasting them with the original casts, albeit in an audio format only.
‘An enjoyable piece of audio drama in these troubling times’: JOAN – Cressida Peever (Online review)
JOAN follows the young titular character as she strives to make her mark on the world and change it for the better.
‘Perhaps something genuinely new in theatre:’ THE TIME MACHINE – Creation Theatre (Online review)
So bizarre and unlikely is the story behind the creation of this play that one wonders whether writer Jonathan Holloway has time-travelled himself!
‘Pushes the envelope of the monologue genre’: DECLAN – The Actors Centre (Online review)
Jimbo is 12 and on the cusp of young adulthood. Both his body and his mind are confused about its identity and the world around him is not much help.
‘An uplifting & enjoyable production’: PETER PAN LIVE! – The Shows Must Go On ★★★★ (Online review)
Confession time: I have found it difficult in the past to really enjoy or appreciate Peter Pan. This isn’t so much down to JM Barrie’s classic story but in the way it has been staged or filmed.
‘A modern-day classic about an age-old problem’: SMALL ISLAND – National Theatre (Online review)
A terrific and epic play about the Windrush generation: Andrea Levy’s sprawling novel Small Island has been turned into a glorious staged adaptation by writer Helen Edmundson.