Theatre

CONFESSIONS OF A THEATRE ADDICT Rosie Cunningham

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2015 production of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Polly Findlay, is part of the ‘Culture in Quarantine’ series. I must admit that I found the play hard to watch given the racial discrimination tension that currently fills all our newsprint. Makram J. Khoury’s portrayal of Shylock is as a harsh, cruel and uncompromising Jew. Shylock is a wronged father and despised outsider, and he wants his revenge. A play that is as powerful as ever.

Three Kings is a new play by Stephen Beresford written for and performed by Andrew Scott as a virtual theatre experience for The Old Vic’s ‘In Camera’ season. As I write this, however, on the eve of the first performance, disaster has struck, and Andrew Scott is in hospital (not with Covid) therefore the play has been delayed until he is recovered. Watch out for new dates and tickets.

A special mention to the magnificent Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre who thrive during adversity whether it be Covid or unseasonable weather. Performing Jesus Christ Superstar to a significantly reduced capacity, mandatory face coverings and temperature screening. Running until 27th September, tickets can be bought online at openairtheatre.com

The whole point about live arts, why millions of people spend billions of pounds on buying tickets for theatres, concert halls and festivals, is that they are live. They are thrilling and you see great performers in the flesh. Live will always be better than digital – which is processed and packaged for the screen. The ‘creative industries’ were a shining success story for the UK before the pandemic struck, contributing nearly £112 billion annually to the economy and employing 2.1 million people. So, getting the performing arts going again is vital for the economic good of the country. Digital streaming will be with us for the next year or so and, possibly forever, as organisers think more creatively about how to keep their venues open and functioning.

John Cleese has been performing to an empty Cadogan Hall or as he put it similar to ‘the AGM of Michael Palin’s fan club.’ Why there is no hope examines the dysfunctional world we live in. He comes up with some gems, many of which would be deemed inappropriate by a large percentage of the world population, but this is uncensored Cleese who will not be silenced. I quote, ‘Millennials have an attention span of seven seconds, goldfish have an attention span of nine seconds … and Trump is in between’ and, ‘We all speak a language called balto slovonic or BS for short.’ I admit that I found a lot to laugh at. Oh dear…

Finally, in other cultural news and now that art museums are open again, Tate Britain has extended their Aubrey Beardsley exhibition until 20th September and Tate Modern their Andy Warhol exhibition until 15th November. Tickets have to be booked in advance. Both are wonderful and worth a day trip up to London with the possibility of Titian at The National Gallery squeezed in too, on until 17th January 2021.