London's Jermyn Street Theatre has come out of its corner this week with two online offerings.
The first is 15 Heroines, a trilogy of new work by fifteen female and non-binary playwrights based on women of classical myth, turning the spotlight onto the women and using their perspective to tell the their stories.
Each of the three parts, The War, The Desert, and The Labyrinth, will feature five characters, and some of the pieces will be directed by Jermyn Street Theatre’s artistic director Tom Littler (other directors to be announced). The writers are:
The War
- Oenone by Lettie Precious
- Hermione by Sabrina Mahfouz
- Laodamia by Charlotte Jones
- Briseis by Abi Zakarian
- Penelope by Hannah Khalil
The Desert
- Deianaria by April De Angelis
- Canace by Isley Lynn
- Hypermestra by Chinonyerem Odimba
- Dido by Stella Duffy
- Sappho by Lorna French
The Labyrinth
- Ariadne by Bryony Lavery
- Phaedra by Timberlake Wertenbaker
- Phyllis by Samantha Ellis
- Hypsipyle by Natalie Haynes
- Medea by Juliet Gilkes Romero
Each play will be performed three times, being filmed and streamed from the empty central London venue to a limited online audience of 250 people for each one. Tickets are £20.
Those unable to get a ticket to January's sold-out production of Samuel Beckett double bill Krapp’s Last Tape and the rarely performed The Old Tune will get a second chance as the recording is being made available online.
Directed by Trevor Nunn, James Hayes stars in Krapp’s Last Tape and Niall Buggy and David Threlfall in The Old Tune.
Jermyn Street Theatre’s artistic director, Tom Littler, said, “we’re delighted to be able to bring these two beautiful productions to a wider audience. Krapp’s Last Tape is an acknowledged masterpiece and The Old Tune is that rare thing: a genuine rediscovery, revived for the first time in London since the 1960s. As our theatre can seat only 70 people, the original audience was limited to those who snapped up tickets fast—now everyone has a chance to see these two gems.”
15 Heroines and the release of the Beckett Double Bill recording is made possible by the partnership between Jermyn Street Theatre and Digital Theatre.
15 Heroines is available on The War 9, 12 and 14 November, The Desert 10, 11 and 13 November and The Labyrinth 10, 12 and 14 November. Beckett Double Bill is available until 31 December (free to subscribers and for rent (£7.99) to non-subscribers).