Online theatre

Online theatre news

New Old Friends' audio advent calendar returns

22 November 2021

Another dose of free Christmas cheer courtesy of New Old Friends' podcast whodunnit.

Erina Takahashi and Isaac Hernandez in Raymonda

ENB Philharmonic releases Raymonda music

9 November 2021

English National Ballet has released a single of music from the ballet Raymonda on streaming platforms ahead of a full album launch later this month.

New podcast series “unpicks complex topics”

30 October 2021

A Midlands company is producing new podcasts, working with theatre artists to “create and curate topical, questioning, entertaining explorations of what’s important to them”.

Northampton festival: mix of in-person and online sessions

28 October 2021

Northampton Royal and Derngate’s artist support programme Generate is to present its third Gen-Fest festival which will be a mixture of in-person and online sessions.

“Universal threads”: Zest artistic director Toby Ealden

Zest produces mental health crisis audio work

27 October 2021

Lincoln-based Zest Theatre has worked remotely with young people and creatives from across the country on monolith, an audio-based experience that “responds buoyantly to the growing mental health crisis young people face”.

Sadler’s Wells dance on demand

23 October 2021

Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage will launch its Video on Demand platform with Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Curated by Carlos.

Food and Feuds in Hexham

22 October 2021

Northumberland’s The November Club brings to life an eighteenth century rivalry between two cooks.

BRB World Ballet Day programme

19 October 2021

Birmingham Royal Ballet has announced its programme for this year’s #WorldBalletDay 2021 on 19 October.

An eerie première lakeside

10 October 2021

An eerie première of Obscura Theatre’s audio walk series sound~~land~~scape opens at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick.

Film from Cap-a-Pie to be shown at COP26

2 October 2021

Climate Change Catastrophe!, a film from Cap-a-Pie, created with primary schoolchildren and Newcastle University Scientists, to be screened at COP26 in Glasgow in November.

Full access to Antigone

1 October 2021

A new adaptation of the Greek classic Antigone is being premièred at Storyhouse in Chester.

Voila! Europe 2021

26 September 2021

Voila! Europe 2021 offers an eclectic range of events in person and online.

Altered Skin will present work-in-progress Fatherhood at the First Bite Festival

Lunchtime works-in-progress in online festival

24 September 2021

Ten new work-in-progress shows by companies and artists based in the Midlands will have their first outing at the free, online First Bite festival.

Symposium to look at All That’s Been Revealed

12 September 2021

The Achates Philanthropy Foundation's first national symposium is to be guest-curated by Javaad Alipoor and act as a philosophical provocation to the sector.

ROH autumn streams of opera and ballet

12 September 2021

The Royal Opera House will stream six productions from its 2021/22 season on selected Fridays then on-demand for 30 days.

Graeae and 1623 plead: Let Me Be

9 September 2021

Two theatre companies have teamed up for a new course called Let Me Be which will be delivered digitally and is open to all deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists aged 16 and above.

Introducing the next generation of choreographers

Sadler’s Wells Young Associates on film

5 September 2021

Sadler’s Wells has released Introducing the next generation of choreographers, a series of four short films by Sadler’s Wells Young Associates, available free on Digital Stage.

Online theatre reviews

Old Bridge

Igor Memic

Papatango

Bush Theatre

29 November–4 December 2021

Destiny (Osud)

Leoš Janáček , libretto by Fedora Bartošová

2020 Janáček Brno Festival, Czechoslovakia

Janáček Brno Festival

27 November 2021–28 May 2022

Death of England: Face to Face

Clint Dyer and Roy Williams

National Theatre

Lyttelton Theatre (National Theatre)

Released 25 November 2021

The Imaginary Invalid or The Cabal of Hypocrites

János Vajda, libretto by Szabolcs Várady based on plays by Molière and Mikhai...

Hungarian State Opera

Eifel Arts Studios, Budapest

19 November 2021–19 May 2022

Dracula: The Untold Story

Andrew Quick and Pete Brooks

Imitating the Dog

The Lowry, Salford

12–13 November 2021

Beat the Devil

David Hare

Sky Arts

Released 11 November 2021

Constellations

Nick Payne

Donmar Warehouse

11–29 November 2021

L’Orfeo

Music by Claudio Monteverdi, libretto by Alessandro Striggio

Teatro Alighieri

Teatro Alighieri, Ravenna, Italy

From 6 November 2021

Alice's Adventures Under Ground

Gerald Barry after Lewis Carroll

Irish National Opera

Wexford Festival from ROH online

5 November–5 December 2021

BEDLAM: The Series

Eric Tucker and Musa Gurnis, based on the works of Shakespeare

Bedlam TV

From 1 November 2021

Der Rosenkavalier

Richard Strauss, Reduced Orchestration by Eberhard Kloke, Libretto by Hugo Vo...

