Staff Reporter | On 22, Apr 2021

The UK’s theatres are shutting doors for the foreseeable future amid safety concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. With more and more people self-isolating or working from home to minimise the spread of the virus, theatregoers will be missing the thrill of live entertainment while theatre companies will be struggling to support artists and employees. Streaming platforms, though, provide a way for you to get your culture fix and support theatrical venues during these troubled times.

In today’s VOD age, you can rent and buy recordings of a huge variety of theatre plays online to watch in your living room, as well as subscribe to all-you-can-stream collections of people treading the boards,From Broadway shows and West End plays to RSC productions, hit musicals and opera favourites, this is your digital theatre guide:

The Winter’s Tale (RSC)

The RSC production of The Winter’s Tale was scheduled to run in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Summer 2020 and then go on tour, but was postponed due to the pandemic. This film adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, directed by Erica Whyman, will air on 25th April at 7pm on BBC Four and then be available on BBC iPlayer.

Set across a 16-year span from the 1953 coronation to the moon landings, this new production imagines a world where the ghosts of fascist Europe collide with horrors of The Handmaid’s Tale, before washing up on a joyful seashore. King Leontes rips his family apart with his jealousy but grief opens his heart. Will he find the child he abandoned before it is too late?

Cost
Free

Ways to watch
BBC iPlayer

Lights Up

This new BBC Four season brings together productions that were either closed, or never even opened to the public, due to the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 18 new plays will be presented across TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds and radio. On BBC Four, that includes Yasmin Joseph’s J’Ouvert, winner of the James Tait Black Drama Prize, produced by Sonia Friedman Productions and filmed at the Harold Pinter Theatre where it plays as part of SFP’s RE:EMERGE season; and Orpheus in the Record Shop, written by acclaimed rapper and playwright Testament (Black Men Walking, The Beatboxer), which fuses spoken word and beatboxing with classical music in a collaboration between Opera North and Leeds Playhouse.

Cost
Free

Notable productions
Sitting (Katherine Parkinson)

Ways to watch
BBC iPlayer

Uncle Vanya

2020’s West End production of the iconic Chekhov play, directed by Ian Rickson, was performed at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre. After its run was curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the BBC has stepped in to film a version of the production, which was produced during lockdown without an audience. The impressive cast were present, though, including Toby Jones, Richard Armitage, Rosalind Eleazar, Aimee Lou Wood, Anna Calder-Marshall, Dearbhla Molloy and Peter Wight, with Roger Allam replacing Ciarán Hinds. It’s available until November 2021.

Cost
Free

Notable productions
Uncle Vanya

Ways to watch
BBC iPlayer

Sky Arts

After broadcasting Twelfth Night and Jane Eyre, Sky Arts has premiered a new National Theatre production of Romeo & Juliet, starring Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley. The production is available on-demand until 3rd May. Watch out for the Almeida Theatre’s superb production of Hymn, starring Adrian Lester and Danny Sapani, at 11pm on 22nd April. Also streaming are Billy Elliot, Phantom of the Opera (25th anniversary production), Martin Sherman’s Rose starring Maureen Lipman, The Wiz Live, The Sound Of Music Live, New Order: Live At Alexandra Palace, The Three Tenors: From Caracalla To The World and Muse: Drones World Tour

Ways to watch
Sky TV
NOW (£9.99 a month)

Curve Theatre

Curve Theatre has streamed a number of productions over the past year, including The Color Purple. Its streamed production of Sunset Boulevard – at Home returns once more this spring. Set over a turbulent New Year’s Eve in 1940s Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard is a compelling story of romance and obsession. Directed by Nikolai Foster, the production will see Ria Jones reprise her role as silent-screen goddess Norma Desmond, with Danny Mac returning as penniless screen writer Joe Gillis. Molly Lynch as Betty Schaefer, Adam Pearce as Max Von Mayerling, Dougie Carter as Artie Green and Carl Sanderson as Cecil B DeMille, alongside a 16-piece orchestra. Running from 10th to 15th May.

Cost
£20 (Household ticket)

Ways to watch
Curve Online

Soho Theatre

Soho Theatre On Demand has a range of plays available to stream, including the Boss of It All, “probably the best Danish office comedy in the world” based on Lars Von Trier’s cult film (filmed on Zoom in September 2020), and Typical, a specially filmed version of the Edinburgh and Soho hit starring Richard Blackwood.

Cost
Various

Ways to watch
Soho Theatre website

Barn Theatre

The Barn Theatre in Cirencester has stepped up to the digital plate this past year, with productions streaming including Elephant in the Garden. Currently playing is Private Peaceful, based on the novel by War Horse author Michael Morpurgo. It tells the story of Private Tommo Peaceful, who looks back on his Devon upbringing, his romance with childhood sweetheart, Molly and the terrible events that saw him taken from this idyllic setting and into the horrors of war. BoxLess Theatre’s two-hander staging stream from 19th April to 2nd May from the Barn Theatre.

