Burnt Lemon Theatre’s Tokyo Rose shows that you don’t need a big budget to stage a compelling musical.
‘Sombre mood, visual distortions, intense emotions’: THE HAIRY APE — Online
I remember a student I was once trying to get to read more saying “What’s the point, there are just too many books”. Perhaps I’m beginning to have the same reaction to digital theatre – there’s so much more of it out there than I had ever anticipated and although I think I can claim I’ve covered a fair amount of ground there is still plenty to get to grips with.
‘Heartfelt and sincere’: A NEW LIFE (A MINI MUSICAL) — Traverse
A New Life (A Mini Musical) at the Traverse every lunchtime this week is certainly not ‘mini’ in its emotional scope or its ambition.
‘Spine tingling’: CHICAGO – Edinburgh Playhouse (UK Tour) ★★★★
Chicago’s tale of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery whispers back into the Edinburgh Playhouse with a thrum of double bass, a twitching off-beat on the drums and a haunting moan of muted trumpet.
‘The monk playing an electric guitar is a more recent invention’: THE YORK MYSTERY PLAYS – BBC Sounds (Online Review)
It is not with a little sense of surprise that I found myself yesterday experiencing my 800th online production which is the subject of this review. Back in April 2020 I, probably along with the vast majority of people, was only expecting the virus problem to last a matter of weeks and yet here we are and here I am still reviewing daily after 535 days.
‘The Greek legend is more or less intact’: ORPHEUS (Online review)
The Greek myths have endured across the centuries partly because they are timeless stories that can be endlessly updated and reinvented.
‘There’s a musical theatre dream team’: CLOSER THAN EVER – Broadway HD (Online review)
As it’s a recorded stream, you’re at liberty to choose your own encore moments and replay any numbers which particularly take your fancy – and there are bound to be several of those.*
‘In the tradition of the choose your own adventure books’: THE RIME OF THE SECOND SISTER / FOUND – Online
Do these two pieces push the idea of audio theatre to its limits? Probably and the results are highly pleasing
‘Thoroughly gruesome but mesmerising’: UNDER THE FLOORBOARDS – Edinburgh Fringe (Online review)
The real life figure of Ed Gein looms large in horror films and literature. Most famously he was the direct inspiration for Norman Bates in Psycho and his terrible influence can also be found haunting The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Silence Of the Lambs. But I’m not sure his real story has been told quite so directly as it is in Under The Floorboards which played live at the Edinburgh Fringe and has now emerged as an online performance film at this year’s Festival.
‘Ploughing the particular furrow of absurdist theatre’: MURMUR / WILD WAXFLOWER – Camden Fringe (Online review)
Without much more than a two line description in the Camden Fringe brochure, I plunged headlong into two wildly different but experimental pieces, Murmur and Wild Waxflower.
‘Crisp, intelligent & thoroughly rewarding’: FEAR OF ROSES – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
Fear of Roses, by Black Bat Productions at Assembly Roxy, is a crisp, intelligent and thoroughly rewarding three-hander.
‘Two ecology conscious plays’: Tree Confessions/We’ll Dance On The Ash Of The Apocalypse – Camden Fringe (Online review)
Though the big guns which are at the Edinburgh Fringe have now been rolled out, it’s taking some time to pin down what to aim for there. Meanwhile its somewhat smaller sibling is continuing in Camden and so I thought I would take a break from Edinburgh brochure browsing and pick up on a couple of shows from a Festival which is much nearer geographically and boasts some interesting online content. My choices narrowed down to a pair of performances which took ecology as one of their central themes.
‘Valuable additions to the expanded series’: QUEERS – Old Vic (Online review)
The first new piece for Queers references a moment in history while the second takes a broader more contemporary sweep of recent events but what unites them is that they present the experiences of wider elements of the LGBTQ+ community who also happen to be black; the original series was rather under representative in this area.
‘A reminder that what we do & who we are matters’: SHEDDING A SKIN – Soho Theatre
by Laura Kressly Whilst feeling uncertain and lost may well be something everyone goes through at least at one point in their life, thats no consolation in the moment. Everyone else seems to have purpose, direction and a place, and the sense of not having that can be debilitating. That’s certainly the case for Myah. […]
‘Concentrates on the indomitability of the human spirit’: LONE FLYER / ENG-ER-ALND – Jermyn Street Theatre (Online review)
Footprints Festival at Jermyn Street celebrates female empowerment
‘A diverting enough play to enjoy late at night’: BROKEN LINK – Brighton Fringe (Online review)
Noga Flaishon’s immersively creepy piece Broken Link for Harpy Productions uses Zoom and other modern tech to generally good effect to tell what is, essentially, a good old fashioned ghost story.
‘Totally absorbing’: I & THE VILLAGE – Bread & Roses Theatre ★★★★
Set in an isolated Direct Provision Centre in Ireland in 2017, I and The Village is a powerful piece of theatre, telling the story of three asylum seekers waiting to find out if they will be given permission to stay in Ireland. Jeta, Keicha and Hannah are stuck in limbo, waiting, struggling with trauma they can not directly express, all while barely existing in a state of long-term confinement and isolation.
‘Teeters on the edge of theatre as we used to know it’: Flavour Text / There’s Something Among Us – Chronic Insanity (Online review)
Two intricately constructed online pieces from Chronic Insanity push at the current boundary definitions of theatre.
‘Ridley plays with our expectations’: TARANTULA – Southwark Playhouse (Online review)
Philip Ridley’s Tarantula is another stunning showcase for a young actor who commands the stage and leaves the viewer exhausted – in a good way.
‘Interesting play that just needs a bit of tweaking’: MONEY – represent (Online review)
The practice of “greenwashing” is examined in Money, a pertinent interactive drama from new company represent.