One of the few good things to come out of the coronavirus lockdown is a plethora of high-quality theatre, musicals and opera productions that are streamed for free by some of the most reputable arts venues in the world.

One such initiative came from the National Theatre, which has used its Youtube channel to stream some of the most memorable past theatre productions in the NT Live portfolio. Streaming a new play every Thursday at 7.00pm GMT, the productions are then available to watch on demand for seven days.

After kicking off their streaming programme on 2 April with Richard Bean’s ‘One Man Two Guvnors’, on 30 April came the turn of Danny Boyle’s critically acclaimed 2011 production of Mary Shelley’s iconic Gothic tale, Frankenstein. The play was streamed on two consecutive nights, highlighting stellar performances by Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller who exchanged the roles of the Creature and Victor Frankenstein on each successive evening.

The writer, Nick Dear, and the director, Danny Boyle, moulded the play around the Creature’s point of view, stripping away the various thematic structures present in the book. They preserved a more linear form, choosing to focus on philosophical themes of existentialism, human tendencies and limitations. Perhaps a reflection of the Creature himself, whose sole desire in life is to be a good man and to have a mate to share his earthly existence with.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AS THE CREATURE. © CATHERINE ASHMORE

Notwithstanding the reduced size of the story, it is still quite difficult to fathom how such darkness managed to come out of the mind of an eighteen-year-old young woman, at a time when science was just beginning to make significant strides and when unspoken of gruesome experimentations would take place behind closed doors.

However, galvanism was indeed a popular topic at the time and it must have been difficult to ignore the increasing popularity of mortsafes, which were invented to prevent body snatchers from desecrating graves in exchanges for a few quid from anatomists who would always be looking for fresh cadavers for their scientific observations and experiments.

The play opens with the Creature coming out of a metaphorical womb made out of skin in Frankenstein’s quarters, under Bruno Poet’s a thousand suspended bulbs. As he stumbles and struggles to stand up and keep his balance, he is carefully discovering his physical capabilities. His moves and trajectories seem to have been accurately directed.

SET LIGHTING BY BRUNO POET. © BRUNO POET

The contrast in Cumberbatch’s and Miller’s interpretations of the Creature is swiftly becoming apparent. While Cumberbatch’s Creature makes us root for him as he is rediscovering the world with the innocence of a child, Miller’s rebirth is raw and animalistic, almost having us expect evil doings on his part.

We see the Creature enthuse as he observes the sun, the grass, the birds around him with great curiosity. Nothing seems to await him on his journey but pure discovery and wonder.

The industrial theme of the times is introduced onto the stage by means of a steampunk train full of workers, a décor detail masterfully put together by the production’s set designer, Mark Tildesley.

Doomed to be abhorred by everyone who would set eyes on him, the Creature is quickly introduced to the harsh reality of human cruelness, as he is abused mentally and physically at every step.

He does, however, experience kindness for a brief period of time, as he comes across blind old De Lacey in his path, whose condition doesn’t discriminate against the Creature’s rough appearance. Wonderfully and warmly portrayed by Karl Johnson, the old man welcomes the Creature into his home and over the course of a year educates him on all things philosophy, history and the four seasons.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AS THE CREATURE. © CATHERINE ASHMORE

One key moment in the play is when De Lacey teaches the Creature about the original sin. He says, ‘There are two schools of thought: one says that we’re all made imperfect and require the assistance of a higher authority, a deity to overcome the sin of being born. The other school of thought, to which I subscribe, insists that when we leave the womb we are pure. That a babe in arms is untainted by sin, that evil is the product of social forces and that God has nothing to do with how a man turns out; be it good or be it bad.’

In other words, if the Creature is a monster, it is only because he is met with cruelty and discrimination again and again till his patience runs out and he is forced to exercise vengeance. A monster on the outside, society shapes him into a monster on the inside.

This second school of thought is perhaps a clever mechanism to raise a mirror to our own society and show how each of our actions can prompt even greater reactions, should we be careless.

The play is not all gloomy though. Between the Creature’s sarcastic remarks, Frankenstein’s cluelessness vis-à-vis mundane matters and De Lacey’s witty remarks, the creators have managed to sprinkle this dark tale with unexpected humorous bits.

