Theatre in the time of coronavirus: How to get your theatre fix while theatres are closed
17/03/2020
I asked Twitter for theatre-related stuff to do while theatres are dark in the coming weeks and Twitter responded in brilliant style. Here's what fellow theatre fans have suggested plus a few ideas of my own.
• You can stream plays from Digital Theatre (£9.99 per month or £7.99 each), not a huge collection but a good handful including All My Sons and The Crucible. 🤓
• Virtual streaming site Livr has smaller fringe productions available to stream via their app - you get a virtual reality headset to use with your phone (I can certainly recommend Ladykiller, which I saw in Edinburgh 2018). Livr.co.uk via @nkhai1987
• Shakespeare's Globe's plays can be streamed, for a fee, on Globe player via @vickster51
• The King's Head Theatre is doing daily theatre insight videos which you can find on their Facebook page or Instagram feed. via press release 🤓
• Marquee TV has RSC productions and some of the Donmar's recent Shakespeare plus a few other bits and bobs, opera and dance. Free 30 day trial. via @polyg
• Theatre photographer Marc Brenner has started a blog in which he is going to talk about productions he's photographed, starting with Betrayal at the Harold Pinter. Find his blog here. 🤓
Coming soon?
From the Gate Theatre:
We are currently working towards making some of our work available to watch online - more news on that as soon as we have it - so please look out for updates.
From Jon Spooner (@snoopfish):
Got some archive films of @untheatre shows we could potentially release - depends on permissions from all the people - not 7 camera NT Live but... fun?
BalletBoyz presents Deluxe. Photo credit: George Piper
NEW ADDITIONS:
This week (27 March) via the Sadlers Wells Facebook page you can see the Ballet Boyz show Deluxe. I've not seen a lot of ballet but their last show moved me to tears.
The Met Opera is streaming productions free. Visit their website for details via @kjbkjb
@Robmyles has set up a Shakespeare play reading group and will be live streaming the readings. Details available here. via @polyg
Hollywood Reporter has this story about a group of actors in the US doing their own version of the 24 hours plays while adhering to social distancing. It will be streamed and you can read the piece here. via @polyg
The BBC has launched 'Culture in Quarantine' and among its offering will be new filmed recordings of Almeida's Albion and Emma Rice's Wise Children. You can read the story here.
As part of 'Culture in Quarantine', there is a bunch of Shakespeare productions you can watch via the iPlayer including Colin Morgan and Roger Allam in The Tempest at The Globe and Paapa Essiedu's rather splendid Hamlet for the RSC (one of my favourites). You can see the list here.
Headlong has teamed up with Century Films and a group of playwrights to produce 8 new plays for broadcast using virtual conference technology. Details on Headlong's website.
NT Live is going to stream one production a week starting on 2 April. Each production will be available for 7 days and details of the first four productions can be found on the National Theatre website.
RSC's Twelfth Night (2017)
Hampstead Theatre has teamed up with The Guardian and is streaming a play a week for free. For details head to Hampstead's website.
Penatabus Theatre is releasing past productions to watch for free, see their website for details.
The Orange Tree Theatre is streaming new play Amsterdam for free via its website. It's available until 27 April and you can find more details here.
David Ireland's Cyprus Avenue, at the Royal Court, is being streamed on YouTube until 31 May and you can read my 'in theatre' review here.
Soho Theatre and NT Live have made Fleabag available to stream for a rental fee in order to raise money for various Covid-19 charities. You can choose how much to pay to rent the screening starting from £4 and you will find details here. And this is my review from 2013 when it was at the Soho Theatre.
The Gate Theatre in Notting Hill has released it's first archive recording - The Unknown Island which is available from 22 April. Details on The Gate website.
Big Telly Theatre (co-produced The Tempest with Creation Theatre) has put together a live, interactive, virtual show based on Irish Myths called Operation Elsewhere. It opens on 2 May and you can find performance details and times here.
Cheek By Jowl's fantastic Russian Measure For Measure which was staged at the Barbican in 2015 is streaming on the Barbican website until May 25. It has English subtitles and was the first subtitled play I'd seen - and it blew me away. You can read my review here.
Finborough Theatre is streaming it's award-winning production of Neil McPherson's play about a soldier in the First World War It Is Easy To Be Dead. Details here on their website.
Omnibus Theatre and Moon Cage Productions are putting on 2 free live-streamed events on 13 & 14 June themed around issues related to the rise in reports of hate crime against East and South East Asians during the Covid crisis. Read my post with the details here.
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I'll update this list as and when but if you know of something I've missed, let me know in the comments or email me and I'll add.