Garsington Opera

Garsington Opera, Wormsley, Buckinghamshire

30 October 2021–29 April 2022

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Young Vic

Young Vic Best Seat in Your House

28–30 October 2021

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

Almeida Theatre

27–30 October 2021

Edmea

Alfredo Catalani, Libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni

Wexford Festival Opera

Wexford Festival Opera, Wexford, Ireland

25 October 2021–21 October 2022

Oliver Twist

Adapted by Bryony Lavery from the novel by Charles Dickens

Ramps On The Moon/Leeds Playhouse

25 October–8 November 2021

Department Story

Cathy Carson, Jan Carson, Roisín O’Donnell

Big Telly

Royal Avenue, Belfast

20–31 October 2021

Iolanta

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky after the play King ...

Royal Swedish Opera

Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm

15 October 2021–15 April 2022

David Stout (Stárek) and Karita Mattila (Kostelnička)

Jenůfa

Music and text by Leos Janáček

The Royal Opera

Royal Opera House, London

9 October–9 November 2021

Rice

Michele Lee

Orange Tree Theatre and Actors Touring Company

Orange Tree Theatre

9 October–13 November 2021

Aaliyah (After Antigone)

Kamal Kaan

Freedom Studios, in association with CARBON: Imagineering

Impact Hub Bradford

8–16 October 2021

Metamorphoses

Sami Ibrahim, Laura Lomas and Sabrina Mahfouz

Shakespeare's Globe

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

7–30 October 2021

R + J

William Shakespeare, adapted by Ravi Jain, Christine Horne and Alex Bulmer

Stratford Festival Theatre

Stratford Festival Theatre, Ontario

7 October–27 November 2021

Fidelio

Ludwig von Beethoven, libretto edited by Georg Friedrich Treitschke

Opéra Comique

Opéra Comique, Paris

5 October 2021–30 September 2022

Going the Distance

Henry Filloux-Bennett and Yasmeen Khan

Lawrence Batley Theatre, Oxford Playhouse, The Dukes and The Watermill Theatre

4–31 October 2021

The Theatre Channel Episode Eight: Stephen Schwartz

Stephen Schwartz

Adam Blanshay Productions

Park Theatre

From 1 October 2021

Distortion

Amanda Verlaque

The Mac, Belfast

30 September–24 October 2021

Three Short Plays by Tracy Letts

Tracy Letts

Steppenwolf Theatre Company

29 September–24 October 2021

The Turn of the Screw

Benjamin Britten, libretto by Myfanwy Piper

Le Monnaie / De Munt

Le Monnaie / De Munt, Brussels

28 September 2021–28 February 2022

La Voix Humaine

François Poulenc, Libretto by Jean Cocteau

Opera Philadelphia

Elkins Estate in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania

From 24 September 2021

Der Zwerg

Alexander Zemlinsky, libretto by George C. Klaren

Dutch National Opera

18 September–18 December 2021

Pod

Arabella Arnott

Matt Jamie / Coracle Productions with Rachel Horton / The Culture Vulture in ...

Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle

18–25 September 2021

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

William Shakespeare

Stratford Festival Theatre

Stratford Festival Theatre, Ontario

17 September–4 December 2021

Tosca

Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica

Teatro Real, Madrid

3 September 2021–3 March 2022

Fruit Salad

Selina Helliwell

GMF Digital Events

1–30 September 2021

Still

Frances Poet

Traverse Theatre Company

Traverse 3

1–29 September 2021

This is Paradise

Michael John O’Neill

Traverse Theatre Company

Traverse 3

1–29 September 2021

All the Bens

Ian Townsend, adapted for audio by Ian Winterton

Bamalam Productions

Released 1 September 2021

Online theatre features

Not Quite the Real Thing – but Nearly

5 November 2021

Philip Fisher considers the current coronavirus statistics and reminds readers about a new, happy medium.

National Theatre Together - Press Conference 4 June 2021

4 June 2021

Philip Fisher reports on announcements from the National Theatre that promise an optimistic future.