The best theatre to stream this month: James Earl Jones drives Miss Daisy, Ed Harris takes on Sam Shepard
The Loved One
Sharon Duncan-Brewster plays Pink, an insomniac private eye from LA who winds up in Glasgow in this immersive audio drama. It’s created by sound designer and composer Danny Krass and six writers including the late Oliver Emanuel. Presented by the Tron, most of the episodes are online now and the finale drops on 7 October.
Here in America
In the context of today’s “paranoid, polarising politics”, David Edgar has returned to 1950s America and a meeting between director Elia Kazan and playwright Arthur Miller as they choose different paths in the face of McCarthyism. James Dacre’s production at the Orange Tree is available from 22-25 October.
Buried Child
A newspaper article about the accidental exhumation of a child’s body in a back yard led Sam Shepard to write his darkly humorous 1979 Pulitzer winner. He revised it for different productions, including this 2016 revival starring Ed Harris, who said Shepard “understood what a labyrinth the human psyche is”. On BroadwayHD.
Turn and Draw
Theatres are creating increasingly sophisticated films to complement their stage productions, like this preview of Romeo and Juliet, to be produced next year by the Belgrade theatre, Bristol Old Vic and Hackney Empire. Corey Campbell’s short, filmed in the grounds of Coventry cathedral, explodes into rap as the rapiers are drawn.
Driving Miss Daisy
James Earl Jones, who died last month aged 93, lent his unmistakably rich voice to a number of audiobooks including the King James version of the Bible. After he played the chauffeur Hoke opposite Angela Lansbury on stage, the pair reunited for an Audible version of Driving Miss Daisy.
Underdog: The Other Other Brontë
Are the Kardashians latterday Brontë sisters? That was one of the ideas that fired Natalie Ibu’s staging of Sarah Gordon’s play, a co-production by the National Theatre and Northern Stage. The tale, veering from sibling rivalry to supportive sisterhood, is now available from NT at Home.
Sunset Boulevard: The Album
With an original cast recording released on 25 October, now you too can stroll along the Strand, belting out the title number like Tom Francis did during Jamie Lloyd’s wildly enjoyable, hi-tech revival of the tarnished Tinseltown musical. And, of course, hear Nicole Scherzinger in her Olivier award-winning role as Norma Desmond.
Cheeky Little Brown
Tiajna Amayo is a one-woman party, performing this monologue about an uncomfortable reunion between old friends at a 25th birthday bash. Nkenna Akunna’s play, directed by Chinonyerem Odimba, is available from tiata fahodzi and Bristol Old Vic until 2 November.
Blue Beard
After a triumphant tour earlier this year, writer-director Emma Rice’s playful yet chilling version of the folktale about the moneyed murderer – which she brings strikingly up to date – arrives on Marquee TV on 1 October.
London Tide
Two streams this month for London Tide, as Ben Power’s staging of Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend hits National Theatre at Home and an album of 13 songs created by Power and PJ Harvey, and recorded by the cast, is also released by Broadway Records. Both available from 17 October.
