Theatres are closed, curtains stay down, but the show does go on, somehow. We checked with Stagey Lady regular reviewers and some of our theatre friends to find out how they’ve been adapting to strange times.
Rebecca Robinson, sports and exercise medicine consultant. Usually found at: Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
The term ‘doctor theatre’ feels apposite right now. As a healthcare worker I certainly find myself turning to (very) light entertainment outside of work with less of an ear to the news
But of course Theatre has gone dark across the country. Although I love the idea of the National Theatre Live, I’m aching for a rerun of a classic show and hopefully this is within the repertoire for coming weeks. I downloaded Fleabag but only got a fuzzy screen.
Highlights have instead been found in the smaller corners in the regions. This week Theatre by the Lake, which I miss tremendously, brought us a brilliant short sketch from 39 Steps actor Frances Marshall. She was in the original 2015 cast; she delivered a pitch-perfect monologue with just a hint of added isolation. I do hope there’s a follow-up or ideally a series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI3qfEnScOU
In real life, I knew that I had some highly talented performing friends, but distance prevented me attending shows in Newcastle or London. In the age of social-distancing, at least the internet has come into its own to bring us together. So every Sunday night I settle with a glass of wine and tune into Jenni Winter’s Musical Theatre cabaret on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/223091405422787/. With requests taken from the musicals it’s a mood-perfect for the end of the weekend.
I’m sure there’ll be a wealth of work inspired by these times- some directly related to lockdown and coronavirus and some distinct, and when theatres and concert halls reopen we must support them.
John O’Farrell, author and scriptwriter. His second musical, Mrs Doubtfire, had just three previews on Broadway before the lockdown. Usually found at: the Johnny Haynes Stand, Fulham Football Club.
I have been enjoying the live streaming of theatre shows and have watched Cyprus Avenue from the Royal Court and One Man Two Governors from The National Theatre. I enjoyed The Nest on TV, plus James Graham’s Quiz which I now wish I had seen at the theatre. I am getting my football fix from the documentary Sunderland Till I Die on Netflix and my laughs from Breeders by Simon Blackwell on Sky One.
I am still working on some stage stuff – adapting our musical Something Rotten for its UK debut hopefully in the autumn, plus tweaks to the show we were doing in New York before it was halted. Plus I am doing a lot of historical reading in preparation to (remotely) record some more We Are History podcasts with Angela Barnes. My favourite recent theatre production was The Minutes by Tracy Letts from Steppenwolf Theatre which I saw in New York before the shutdown. I hope it gets another run when the madness is over.
*See below
Christopher Wordsworth Andrew, great great great great grandson of William Wordsworth. Usually found at: Old Vic and Royal Court.
We were planning a great many celebrations to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of WW, at the poet’s home at Rydal Mount in the Lake District, all cancelled of course. Instead, we’ve been creative. We developed a website where members of the family and friends could upload their own recordings of their favourite Wordsworth poems. It’s gone beyond our wildest dreams. Starting with Stephen Fry, we’ve attracted an amazing range of people who love Wordsworth: to name but a few, Tom Sturridge, Kate Humble, Davina McCall, Johnny McDaid, Martha Kearney, Brian Cox, and some beautiful offerings set to music and sung – William H Macy , Paul Lodge. We plan to invite them all to a party at Rydal Mount when this is over! http://www.wordsworth250.com
William H Macy sings Wordsworth
Nathan Hamilton, actor. Usually found at: Coliseum Theatre, London
Ordinarily, you wake up in the morning, and your first thought is about the things you should do, need to do, have wanted to do for so long – yet time or work, or both, remain ever-constant enemies, at war with good intention. Today, time and work play no factor in the day that will follow. The trials and tribulations of these times lie at the feet, or weigh heavily on the broad shoulders of those key-workers that have, and will always have my gratitude and respect for their sacrifice and dedication.
I have been dedicating my own time to projects that have fallen by the way-side in recent years. Scripts that were never finished, short films that required that final edit and new ideas that deserve the kiss of life. Of course, life permits you to enjoy a more relaxed approach too, so in the evenings, I’m catching up on some beautiful European Cinema. Some favourites are: Cinema Paradiso, Life is beautiful, and Amelie. I’d recommend all three.
