Theatre Lockdown Special 6: A prolific playwright, a timeless play, and speeches galore
A popular American star vehicle and 'Alice in Wonderland' minute-by-minute figure among the cultural bounty during the week ahead
Can we really be entering a third month in lockdown? Indeed we can, and culture, thank heavens, shows no signs whatsoever of leaving us in the lurch. This week's lineup of highlights offers a typically electic bunch, ranging from two sizable American talents streaming a two-hander for one night only to the arrival online of the latest work from an octogenarian playwriting treasure, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, who ought to be more celebrated of late than he is.
Midnight Your Time, Donmar Warehouse online review – intimate and quietly moving
Revival of 2011 HighTide hit reconceived for streaming stars Diana Quick
During lockdown, some of the best online theatre has been shows that are specially created for this digital format. Much better than dull records of dramas that might have worked well on stage, but now seem sadly moribund and exceedingly slow on the laptop screen.
Cuck review - tediously nihilistic
Dispatch from Trump's America makes for a sullen and unrewarding slog
Deep from the heart of Trumpland comes Cuck, a deeply unpleasant film about a totally repellent character. Directed and co-written by Rob Lambert, the film opened simultaneously last autumn in the States with Joker, with which it shares an overlapping interest in societal outsiders pushed to the brink and beyond by their pathologies.
Tigertail review, Netflix - a story of immigrant opportunities, taken and missed
From Taiwan to NYC: Alan Yang's first feature film honours his father's experience
“Crying never solves anything.
Jane Eyre, National Theatre at Home review - a fiery feminist adaptation
Sally Cookson's take on Brontë is innately theatrical and ferociously resonant
The National Theatre’s online broadcasts got off to a storming start with One Man, Two Guvnors – watched by over 2.5 million people, either on the night or in the week since its live streaming, and raising around £66,000 in donations.
Mark Townsend: No Return review - a masterclass in journalism
The propulsive story of five Brighton teenagers who became jihadis in Syria
When Amer Deghayes departed for Syria in a truck leaving from Birmingham, a worker from a youth arts organisation in Brighton had been trying to get in touch with him. She wanted to inform Amer, an intelligent and creative 18-year-old who had once harboured journalistic ambitions, that his pitch to develop a project about identity in his hometown had been successful. The Heritage Lottery fund had decided to award him £50,000.
Cyprus Avenue, Royal Court Theatre online review - a mind in mesmerising meltdown
Stephen Rea rivets once again in David Ireland play
Rumpelstiltskin, Sadler's Wells Digital Stage review - spins an engaging yarn for young audiences
balletLORENT provides a sunnier take on the the Brothers Grimm
The latest in Sadler’s Wells’ Digital Stage programme – an impressively assembled online offering to keep audiences entertained during the shutdown – is balletLORENT’s family-friendly dance-theatre production Rumpelstiltskin. It was streamed as a "matinee" on Friday afternoon, and is available to watch for free on
I and You, Hampstead Theatre review - now streaming online, this YA play is oddly pertinent
Head to Instagram for a 2018 production with plenty of 2020 shutdown wisdom
The way that theatres and other arts institutions have leapt into action over the past week, providing a wealth of material online and new ways to connect with audiences, has been truly inspirational.