Cost
£13.50

Ways to watch
Barn Theatre website

Touching the Void

Perched on an unstable snow-cliff and battered by freezing winds, Simon is desperate to rescue his injured climbing partner who hangs from a rope below him. Meanwhile, Joe teeters on the brink of death and despair in a crevasse from which he can’t possibly climb to safety. What happens when you look death squarely in the face and how do you find the strength to crawl back towards life? Following its sold-out world premiere in Bristol and critically acclaimed West End run, Touching the Void returns for one week only for a global broadcast, live from Bristol Old Vic – from 26th to 29th May. Directed by Tony Award-winning Tom Morris (War Horse) and adapted from Joe Simpson’s bestselling memoir turned BAFTA-winning film by David Greig. Virtual doors open at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8pm.

Cost
£15

Ways to watch
Bristol Old Vic website

Royal Court Theatre

In a damaged world, four characters search for the light. Angry, funny, defiant, kind and cruel, Crave is a deeply personal meditation on the meaning of love. Last year , the production of Sarah Kane’s seminal was live streamed from Chichester Festival Theatre for eight performances. Now, it’s available on-demand until 29th May. Click here for more information. The theatre has also reworked its Living Newspaper project into an online event, with weekly editions shared online in the form of a newspaper, with new filmed content released every weekday. Episode 5 runs from 12th to 15th April, Edition 6 from 19th April to 2nd May and Edition 7 from 26th April to 9th May.

Cost
£10-£20

Ways to watch
YouTube

The Mermaid’s Tongue

The line between plays and escape rooms has been brilliantly blurred by this fun puzzle from immersive storytellers, Swamp Motel. Your help is needed to track down an ancient lost artefact. Thrown into a murky underworld, you’ll have to hack into CCTV, outbid a high-end art dealer, and decipher messages from beyond the grave. Every click will immerse you deeper in the mystery. What is the Mermaid’s Tongue? And who are the dark forces who will stop at nothing to beat you to it? Running until 30th May 2021.

Cost
£55 (group ticket)

Ways to watch
The Mermaid’s Tongue website

BritBox

BritBox has bagged a collection of productions from the Royal Opera, RSC and Donmar Warehouse, with 25 Shakespeare plays, a host of ballet performances and operatic recordings. They’re joined by a bunch of notable Universal titles, including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats (1998), Jesus Christ Superstar (2012), Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (2000) and The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall. Performances of Billy Elliot (2014) and the 25th anniversary performance of Miss Saigon (2016).

Cost
£4.99 a month

Notable productions

King Lear, starring Antony Sher
Richard II, starring David Tennant
Macbeth, starring Christopher Eccleston.
Phylidda Lloyd’s all-female The Tempest, Henry IV and Julius Caesar with Harriet Walter
Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty (2017)
Puccini’s Madame Butterfly (2017)

Ways to watch
Britbox.co.uk

The Wind in the Willows

Join Ratty, Badger, Mole and the impulsive Toad as they embark on a series of riotous adventures spiralling from Toad’s insatiable need for speed. Featuring eye-popping design and exuberant choreography, this music adaptation is written by creator of Downton Abbey Julian Fellowes and Olivier-award winning composer and lyricist George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.
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Cost
£4.99

Ways to watch
The Wind in the Willows website

National Theatre at Home

The National Theatre has finished streaming its selection of NT Live productions for free on YouTube every Thursday. Now, it’s launched its own streaming platform, which includes a number of NT recordings – from Angels in America to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – available to rent from £5.99 each or stream as part of a £9.98 monthly subscription.

Cost
£9.98 a month

Ways to watch
Official website

Notable Productions
Coriolanus (Tom Hiddleston)
Othello (Adrian Lester)
Yerma (Billie Piper)

Stream.Theatre

Stream.Theatre has become a digital hub for a range of productions, including Cruise is the true story of what should have been Michael Spencer’s last night on Earth (available until 25th April), Rocky Road, live from Jermyn Street Theatre and starring Tyger Drew-Honey (30th April to 1st May) and Scaramouche Jones, starring Shane Ritchie (from 3rd to 16th May).