I miss The Coliseum in London, home to the E.N.O. for all its grandeur and elegant beauty springs to mind. The Oxford Playhouse is a great venue to perform in, nestled in among all of that beautiful architecture. But nothing quite compares to walking out of the stage door and seeing the beautiful lake at Theatre By The Lake, in Keswick. It’s impossible not to smile as the magnificence of nature washes over you, and the feeling of complete calm infiltrates a preoccupied post-show mind as you go in search of that post-show drink, meal, nap – whatever your post-show routine dictates. Those memories will last a lifetime.
Nathan is a London-based actor. He has toured both nationally and internationally, most recently with After The Dance, As You Like It, Macbeth and as the title role in Henry V. His latest film Ghost has just been released on Amazon Prime, and his next short film, The Number 30 is also due for release later this year.
Alice Sandford, writer and amateur genealogist. Usually found at: Liverpool’s Empire or Playhouse Theatres
The Easter season is normally the time for one of three family pantos* staged each year at the Theatre Royal in St Helens, Merseyside. Unable to welcome audiences to their venue, Regal Entertainments developed Rapunzel, the Lock-Down Panto. It was the theatre’s way of providing entertainment and thanking people for doing the right thing by staying at home.
Each cast member recorded their part at home, with individual performances brought together through skilful editing by the creative team. Rapunzel, the Lock-Down Panto was streamed free each afternoon for seven days on the theatre’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Some viewers enjoyed it so much they wanted to show their gratitude by making a donation to the theatre. Though delighted with the response, Regal Entertainment asked that any donations went instead to a fund set up by the St Helens Star newspaper to raise funds to support local NHS staff.
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears, originally scheduled for this Easter, will now take place at the Theatre Royal from 24th October to 1st November 2020.
Matt Addis, actor. Usually found at: Theatre by the Lake, Keswick.
I’m currently working on a wonderful project with Lighthouse Theatre. Unable to produce their planned touring stage programme, they inventively decided to serialise Malcolm Pryce’s delightful Aberystwyth Mon Amour, using the original cast of the first stage adaptation in 2016. We meet weekly in a virtual recording studio, rehearse and record 15 minute episodes scene-by-scene, then send the audio to their engineer, who magically weaves the individual voices together with music, atmosphere and sound effects to create an audio drama. The first episode is now on SoundCloud, then will be released weekly until we perform a live finale on May 28, the 155th anniversary of the Mimosa setting sail for Patagonia and a new Welsh Utopia.
Matt is seen here as Louie in Aberystwyth Mon Amour
Jenni Winter, theatre maker and cabaret host. Usually found at: Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne
I’ve been enjoying the National Theatre Live on Thursday evenings on YouTube, and also Frantic Assembly’s shared videos of their productions and play lists.
I’ve also been enjoying the comedy group The Suggestibles Friday night Live Streamed Facebook shows. I’m a theatre maker and cabaret host/ performer based in Newcastle, and I live stream a Musical Theatre Cabaret every Sunday evening at 9pm from www.facebook.com/musicaltheatrecabaret
I’m in the process of updating my equipment! I’m also a performer/ deviser and am having remote rehearsals with my theatre maker partner as before lockdown we had three exciting performances we were working towards.
My favourite shows at the moment are improvised comedy.
Pete Devine, journalist and reviewer. Usually found at: Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
How we just long to be able to slip down to the local of a Friday evening for a pint or take in a show at one of Manchester’s many theatres. I would exchange (theatre) the next three weeks for a bit of hope (mill) that when it is all over we can have some contact (theatre) not just at home but when life returns to some sort of normality.
I guess most of us have taken to reading that book that they got as a present many years ago but in my case learning to cook. Thank goodness for Netflix and Amazon Prime which help make up for all those theatrical cancellations.
Among the many offerings I managed to watch both series of Sex Education, a coming of age series which has everything but is a little more sophisticated and subtle in how the big S is revealed.
One of the stand-out films on Netflix was All the Money in the World, which kind of sums up our situation at present in that money or wealth matters little when we are all in this together.
- A little taster of Something Rotten https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA34LGXaW9g
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