Streaming and IG LIVE performance thread

A message from our friend TheatreMonkey on his Twitter feed, glad to know he is still active and continues to have is finger on the pulse of all things Theatre.


David Morrissey, Denise Gough, Jenna Coleman, Ed Stoppard and Maggie Service headline Tom Stoppard’s ‘A Separate Peace’

First ‘The Remote Read’ play in a live-streamed virtual series raising money for charity.

Saturday 2nd May 2020 at 7pm.

t.co/lOQCBIf8BQ


Behind a paywall, indicative of things to come maybe, in this instance for charity but at some point the creators of what we are streaming will need recompense.

I just learned that Cypress Avenue is streaming for one more day.  Is it worth watching as a play or just for a Stephen Rea performance.

Gyles Brandreth in Conversation with Judi Dench has been put online for one month avaliable to rent at a cost of £4.99.

Apologies if this has already been answered, but does anyone here know how long "Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration" will be available online for? I might not have the opportunity to watch it tomorrow, so was hoping I would get the chance to view it later in the week. 

Next ALW announced

Just had a mail from Chichester Festival Theatre:


"ARCHIVE RECORDINGS FOR ALL THE FAMILY TO ENJOY


Following on from the fantastic reception to our online broadcast of Flowers for Mrs Harris (available until 8 May), we are delighted to announce we will also be sharing archive recordings of our 2018 production of David Walliams's The Midnight Gang and CFYT's 2017 Christmas production, Beauty and the Beast.


The Midnight Gang (adapted by Bryony Lavery, music and lyrics by Joe Stilgoe) will be released this Thursday, 30 April and Beauty and the Beast (adapted by Anna Ledwich, music and lyrics by Richard Taylor) will follow on Thursday 21 May. Especially suitable for ages 7 and up, both will be available on our website for 30 days and will be free to watch.


Performances of both productions were filmed, edited and broadcast live to the children's wards at St Richard's Hospital and Worthing Hospital during their original runs. Thanks to the generous agreement and support of all the artists involved, we're delighted to be able to share the archive recordings from these performances so that families can come together to enjoy more theatre at home.


To connect with as many people as possible in our community, these broadcasts will be captioned for D/deaf and hard of hearing audiences, and Polish-language captions will also be available. An audio introduction will help set the scene for blind and partially sighted audiences."

I have finally caught up on the Twelfth Night.

Now I was never certain that the world needed a Malvolia. And I am still not convinced. I do love Tamsin Greig and she did a good job - but it wasn't true to the character as I read it. The hair grab of Maria was not how I see the character behaving. The letter scene had many good moments - but it was somewhat over-egged. I don't need a Malvolia/o breaking the fourth wall in the way - it is not how the scene plays.

The yellow stocking sequence came out of nowhere for me - it was entertaining at face value. But again not how the character would ever act. I know there are many ways of approaching such a role - and directors are allowed to make bold choices. But they should be consistent with the text. I would argue that it wasn't.

The Sir Topaz scene does not make sense if the Malvolio/a is bound and blindfolded - there is no need for the disguise otherwise. Plus how is the wronged steward supposed to write their note to Olivia - if they can't see or move their hands? Tonally, Greig hit all the right notes - but she was undermined by the staging in this scene.

Her return in Act 5 was pitched perfectly - as heartbreaking as it should be.

But there were bigger faults in the production - many related to the portrayal of Feste and, more importantly, Olivia. I just didn't get who this Feste was and what relationship she had with the family. It felt like a very 'look at me' interpretation and didn't land the melancholy that is at the heart of the character for me. But the Olivia was just wrong pretty much from the start. Firstly she showed no mourning/grief/reserve (other than wearing black) - which meant that she didn't have anywhere to go when she started getting interested in Cesario. The was no sense of journey emotionally. And Phoebe Fox seemed to be shouting half of her lines - now that may have been the sound balance - but it felt like a very forced performance.

I thought the set was well conceived but some of the choices as to how to use it didn't make much sense. Particularly the scene with Sebastian in the chapel - given that he was already there, why would he need to go with the Priest to the chapel... just didn't make sense with the text. And I didn't get the need to go to the Elephant nightclub at that point. The scene only makes sense if that characters are all in the same garden - there would be no reason for Olivia et al to head on over to the club. I know it allowed for the drag 'To be or not to be' song - but that didn't actually add anything to the play (even though I liked it as a standalone number)

I did enjoy the confusion at the end with Orsino and Sebastian (it is exactly how I would want to handle the end of the play) and there was much to enjoy in many of the other scenes.

Yes, I have a personal relationship with the play - it was my mother's favourite, I have played Malvolio and I have directed it. I have seen a number of productions - some more successful than others.

I can see how people will have enjoyed this - it was an entertaining (if somewhat overlong - mainly due to the over-extended scene changes) version. But tonally it was lacking for me. You need to find the balance between the farce and the melancholy - and that wasn't there for me.

Now if someone wanted to do a version with Tamsin Greig as Olivia and Mark Heap as Malvolio - I would be well up for that! Cross-casting key roles can work - and this was not the failure I had expected. It gave us a great performance to remember - but I don't think it illuminated the play in any special way. I know not every choice has to do that - but for something as high profile as this, I would have expected a more coherent and nuanced approach.

I can see why it got 4/5 star ratings. I would have given it a 3 - a partial success.

From 29th May for a week, 'We Are One', an online global film festival via Youtube compiled from all the major film festivals.

I don't have BroadwayHD but I am pretty sure it's not on there as it was meant to be in the cinemas again around now which makes me think they were trying to make more money out of it before putting it on BroadwayHD. I'm sure if it is on there someone will let you know though, maybe the fact it's not having another set of screenings means it's gone on there but I feel like they'll try again when cinemas are open again.

Yes it is, just checked app and played a bit to make sure

Grayson Perry on his usual good form. New series started last night:

www.channel4.com/programmes/graysons-art-club