.png)
5 hours ago
4
Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things – The First Shadow
It’s almost 18 months since that neon Hawkins sign went up in Charing Cross Road but a long-running Stranger Things play was never a dead cert hit. Netflix’s backstage documentary charts the race against time from workshops to opening night, with writer Kate Trefry and producer Sonia Friedman both bracingly open about the mind-flaying challenges of turning the TV juggernaut into a theatrical spectacular.
The Beaux’ Stratagem
Susannah Fielding has recently been seen more frequently on screen than stage but happily she returns this month in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge. Here’s a reminder of her flair for comedy: George Farquhar’s ridiculously enjoyable restoration jape on the NT’s Olivier stage in 2015. From National Theatre at Home.
Ben and Imo
Originally written for the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth and performed on BBC Radio 3, Mark Ravenhill’s play follows the composer’s collaboration with musician Imogen Holst on an opera for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. Erica Whyman’s RSC production is available 20-23 May, after its run at the Orange Tree in London.
Cirque du Soleil: Kurios
The Canadian circus behemoth’s 2014 show about a cabinet of curiosities is now available in a deluxe interactive package, which offers not just closeup views of the acrobatics but also myriad backstage perspectives before, during and after the show – as well as the option to follow particular performers. Available now.
The Church of the Lost Cause
What a gorgeously evocative patchwork tribute to the late, great Kneehigh. Film-maker Brett Harvey has assembled a spellbinding collage of the company’s shows, capturing the sense of play, windswept spirit and familial bond that marked their performances. On YouTube.
Elapse
“If the clock could turn back / let it take me away …” Chinese choreographer Disha Zhang’s ballet is based on her poem about ageing, time and loss. Performed by an antler-wearing ensemble from Houston Ballet, with accompaniment on the seven-stringed guqin by composer Zeng Xiaogang, it’s on Marquee TV.
The Wind in the Willows
From the riverbank to your living room: this 2017 family musical based on Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 tale, filmed at the London Palladium, is a new addition to National Theatre at Home from 8 May. The book is by Julian Fellowes, the songs come from George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, and the cast includes a green-haired Rufus Hound as Mr Toad.
Love in Action
In 2022 the Japanese theatre company Noda Map arrived in London with a kabuki take on Romeo and Juliet scored by Queen. How to follow that? With this version of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, relocated from 19th-century Russia to Nagasaki during the second world war. Filmed at Sadler’s Wells in 2024, it is available until 12 May.
Once Upon a Mattress
Sutton Foster relished the chance to play “an unhinged version of myself” in the lead role of the 1950s musical based on The Princess and the Pea. Its 2024 run at New York’s Hudson theatre starred Foster as Princess Winnifred the Woebegone (the part that made Carol Burnett a star). The Broadway cast recording is out now.
FableMosh
Nottingham-based theatre company Chronic Insanity have launched an intriguing digital project, FableMosh, that harks back to the enterprising experimentation of the Covid lockdown. A new play is released each month, available in several versions so that you can choose who plays which character – and there’s even a chance to submit your own performances.
