Love London Love Culture’s Emma Clarendon expresses her thoughts on the painful neglect of theatre during Covid-19, including a template response from her local, Cabinet Member MP.
News, Reviews and Features
These are all of our in-house news and features as well as syndicated article excerpts from our 45+ theatre bloggers. You can also access All Our Mates' Posts in comprehensive list form and view individual author pages.
‘You’ll be glad to share a bit of lockdown with Michael Sheen & David Tennant’: STAGED – BBC iPlayer (Online review)
As Simon Evans’ cheeky new comedy points out, when the Government finally gives the go-ahead, the best-prepared teams will have their pick of the playhouses and first dibs on an audience desperate to get back to live theatre.
‘Theatre is rarely so forceful or so urgent’: THE PROTEST – Bush Theatre
This venue’s urgent response to the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter campaign is powerfully realised.
‘I don’t want to bank on a saviour that might not come’: Hartshorn-Hook producers on their plans to reopen The Great Gatsby
‘It feels to me like, with The Great Gatsby, we had an opportunity, and resulting from that a duty, to use the show to work out some of the key things that might help the industry as a whole.’
NEWS: Theatre Royal Newcastle confirms Covid-19 closure until at least November
Theatre Royal Newcastle is the latest regional venue to announce lengthy closure extensions in the face of uncertainty around coronavirus and Government social-distancing guidelines.
It is with a heavy heart that we write to announce that Newcastle Theatre Royal will remain closed until 24 November 2020.
If you have a booking that will be affected by this closure, you do not need to do …
‘These short pieces will provide valuable testimony for what people got up to in the great pandemic’: UNPRECEDENTED – Headlong Theatre (Online review)
Life as it is currently lived in 14 playlets: Most of the plays are about ten minutes in duration and punch well above their weight featuring writing by the likes of James Graham and April de Angelis.
‘Refreshingly unapologetic’: REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL – Graeae (Online review)
As an artist, Ian Dury is unique in the annals of British rock music. Contracting polio at the age of seven (which resulted in the paralysis of his left leg, shoulder and arm), Dury didn’t let this stop him from becoming an accomplished musician.
NEWS: Cameron Mackintosh announces West End closures until 2021, starts redundancy consultations
Cameron Mackintosh has delayed the return of his West End productions of Les Misérables, Mary Poppins, Hamilton and The Phantom of the Opera until as early as practical in 2021.
‘Strips back perceptions of what theatre should be’: ENTITLED – Quarantine (Online review)
Up to Manchester for this Zoom screening of 2011’s mix of movement and words from Quarantine, followed by a discussion with the creatives.
Entitled is “a show about nothing” on the surface, as we watch stage technicians set up for a dance performanc…
‘It’s important to remain positive’: Brixton House’s Owen Calvert-Lyons on the future of fringe theatre post lockdown
Head of theatre and artist development at Brixton House (formally Ovalhouse*) Owen Calvert-Lyons talks about life during the lockdown, the post-Covid future for fringe theatre and streaming.
‘A bold spectacle’: THE WIZ LIVE! – The Shows Must Go On ★★★★★ (Online review)
This sharp and sassy musical, based on William F Brown’s interpretation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, is a bold spectacle to watch unfold.
‘Mark Gatiss’ mesmerising acting dominates the play’: THE MADNESS OF GEORGE III – Nottingham Playhouse (Online review)
Alan Bennett writes that “I’ve always had a soft spot for George III”, for no better reason than that he had studied the monarch’s reign at secondary school and then again at uni.
Do you know the 5 types of opening numbers used in musicals?
Analysing the opening moments of any musical tells you a lot about the writer’s intentions for the evening to come.
‘A powerful picture of a dark day for democracy’: THE BATTLE OF THE BEANFIELD – Breach Theatre
The Battle of the Beanfield is the first show by Breach Theatre, now known for the excellent It’s True, It’s True, It’s True about Renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi.
The Shows Must Go On: Peter Pan Live! reschedules for YouTube streaming this Fri
Free-to-view YouTube Channel The Shows Must Go On continues its theatre lockdown weekly schedule with the rescheduled stream of Peter Pan Live!
NEWS: Old Vic streams 2018 production of Joe Penhall’s Mood Music in July
In addition to its experimental #OVinCamera live staging of Lungs, the Old Vic Theatre continues its free streaming of archived productions.
Lost Labour of Love: ‘All I had to do was turn up & say the words wot Shakespeare wrote, didn’t I?’
Knowing that some 600 people had applied the week previous to that, I had no great expectation that I would be selected but, to my amazement, I was offered the part of Costard.
‘A beautiful & powerful musical experience’: FROM HERE TO ETERNITY – Broadway HD ★★★★ (Online review)
This musical, which made its world premiere in the West End in 2013, deserved a much longer run than it received.
‘A towering central performance by Mark Gatiss’: THE MADNESS OF GEORGE III – Nottingham Playhouse (Online review)
An excellent production of a modern classic with a towering central performance: Alan Bennett’s early 1990s play examines public versus private monarchical concerns at the end of the 18th century in the latest stream from National Theatre At Home.
Depicting women from different walks of life: Glass Half Full’s lockdown monologues showcase
During lockdown, Glass Half Full Theatre have produced a series of monologues that depict women from different walks of life.