Cost
Various

Ways to watch
stream.theatre

Original Theatre

The Original Theatre Company has become a mainstay for digital theatre productions in the past year, with a range of interesting and often starry productions on its slate, includin The Haunting of Alice Bowles, adapted from the ghost story The Experiment by MR James and starring Tamzin Outhwaite, and a production of The Habit of Art, as well as Good Grief, starring Sian Clifford. Barnes’ People, a series of four theatrical monologues starring Jon Culshaw, Matthew Kelly, Jemma Redgrave and Adrian Scarborough is available until 31st July, along with A Splinter of Ice, a new play by Ben Brown starring Oliver Ford Davies, Stephen Boxer and Sara Crowe. Being Mr Wickham, starring Adrian Lukis, will stream live from the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds on 30th April and 1st May.

Notable productions
Barnes’ People

Cost
From £10

Ways to watch
OriginalTheatre.com

The Shows Must Go On!

The Shows Must Go On is the new official YouTube channel that is streaming musicals for free each week – although they have become a lot more intermittent in recent months. New productions are typically released on Fridays and then available for 48 hours. Read more here. The most recent title is Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, available from 16th April to 23rd April.

Cost
Free

Notable productions
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, starring Donny Osmond
Jesus Chris Superstar, starring Tim Minchin
Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds

Ways to watch
YouTube

Southwark Playhouse

The theatre is streaming a range of productions online throughout the spring, including The Fabulist Fox Sister, loosely inspired by the loosely true story of Kate Fox, Fiver: The Concert, nominated for the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off-West End Musical, and Stay Awake Jake, a one-act musical about one man’s journey across England’s deserted motorways. Tickets are £10 for 24 hours’ access. Book tickets here.

NINE EXPERIMENTS TO CHANGE THE WORLD 21st to 22nd April
MONEY 26th April to 15th May
TARANTULA 30th April to 1st May
THE FABULIST FOX SISTER until 16th May
FIVER: THE CONCERT until 16th May
STAY AWAKE, JAKEM until 16th May

Cost
£10

Ways to watch
Southwark Playhouse website

Royal Opera House: Live from Covent Garden

The Royal Opera House has been streaming special performances live from the Royal Opera House over the past year. The line-up has included Dance of the Blessed Spirits, performed by Vadim Muntagirov, Das Lied von der Erde, performed by the Royal Opera House Orchestra and J.S. Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, as well as Flight Pattern (2019), a poignant response to one of the biggest humanitarian crises facing current society, and Andrea Chénier, David McVicar’s production of Umberto Giordano’s opera set in late 18th-century Paris. Now playing is The Seven Deadly Sins / Mahagonny Songspiel, available until 9th May.

Cost
Various

Notable Productions
Gounod’s Faust
The Sleeping Beauty (Royal Ballet)

Ways to watch
Roh.org.uk

Beethoven’s Fidelo

Antonio Pappano introduces a new production of Beethoven’s only opera, a story of risk and triumph against a backdrop of revolution, starring Lise Davidsen and David Butt Philip. Broadcast on BBC Four, it’s available on BBC iPlayer until July 2021.

Cost
Free

Ways to watch
BBC iPlayer

London Symphony Orchestra

Live music has returned to LSO St Luke’s, even with the doors officially closed. These concerts are available on the LSO YouTube channel and on the streaming service Marquee TV – and, on Fridays, lunchtime recitals are streamed live on YouTube for free and available for a week after the broadcast. Visit the LSO site for more information.

Cost
Various

Notable productions
After Romanticism
Schumann Symphony No. 3

Ways to watch
YouTube / Marquee TV

Mozart’s Requiem

BBC Two broadcast Mozart’s Requiem from English National Opera. It is presented by Danielle De Niese. Performed and recorded specially for a lockdown television audience at the London Coliseum, Mark Wigglesworth makes a welcome return to the podium to conduct the award-winning ENO Chorus and Orchestra and a stellar line up of soloists: Elizabeth Llewellyn, Dame Sarah Connolly, Ed Lyon and Gerald Finley. It is available on BBC iPlayer until October 2021.

Cost
Free

Notable productions
Mozart’s Requiem

Ways to watch
BBC iPlayer

Royal Albert Home

The Royal Albert Hall streamed exclusive sets and performances from artists all summer – ranging from music to drawing – from either the empty Albert Hall, the individual artist’s home, or from the venue’s own archive of recordings throughout the lockdown. You can catch all of them on-demand still for free. Here’s the full line-up. Also streaming this month is a concert from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and their Music Director Designate Vasily Petrenko with Nicola Benedetti, performing music by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. Available from 15th to 29th April, tickets start from £10.

Cost
Free

Notable Productions
Kaiser Chiefs
KT Tunstall

Ways to watch
YouTube

DigitalTheatre

DigitalTheatre lives up to its name, leading the way with its impressive catalogue of sleekly recorded productions, which hail from theatres across the UK, including the Old Vic, the Young Vic, Manchester’s Palace Theatre and the RSC. There’s also some opera, dance and classical music on offer. If you’re an academic institution, you can also get free access to the whole lot, plus curriculum-linked resources including backstage insights, practitioner interviews and written analysis.