The main protagonists’ clever role-switching further accentuates the question that nearly every reader of Mary Shelley’s book has asked themselves over the past two centuries: ‘Who is the man and who is the monster?’ Perhaps their distinct interpretations of the Creature reflect the two contrasting schools of thought: one is born pure and the other a sinner. Miller’s Creature seems to subscribe to the latter, while Cumberbatch’s to the former.

Upon meeting the old man’s family, he is once again abused, which prompts him to burn down their house and kill everyone, including his benefactor. The Creature flees to find Frankenstein, having found clues as to his whereabouts in the diary he stole when he fled the scientist’s home.

JONNY LEE MILLER AND BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH. © CATHERINE ASHMORE

As he locates the Frankenstein family, the Creature’s twisted logic dictates that he murders William, Victor’s younger brother, in order to lure his mad maker to him. His plan works like a charm.

As Victor finds him, the Creature asks Frankenstein to build a mate for him, with the promise that once he does, the couple will leave Europe and no one will hear from them again.

Frankenstein obliges and travels to Scotland, leaving behind his patient betrothed Elizabeth (a most gentle Naomie Harris) and his father (a stern yet warm George Harris).

As Victor manages to construct a new creature, female in form this time, his firstborn is promptly besmitten with her and begs Frankenstein to bring her fully to life, explaining that he already loves her.

Another key moment is Victor’s reaction upon hearing the Creature’s detailed account of the physical symptoms of love. Both Frankenstein, and the audience, realise that the scientist himself is incapable of love, having spent his entire life obsessing over his work. He remarks that love is ‘anarchic, volatile, vertiginous, mad. Above all it is uncontrollable!’, perhaps also drawing a parallel between love and the Creature himself.

NAOMIE HARRIS AND JONNY LEE MILLER. © CATHERINE ASHMORE

As the Creature starts to realize that he’s been tricked, Victor hacks the girl’s body, ensuring she would never see the light of day.

Mad with anger, the Creature flees the small hut, only to return a while later on Victor’s wedding day. Managing to avoid a paranoid Frankenstein, who had been expecting his vengeful reappearance ever since, he sneaks into the couple’s bedroom where he meets Elizabeth. She is only the second person to show him understanding and kindness. However, the Creature is only interested in revenge at this point and pays Frankenstein back with the same coin by abusing and murdering his new wife.

Victor Frankenstein leaves his home once more in pursuit of the Creature, following him across continents. When he finally catches up with his creation in the Arctic Circle, they realize they are bound to one another and disappear together into the icy darkness.

National Theatre’s weekly streams are free to watch. However, if you can, please consider supporting the theatre through the coronavirus crisis by donating at nationaltheatre.org.uk or text NTATHOME 10 to 70085 to give £10.

One of Samuel Beckett’s best works, Endgame is a delicious dark comedy about four people trapped in their own personal hells, waiting for the world to end.

Richard Jones’s revival features an ever brilliant Alan Cummings, coupled with and equally matched by Daniel Radcliffe’s surprising talent for physical comedy.

Endgame opens with Clov (Radcliffe) staggering in and out of the kitchen door into the empty sitting room, carrying around a stepladder and telescope which he needs to see out of the high windows.

Samuel Beckett’s stage directions are famously prescriptive, particularly in Endgame, a fact which can be observed promptly during the opening of the play. Clov’s precise pacing seems as if guided by an invisible breadcrumb trail, with calculated movements and gestures, way before he even gets to speak.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE AND ALAN CUMMINGS © MANUEL HARLAN, OLD VIC

Hamm (Alan Cummings) is Clov’s blind and bitter master, confined to his armchair by his physical disabilities and contemplating the state of the world. His only weapons are the acidic remarks he tirelessly throws Clov’s way. Hovering above his humble servant like a toxic cloud, the maliciously witty Hamm rejoices in seeing Clov be consumed by his own inner turmoil, squashing every little bit of hope he has left inside. Neither of the two have any ounce of empathy for one another, and yet they can’t seem to escape their co-dependency.

Hamm’s old parents, Nagg and Nell, are living in dustbins, discarded like rubbish. They are thrown a hard biscuit from time to time at Hamm’s discretion. Karl Johnson and Jane Harrocks portray the couple superbly, mirroring their inner nobility and dignity despite the tragic circumstance.

