Dear theatre friends,
Finally– I have some new plays to share with you, and a bit of a nudge for a couple I’ve previously recommended.
From New York’s own treasure hunter, Jonathan Banks of Mint Theatre, are archived HD videos of three of their past plays:
These shows begin July 6th and will be available until the 19th. Whether you’ve been in the audience before, or this will be a first time view, you will certainly enjoy “The Fatal Weakness,” “The New Morality,” and “Women Without Men.”
These plays are all free but you’ll need the Password: LostPlays2020. Please consider a donation to this fine company to express your pleasure.
59 East 59 Theatre will be streaming a live broadcast of “Beethoven” with Hershey Felder– one time only. Please mark your calendar for July 12th, 8pm EST, and buy a ticket. The revenue will be in part to support a theatre which has been paying artists and staff throughout the last four months.
The Public Theatre commissioned playwrights, Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen, to write a documentary play in response to the Covid pandemic. It’s just been announced that “Line” will be broadcast from July 8th. You can view it until August 4th on the Public Theatre’s You Tube channel. (You can ask YouTube to send you a reminder!)
Today, at 2:30pm, you can see “Rich Kids: The History of Shopping Malls in Teheran” on YouTube. I don’t know if it will continue, so take a peek if you’re free this afternoon. I saw the play in progress in Edinburgh and it presented some digital challenges– the audience was required to use their cellphones at the same time as the performance. It seemed to be a likely transfer to a newer technology.
Here are the nudges:
A batch of new tickets for the last three performances have been offered for “Lungs” by Duncan Macmillan, by The Old Vic. If you still have time, do see Claire Foy and Matt Smith in this poignant, wonderfully acted two-hander. This socially distanced version was very well reviewed by Ben Brantley.
I hope you’ve been enjoying the National Theatre Live’s play-per-week broadcasts. Next, beginning tomorrow, will be ‘Les Blancs”, Lorraine Hansberry’s (Raisin in the Sun) last play, directed by Yael Farber. In the New York Times, the reviewer calls this a “perfect production of an imperfect play.” Knowing Yael’s extraordinary talent (she won my Award for “Mies Julie” several years ago), your time will be well spent.
To close, I need to share my dread. Not only has the Edinburgh Fringe been cancelled for the first time in its 73 year history, but the entire network of British Fringe companies and theatres is in dire straits. Read playwright Francis Beckett’s Guardian article, if you want to ponder the probable future. If you have reason to believe there are brighter days ahead for Fringe theatres, here or there– please do get in touch and I’ll share. We all need to look past this current crisis.
More to come…
That’s all for now– as I receive news I’ll pass it along. But don’t completely fill your calendars yet– more shows are continuing to find their way to our screens.
Aren’t we fortunate to be living during this plague and not Sophocles’? Or, are you overwhelmed by choice?
Again, if you discover other theatre-related news– please get in touch: Carol@BestofEdinburgh.org.
And, need I reiterate? I’d like to continue to write because so many have expressed their enjoyment of reading– but I must have content!
Please send other theatre related information, or do try to recall a story you’d like me to post.
Carol Tambor publishes a monthly newsletter, which announces worthy shows coming to New York, along with occasional information about London theatre and, of course, the Edinburgh Fringe.