Cost
£7.99 rentals / £9.99 a month

Notable Productions
The Crucible with Richard Armitage (Old Vic)
Hamlet with Maxine Peake (Royal Exchange Theatre)
King Lear with Jonathan Pryce (Almeida Theatre)
Richard II with David Tennant (Barbican)
Into the Woods (Regent Park Open Air)
All My Sons with David Suchet (Apollo Theatre)

Ways to watch
TV, desktop, tablet and mobile through your web browser. Cast to your TV via Apple TV or Chromecast.

Marquee TV

Marquee TV is subscription platform that offers culture on-demand, serving up a collection of dance, opera, theatre, music and documentaries from around the world. Partners include the Globe Theatre, the RSC and the Royal Opera House. Stream everything from the Royal Opera House’s La Traviata, directed by Richard Eyre, to a decent collection of Shakespeare titles.

Cost
£8.99 a month (30-day free trial)

Notable productions
Phylidda Lloyd’s all-female The Tempest, Henry IV and Julius Caesar with Harriet Walter
David Tennant’s Richard II

Ways to watch
iOS, Android, Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV apps are all available

OperaVision

If you like opera, this is the place for you. Organised by Opera Europe, it’s an online hub for video streaming of opera productions, which essentially hosts YouTube recordings that are available for free – both live and for several weeks after on-demand. Expiry dates are clear and easy to spot.

Cost
Free

Notable productions
The Turn of the Screw (Britten)

Ways to watch
YouTube

Globe Player

The Globe Theatre on London’s Southbank has its own on-demand platform that contains recordings of its own productions, mostly centred on Shakespeare – including, most impressively, every foreign-language production from its 2012 Globe to Globe festival.

Cost
£3.99 to £11.99

Ways to watch
Globeplayer.tv

Met Opera On Demand

Moe than 700 full-length Met performances are brought together in this online streaming service, which is available worldwide. Titles are broken into chapters for handy viewing, especially for opera newbies.

Cost
$14.99 a month (7-day free trial)

Notable productions
Turandot (Puccini)
Manon (Massenet)

Ways to watch
Fire TV, iOS, Apple TV, Android, Roku

Medici.tv

A platform dedicated entirely to classical music, this is a wonderful collection of concerts and recitals, which lets you watch a decent number of them for free (anything labelled “Replay”). Subscriptions give you full access to the whole lot, with no ads and full HD.

Cost
£9.90 a month

Notable productions
Martha Argerich – Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3
Janine Jansen – Bernstein, Sibelius and Nielsen
Leif Ove Andsnes – Mozart and Strauss

BroadwayHD

This American streaming service is surprisingly available for UK theatre fans too and comprises a strong selection of recorded Broadway productions, ranging from recent revivals of Shakespeare to old musical favourites.

Cost
$10.79 a month (7-day free trial)

Notable productions
Noel Coward’s Present Laughter with Kevin Kline
Romeo & Juliet with Orlando Bloom
Phylidda Lloyd’s all-female The Tempest, Henry IV and Julius Caesar with Harriet Walter
Oklahoma! with Hugh Jackman
An American in Paris (2018)
Holiday Inn (2017)
Jerry Springer The Opera
RSC’s King Lear with Ian McKellen

Wigmore Hall

Wigmore Hall already has a collection of chamber music recordings from its Edwardian hall uploaded to its YouTube channel for on-demand streaming.

Cost
Free

Notable productions
Beethoven Festival Weekend

Ways to watch
YouTube

LIVR

A curio among the theatre streaming crowd, LIVR is a virtual reality platform that aims to put you on the front row of the theatre – and even lets you turn around to look at the rest of the audience mid-performance. Compatible with Google Cardboard, you can get a free headset sent to you in the post when you sign up, or choose a free credit instead to unlock a show for 30 days.

Cost
£5.99 a month (1-month free trial)

Notable productions
RUST

Ways to watch
iOS, Android, Samsung Gear VR, Oculus, PlayStation VR, HTC Vive

Netflix

Netflix’s planned filmed productions of Broadway’s The Prom and other shows may be on hiatus, but it’s already host to a number of other stage recordings, including Rodney King, Oh, Hello on Broadway, Springsteen on Broadway and a film adaptation of hard-hitting social drama American Son.

Cost
£8.99 a month (1-month free trial)

Radiohead

Radiohead is releasing a gig every week once again on YouTube – until they run out of concerts to dig up from their archive recordings.

Cost
Free

Notable Productions
Live at Summer Sonic
Live in Berlin
Live in Buenos Aires

Ways to watch
YouTube

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