Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre has entered a period of “hibernation” as a building-based producing theatre, postponing all 2020 shows and entering into negotiations with all staff over redundancies.
For many cash-strapped theatres, Covid has just accelerated things to come
We need to use this time wisely. As audience members, what do we want to see; as creatives, what can be made. If the expectations don’t match, then audiences won’t be back.
‘In a year’s time, we would hope every theatre in the country is open & thriving’: SOLT chief executive Julian Bird on the way forward
‘The major question is that the majority of theatres cannot open with social distancing in place – it’s impossible, for economics, for the business case let alone the experience, it just doesn’t work.’
NEWS: Theatres publish open letter to freelance theatre & performance makers
Over 50 leading theatres and companies – including the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court and the Bush – have published an open letter to their networks of freelancers.
NEWS: Industry leaders launch coordinated effort to lobby for government support & welcome new taskforce
The theatre industry’s fightback was raised to a new level as, after more than two months of enforced venue closures, leaders coordinated efforts to pressure the government for further support, and DCMS appointed a new commissioner for Cultural Recovery.
NEWS: Further details announced for Virtual West End Live weekend in June
This year’s West End Live, the world’s largest outdoor theatre festival, held each summer in London’s Trafalgar Square, was cancelled in March after the UK went into coronavirus lockdown. Organisers have now announced that a virtual version will go ahead.
‘This has been a moment of privilege & I think it will be the making of us’: Out of Joint on the challenges & opportunities for touring after lockdown
‘The real unknown is when people are going to want to go back into the theatres, regardless of government advice. We don’t know that. It will be a long road.’
‘The less respect you have for the Brontes before you watch this, the more you’ll enjoy it’: WASTED – Southwark Playhouse (Online review)
Wasted is about the Bronte siblings from childhood to death, as they attempt to follow their artistic – and romantic – ambitions.
NEWS: After 72 virtual shows, Leave a Light On series concludes with Beverley Knight concert
Leave a Light On, the online concert series launched during lockdown, will draw to a close on Friday 29 May 2020 at 6.30pm with a finale concert by Beverley Knight.
NEWS: Virtual West End Live will go ahead on weekend of 20-21 June 2020
This year’s West End Live, the world’s largest outdoor theatre festival, held each summer in London’s Trafalgar Square, was cancelled in March after the UK went into coronavirus lockdown. Organisers have now announced that a virtual version will go ahead.
NEWS: ‘Your Old Vic’ launches extensive online resources, AD Matthew Warchus warns of ‘perilous’ year ahead
The Old Vic Theatre has announced details of “Your Old Vic”, a programme of creative, fun and inspiring events, projects and content to keep the theatre connected with audiences, and audiences connected with each other. It will include streaming of video archives of productions, starting with A Monster Calls next month.
‘There are going to be some pretty sad stories that will come out of this period’: Baby Reindeer writer/performer Richard Gadd on his Corona cancelled West End run
‘I actually managed to be quite philosophical about it in the end. There’s a sense that we’re all in it today, and there are much bigger things at play, like people dying and getting sick.’
Did you tune in live to last month’s All The Web’s a Stage? ‘A brilliant day’s entertainment’
With a different host for each section, this show celebrates the world of cabaret, comedy, dance, magic and theatre.
NEWS: Broadway transfer of Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George postponed until 2021
The highly anticipated Broadway transfer of Sunday in the Park with George, starring Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal and Tony Award winner Annaleigh Ashford, has postponed its season in the West End until further notice.
‘As entertaining as it is educational’: LUNA – Roustabout Theatre Company
It’s a brilliant piece of theatre which will no doubt capture the imagination of anyone interested in space, and is one of those shows which genuinely works as well (if not better) for the adults as it does for the kids.
NEWS: Nicholas Hytner remakes Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads during lockdown
Filming has begun on new productions of Alan Bennett’s critically acclaimed and multi-award-winning Talking Heads monologues, to be broadcast on BBC One with an all-star cast.
‘You genuinely feel part of a shared experience’: THE TEMPEST – Creation Theatre (Online review)
‘We’ the audience help with sound effects or stand-in for mysterious creatures or provide props but if you don’t want to get involved it is easy to ‘sit out’ and just watch. The interaction is fun.
‘I lost a gig on the crest of the wave & knew immediately I was only the first of many’: Robert Myles on launching weekly Shakespeare reading The Show Must Go Online
We chatted to the actor about his project The Show Must Go Online, which weekly presents a Shakespeare play for online audiences.
‘Watching this opened my eyes to an interesting part of British Empire history’: DRAWING THE LINE – Hampstead Theatre ★★★★ (Online review)
Judge Cyril Radcliffe has been ordered by the British government to go and map out the territories dividing up India as the empire begins to close down. A somewhat daunting prospect for somebody who had never been to India.
‘The one-woman play is far superior to the TV series’: FLEABAG – Soho Theatre (Online review)
When DryWrite co-Artistic Director Phoebe Waller-Bridge wrote Fleabag back in 2013, it needed to be crowdfunded in order for it to be premiered at that year’s Edinburgh Festival.
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