The Seagull
Game of Thrones stars Emilia Clarke and Indira Varma reunited for Jamie Lloyd’s typically bold and radical Chekhov production in the West End last year. It now joins the National Theatre at Home archive alongside the Donmar Warehouse’s Henry V, starring another GoT alumnus, Kit Harington.
Big Night of Musicals
Rave glasses at the ready: the irresistible Haus of Holbein from Six is one of more than a dozen showstoppers in this musical-theatre shindig hosted by Jason Manford in Manchester. Numbers from Newsies, Les Mis, Matilda and the West End’s new Temptations show Ain’t Too Proud are included. On BBC iPlayer.
All the Water in the World
Here’s a chance to try some fringe theatre from the comfort of your own phone. The company Limbik has created a performance for WhatsApp, using live calls, messaging and spatial audio to tell the story of the lonely Giselle who records the sounds around her. Presented by Leicester’s Attenborough Arts Centre, 22-23 April.
You Bury Me
The winner of the Women’s prize for playwriting in 2020, this debut drama by Ahlam is a coming-of-age tale set in the aftermath of the Arab spring. After running at Bristol Old Vic and the Edinburgh Lyceum, it plays this month at London’s Orange Tree which also presents it on demand from 25-28 April.
Once Upon a Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia
LA Theatre Works has a huge collection of audio theatre with more than 500 plays available to download. They include a 2022 recording made in Los Angeles of Josh Azouz’s brutal second world war comedy which had its world premiere with a different cast at London’s Almeida a year earlier.
The Light Follows Everyone
The Box in Plymouth commissioned the first local Laureate of Words, Laura Horton, to create an audio play inspired by a public artwork. She chose a colourful fused glass window designed by Leonor Antunes in St Luke’s church in the city, playfully and poetically using it to reflect on the lives of passersby.
Tartuffe
Molière’s classic comedy of hypocrisy was relocated from Louis XIV’s Catholic Paris to the British Pakistani Muslim community of Sparkhill in modern-day Birmingham by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto for their 2018 Royal Shakespeare Company staging. This film of its subsequent production at Birmingham Rep is on BBC iPlayer.
Josey, the Indignant Daughter
A short audio musical telling the story of Josephine Butler, 19th-century social reformer, activist and champion of women’s rights. November Club’s production, using binaural sound and written by singer-songwriter Katie Doherty, features women from across Butler’s native Northumberland. A full touring version is planned for next year. On Spotify.
King Lear
It’s 50 years since the great James Earl Jones played King Lear in Central Park for Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare festival, alongside Raul Julia as Edmund and Paul Sorvino as Gloucester. Jones, observed the New York Times, “has the physical presence, power and emotional depth to play kings”. From Prime Video.
Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Succession star Brian Cox is due to play patriarch James Tyrone in a hotly awaited London revival of Eugene O’Neill’s summer tragedy. In the meantime, dial back to 2012 for this masterly West End production starring David Suchet and directed by Anthony Page. Rent from Digital Theatre.
