Frankenstein – National Theatre at Home Jonny Lee Miller as the creature Click here for tickets Benedict Cumberbatch as the creature Click here for tickets Only the National Theatre has the scope and resources to produce theatre on the scale of their 2011 production of Frankenstein adapted by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Mary Shelley, and directed by Danny Boyle. Two major actors – Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller – alternated the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature he created. For regular theatregoers it was a struggle to decide which of the two versions of the play to attend. Those who could afford it bought tickets and went to both, but most of us had to make a choice. Now the National Theatre has made both available on their National Theatre at Home platform, allowing audiences to see and compare the contrasting performances of these two highly accomplished actors. Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the increasingly desperate and vengeful Creature determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal. An epic production acted out on the enormous Olivier stage, this Frankenstein in both versions is a good argument for the existence of the National Theatre. Look to the Rainbow – Finian’s Rainbow Click here to watch Here’s a clip from the 1968 movie version of E.W. (Yip) Harburg’s much better 1947 stage musical. It’s worth another look because it was Fred Astaire’s last movie musical and we get to hear him sing and see him dance with Petula Clark. He was 69 when Finian’s Rainbow was filmed and this was the last time he danced and sang on camera. Elsewhere in the movie was Tommy Steele as a very unlikely leprechaun. My flimsy excuse for choosing to showcase this otherwise dreadful Hollywood version of rural Ireland is that Look to the Rainbow is the title of one of the shows in this year’s Cabaret Convention which starts at Lincoln Center in New York this week. A plethora of wonderful cabaret singers will be performing this and other songs from the catalogue of Yip Harburg under that collective title. I’m on my way to New York to enjoy all three nights of the Cabaret Convention, staged by the Mabel Mercer Foundation and I can’t wait. Lucian Freud – National Gallery Click here to watch The first major exhibition of Lucian Freud’s work in 10 years, bringing together paintings from more than seven decades, has just opened at London’s National Gallery. The exhibition presents the paintings of one of Britain's most notorious figurative painters, Lucian Freud (1922–2011). To accompany it, the Gallery has released this fascinating short film about three of the paintings in the exhibition with insights from Curator Paloma Alarcó. What I love about these short explanatory videos is the exposure by the experts of the small details that a casual viewer might never notice from paint-splattered floorboards to an interest in zoology. Collectively, they provide a much richer and more valuable experience and background for us to look at the works. Lucien Freud was born in Berlin in 1922, the son of architect Ernst L. Freud and the grandson of Sigmund Freud. Primarily a figurative painter, he is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. These portraits are mostly of friends and family, often set in unsettling interiors and urban landscapes. The works are noted for their psychological penetration and often discomforting examination of the relationship between artist and model. Scene Unseen Click here for tickets Scene Unseen is a cutting-edge new online musical about identity, sexuality, and what makes us who we are. An hour-long song-cycle weaves a path from cabaret artist Jessica Walker’s emotionally complex childhood right up to her very particular wedding day, with songs about early gender confusion, sexual assault, first love and betrayal, and family secrets. It is a powerful, personal story with universal themes, expressed through Atkins and Walker’s uncategorisable musical mix of humour, classicism, torch, and a touch of Eighties synth. This is the world premiere of an intimate cabaret by Jessica Walker and Joseph Atkins, directed for film by James Dacre with illustrations by award-winning illustrator Thomas Hicks and cinematography by David Lefeber. A co-production with English Touring Opera (Jess’ background is as an opera singer), Scene Unseen is available to watch online on English Touring Opera’s video platform, ETO at Home until December for £5. Swan Lake - English National Ballet Click here for tickets For those readers worldwide who are unable to get to the London Coliseum to see the English National Ballet’s captivating version of the world’s most popular ballet, truly worthy of the overused expression ‘iconic’, here it is On Demand, along with a number of other full-length productions from the ENB. Beloved for its superb dancing, beautiful sets and Tchaikovsky’s glorious music, played live by English National Ballet Philharmonic, Derek Deane’s Swan Lake is a thrill for dedicated fans or first-time ballet-goers alike. Ballet lovers are never bored by the romance of Prince Siegfried’s love for the Swan Queen Odette and the drama of their battle against the evil sorcerer Rothbart. For those who can’t resist the magnificent sight of dozens of ballerinas in white tutus moving in unison, this timeless classic is your treat.
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AuthorRuth Leon is a writer and critic specialising in music and theatre. Archives
April 2024
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