Online Theatre roundup

By Liz Dyer

Missing the theatre during lockdown? Me too. But don’t despair – the internet is a wonderful thing, and it brings us numerous ways to keep enjoying great shows from our sofas.

It may not be quite the same as watching a live performance, but on the plus side, no need to queue to pay for the car park afterwards, and you can sing along as loud as you like ;)

So, where can we get this much-needed theatre fix?

London’s National Theatre was one of the first to announce online content; every Thursday they’re releasing one of their previous productions on YouTube for seven days. These are free to watch, although the theatre welcomes donations. So far in April we’ve enjoyed the likes of One Man Two Guvnors, Jane Eyre and Treasure Island, with more shows to be announced for May. Search for National Theatre at Home for full details.

Not to be outdone, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber has launched his own free series on YouTube, The Shows Must Go On! Each Sunday he’ll be releasing one of his best-loved shows to watch online – again, donations are welcomed to a variety of worthy arts organisations. Go to YouTube and search for The Shows Must Go On to see what’s coming up, but don’t delay as each show is only available for a couple of days.

For Shakespeare fans, the Globe Theatre will be making six productions available for free on YouTube, and many more for a small fee via Globe Player. Visit the Globe website at shakespearesglobe.com for details. And the Royal Shakespeare Company are following suit, offering a 30-day free trial on Marquee TV, a performing arts streaming service with a catalogue of over 400 dance, opera and theatre productions. You can sign up at marquee.tv. (After the free trial it costs just £8.99 a month for a full subscription.)

If that’s not enough, you can also subscribe to two fantastic sites – digitaltheatre.com (£9.99 a month) and broadwayhd.com ($8.99 per month with a seven-day free trial). The former is a great place to catch UK shows you may have missed, like Much Ado About Nothing with David Tennant and Catherine Tate, or Funny Girl starring Sheridan Smith, while the latter is an excellent opportunity to experience some

of Broadway’s finest productions (and also London’s own rather fabulous performance of Kinky Boots), for a fraction of the cost of a plane ticket.

Other venues are also offering free online content, among them the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Opera House, Hampstead Theatre and Chichester Festival Theatre, and you can also catch all your favourite musical theatre stars in Leave A Light On, a series of online concerts streamed via London’s Theatre Café – tickets cost £7.50, which I think we can all agree is a bargain to see some of the West End’s hottest talent do what they do best.

There’s a lot more online theatre out there, and more being announced every day, so do keep an eye on sites like WhatsonStage. comfor updates. It’s a difficult time for the arts at the moment, so any support we can offer will be really appreciated. Let’s hope we’re all back together in a theatre again soon – but for now let’s make the most of the opportunities we have to keep enjoying what we can, while staying home and keeping safe.