Nimax Theatres, the Criterion Theatre, Young Vic and Chichester Festival Theatre are among the 2,700 organisations being offered nearly £400 million in grants and loans as part of the CultureRecovery Fund’s second tranche of funding.
Let’s avoid start-stop misery on the road to theatres’ recovery
On Monday Boris Johnson announced his (apparently irreversible) plans to take us out of lockdown forever. He even provided a detailed timetable of dates when each stage should be implemented.
‘Right up to standard & terrific fun’: Sherlock In Homes 2: Murder On Ice (Online review)
If you’re a whodunnit devotee and you like plenty of (frozen) red herring then you’ll love Sherlock In Homes 2: Murder On Ice.
‘Wonderfully brought to life’: THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK – Wise Children / Kneehigh / Bristol Old Vic (Online review) ★★★★★
It was so delightful to finally catch up with Kneehigh’s production of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, filmed at the Bristol Old Vic and streamed by Wise Children.
NEWS: Dates & full cast are announced for the digital tour of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk being broadcast from Bristol Old Vic
Wise Children, Kneehigh and Bristol Old Vic have announced dates for the digital tour of Daniel Jamieson’s The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk directed by Emma Rice. The production will feature Marc Antolin (Marc Chagall) and Audrey Brisson (Bella Chagall), reprising their roles from the original staging. The production will be performed at Bristol Old Vic, and broadcast live to audience’s homes nationally and globally from 3-5 December 2020.
NEWS: We round up the response to the latest tranche of Culture Recovery Fund grants awarded by the Government
More than 1,300 arts and cultural organisations have benefited from a share of £257 million as part of a vital financial boost from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.
‘A story predicated on equality, mutual support & finding your own path’: ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS – Bristol Old Vic (Online review)
Romantics Anonymous is a story predicated on equality, mutual support and finding your own path as individuals (and as a couple) rather than waiting for someone else to come and save you from your life – implications that after years of rom coms and social messaging is subtly but usefully employed through a charmingly conceived but nonetheless carefully structured story.
‘Irresistibly charming & life affirming’: ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS – Bristol Old Vic (Online review)
Feelgood musical Romantics Anonymous at Bristol Old Vic certainly works on both the level of a light confection and something more robust for the committed chocolatophile/musicophile.
NEWS: Wise Children announces full cast of Romantics Anonymous & live socially distanced Bristol show on final night of digital tour
Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and Plush Theatricals has announce that Emma Rice’s critically-acclaimed Romantics Anonymous will be performed live to a socially distanced audience for the final performance of their ‘digital tour’ on 27 September 2020 at Bristol Old Vic.
NEWS: Romantics Anonymous will be performed & broadcast live from Bristol Old Vic
Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and Plush Theatricals have announced that Emma Rice’s critically-acclaimed musical adaptation of Romantics Anonymous will be performed at Bristol Old Vic, and broadcast live, direct to audience’s homes nationally and globally.
NEWS: Return of indoor performances delayed until 15 August 2020
There was a blow to any producers planning socially distanced indoor performances from 1 August 2020 when prime minister Boris Johnson announced that the easing of restrictions on theatre and music venues, amongst others, had been delayed to 15 August.
‘A powerful portrait of grief, love & guilt’: A MONSTER CALLS – Old Vic Theatre ★★★★★ (Online review)
There is one emotion that we all feel that can link to other types of emotions: grief. From love to anger it pushes all other emotions to the brink and this is what A Monster Calls portrays so beautifully.
Why is theatre so London-centric… even online? 11 must-watch streams from beyond the M25
‘Theatre is everywhere. It is regional. It is rural. It is poor. Now it is in your front room, it can be from anywhere.’
‘It’s not as if we’ve got a vast catalogue of ready-to-release captures of our shows’: Artistic director Tom Morris on Bristol Old Vic in lockdown
“As soon as the theatres closed in the week of 16 March 2020, we thought ‘we need to remember we’re a theatre and think about what our role in relation to the city might be in this strange world’.”
‘This is a defiantly feminist reading of the text’: JANE EYRE – National Theatre (Online review)
The problem with staging a classic novel is that everyone has a slightly different view of how it should be done – many have tried and few have fully succeeded.
‘Achingly beautiful’: ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS – Bristol
For every introverted socially awkward nerd Romantics Anonymous feels like seeing your fears and secrets on stage without being mocked.
Mind the Blog reflects on a theatre wish list for 2020
Mind the Blog has a fairly wide-ranging wish list of things I hope to see, including major shows such as Sunday in the Park with George, Evita, Magic Goes Wrong, Uncle Vanya and the Jamie Lloyd Company residency at the Playhouse Theatre.
20 shows to look forward to in 2020
Looking ahead to some of 2020’s exciting shows, most with an emphasis away from the West End and instead focusing at the London Fringe and across the UK.
‘Quintessential tale of survival against the odds’: TOUCHING THE VOID – West End
David Greig’s much-lauded mountaineering survival story fails to reach the dizzy heights.
‘Lays down its comedy with a thud’: CYRANO – Bristol ★★★
It’s only when the location moves to the battlefield and the production is allowed to breathe and the poetry to sing that this production of Cyrano finally begins to come into its own.