The best theatre to stream this month: Beckett batting, Henry VI and a South African dance-off
Scene Unseen
The Made in Northampton digital strand of the Royal & Derngate theatre continues to offer riches with this intimate, cutting-edge musical co-production with the English Touring Opera. Dwelling on themes of identity and sexuality, it is written by cabaret artist Jessica Walker and Joseph Atkins. Directed by James Dacre and filmed by David Lefeber (with animation by Tom Hicks), we follow the emotional trajectory of Walker’s life, from a complex childhood to her wedding day, with an hour long song-cycle about gender confusion, sexual assault, first love, betrayals and family secrets. Available from 5 September for three months.
Stumped
Streamed live from Lord’s cricket ground in London on 10 September at 7pm, this darkly comic play by Shomit Dutta gives a literary twist to the gentlemen’s game. Starring Stephen Tompkinson as Samuel Beckett and Andrew Lancel as Harold Pinter, it traces Beckett’s lesser known years as a cricketer (he features in the pages of Wisden) as well as Pinter’s passion for the game and their friendship as playwrights and cricket fans. There is a post-show discussion between the Guardian’s Michael Billington, the former English cricket captain Mike Brearley and cricket journalist Emma John. It will also be available to watch on demand from 27 September for one year.
I’m Here
These five short plays by Pentabus pivot around the theme of isolation and showcase some rising talent. The Amazing Invisible Woman is written by Caitlin Magnall-Kearns, winner of the inaugural Pentabus Young Writers Alumni award and it explores size and body prejudice. Charlotte Mills plays a cafe worker who sees herself “as a fat person … in a society desperate for me to shrink”. Also in the collection is Anoushka Warden’s funny, transgressive Toed, alongside babirye bukilwa’s delicately moving Birds N Dem, Tabby Lamb’s Phase 4, which is about identity and transphobia, and Mika Onyx Johnson’s Green Thumbs, about the wisdom of cacti, all of which are available to watch for free.
Henry VI Part One, Henry VI: Rebellion and War of the Roses
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s King Henry VI productions garnered enormous acclaim when they were staged in the spring and are now available in digital form until 30 September. Henry VI Part One, which introduces us to a young and reclusive Henry after the death of his father, was part of the open rehearsal project, filmed as a run-through during the Covid-19 pandemic. It continues through to Henry VI: Rebellion when the king’s hold on the throne wavers, and concludes, thrillingly, in War of the Roses. Meanwhile, Richard III, the next play in the history cycle, is available in cinemas from 28 September until 8 October.
Galwad: A Story from our Future
This story is rooted in contemporary Wales and imagines what would happen if the future made contact with the present day. Commissioned by Creative Wales, it brings together a large team of actors including Alexandria Riley, Matthew Aubrey, Nitin Ganatra and Rhodri Meilir. It unfolds in real-time on digital and broadcast platforms, blending live performance and TV drama. From 26 September until 2 October, audiences can follow the story on social media and TV, with unannounced interventions on Welsh language TV channel, S4C and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. The drama culminates in a four-hour broadcast on Sky Arts (free to view) and a live broadcast from Blaenau Ffestiniog. It will continue to be available after 2 October online.
Tikkun Olam
This intelligent political drama about identity, culture wars and Westminster by Teunkie Van Der Sluijs was one of three plays to win Original Theatre Company’s Originals Playwriting award for unproduced playwrights alongside The Fall by Drew Hewitt, and Miles by Eilidh Nurse. Filmed live at Riverside Studios, this is a play reading directed by Michael Boyd with a cast that includes Luke Thompson (of Bridgerton fame) and Diana Quick, among others. Its storyline centres around controversial plans to erect a Holocaust memorial near Parliament Square by an aspiring Labour party MP who enlists a black Jewish social media influencer to his campaign. Available to watch until 23 July 2023.
‘Master Harold’ … and the Boys
Athol Fugard’s semi-autobiographical play tells a blistering tale of two black employees at a Port Elizabeth tea room who come together with their boss’s white teenage son for ballroom dancing routines in South Africa in 1950. The dream is to become dance champions but that plan is riven by apartheid politics: the men exemplify friendship across the racial divide, but also the nation’s unbending power structures. Directed by Roy Alexander Weise, ‘Master Harold’ … and the Boys was originally staged at the National Theatre in 2019 starring the sublime Lucian Msamati in its cast and it is now among the catalogue of new offerings available from NT at Home until at least 10 August 2023.
As You Like It
Another play in the latest batch released by NT at Home, this Shakespearean comedy stars Rosalie Craig as Rosalind, the play’s persecuted heroine who adventures, in disguise, into a radically reimagined Forest of Arden comprised of office tables and chairs dangling around the stage. Polly Findlay’s production was feted for its ingenious visual spectacle and aural aspects, with a striking set design by Lizzie Clachan. The cast also features Paul Chahidi, Patsy Ferran and Ken Nwosu, among others. Previously broadcast in cinemas as part of the NT Live series, it is available on demand until at least 10 August 2023.
The Tempest
If you missed Sean Holmes’ recent, boldly comic version of this play at the Globe, you can find consolation in the theatre’s 2013 production of the play – arguably the Bard’s final work – starring Roger Allam, Jessie Buckley, James Garnon and Colin Morgan. Very different fare from Holmes’ mischievous iteration with its sly nod to Love Island, this production brings out the intensity of the father-daughter relationship, under the direction of Jeremy Herrin, Allam makes a stately Prospero, both possessive and adoring of Buckley’s Miranda, and the play weaves a simple but spellbinding brand of magic. Now available on Globe Player.
Cells
This second season of the musical drama comes a year after a successful first season was digitally released in the midst of lockdown by Metta Theatre in partnership with Royal & Derngate in Northampton, the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch, Greater London, and the Taunton Brewhouse in Somerset. The first season was seen by over 42,000 people across YouTube and Facebook, and this next instalment make up a complete full-length piece with the continuation of a story of new beginnings and second chances. It stars Clive Rowe once again alongside Lem Knights and Natalie Hope. Written by P Burton-Morgan and composed by Ben Glasstone, it is now available to watch.