Consumed little by little by their doomed fates, the four characters are all trapped in their own ‘private’ boxes: a cold and empty sitting room, a ‘ten feet by ten feet by ten feet’ kitchen, and two council wheelie bins.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE AS CLOV © MANUEL HARLAN, OLD VIC

The ever faithful yet openly resentful Clov is the only character who still has a bit of fight in him and refuses to become complacent in this seamlessly hopeless and absurd end-of-the-world scenario.

In Beckett’s characteristic manner, the play unfolds in precise detail, painting an austere tableau of angst, hopelessness, and finality, only to be stripped away of all the unnecessary details towards the end, revealing the story’s despairing denouement. Moaning and declaiming, old man Hamm slowly heads towards delivering his final soliloquy.

Samuel Beckett’s Swiss watch instructional precision doesn’t leave room for the actors to feed off the audience’s feedback. In fact, Beckett, a master of strategically placed silent moments, incorporated three major pauses in the play, allowing for reflection and contemplation. And so, what begins as a rather comic absurdity, ends in the audience contemplating the bigger picture in life, through Clov’s acceptance of his long decided destiny.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE AND ALAN CUMMINGS IN ROUGH FOR THEATRE II.© MANUEL HARLAN, OLD VIC

Curiously, Endgame was presented in a double bill with yet another work by Samuel Beckett, the rarely seen short play Rough for Theatre II. Although the latter softened the impact and gravity of Endgame, it was nonetheless an amusing affair about two apparent bureaucrats from the afterlife who are evaluating the life of a silent third character (Jackson Milner) as he considers to jump out of a window.

As strange as the choice may seem, one can’t ignore the strong connection between the two plays, as they both portray the degrading lives of a few human beings who were failed by society.

KARL JOHNSON AS NAGG AND JANE HARROCKS AS NEIL © MANUEL HARLAN, OLD VIC

Although penned in c.1957 and c.1960 respectively, both Rough for Theatre II and Endgame are nothing short of contemporary and urgent. Current matters of depression, loneliness, lack of compassion, and environmental disasters are skillfully represented in these fatidic plays, brought to life in a new light by Richard Jones.

Even designer Stewart Laing’s choice to use wheelie bins for Hamm’s old parents represents a poignant metaphor for the way contemporary society treats its elderly.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE AS CLOV © MANUEL HARLAN, OLD VIC

A noteworthy observation is Daniel Radcliffe’s laudable stagecraft. He has obviously worked hard to perfect his skills over the years and it shows, as Endgame is arguably his best stage performance yet. His versatility in switching between a rigid official to an anxious disabled servant is commendable. Not to mention the physical capabilities required by the play. Taking on challenging plays such as Beckett’s has been a surefire way to distance himself from the Harry Potter wizarding shenanigans that he is so strongly associated with.

Whether physical comedy is his newfound genre that he is most comfortable with or he has found the perfect formula to his stage performances, we thoroughly enjoyed Daniel in both plays and are looking forward to seeing more of him on stage in the coming future.

Anton Chekhov is one of the most English among Russian playwrights. If you doubt it, Conor McPherson‘s adaptation of ‘Uncle Vanya’ directed by Ian Rickson is at your service at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

The play was published in Moscow in 1898, but the situation in which all its characters find themselves, their complicated interpersonal relationships, misunderstandings, and unrequited loves look modern and familiar. The bridge between Moscow of 120 years ago and nowadays London gets even shorter thanks to modern language and humour. I have never heard the Russian audience laugh as much during Chekhov’s classic as the English public did during the new West End production. Both Richard Armitage and Tobi Jones showed a surprising talent for comedy.

©HAROLD PINTER THEATRE

Designer Rae Smith created costumes that look out of time and transport us from Chekhov’s Russia to the modern English countryside. Some female characters wear trousers, and you will not see corsets or puffs and frills on the stage. The whole action takes place in the same dining room. Despite the disorder and degrade, it still looks very cosy.

The only piece of furniture that changes its role is a table. At the opening, it is a dining table around which the lives of the characters change in a dramatic way, while they are simply having tea. And at the end of the story it turns into a desk as if to symbolise the end of something extraordinary and chaotic, and the beginning of ordinary life with its rhythmic regularity, order, and stability.

Three big names make the cast list shine like the Milky Way: Toby Jones as uncle Vanya, Richard Armitage as Dr Astrov, and Ciaran Hinds as their antagonist Professor Serebryakov. Their names need no introduction.

©HAROLD PINTER THEATRE

Aimee Lou Wood‘s (Sex Education) acting as Sonya is sincere and touching, but it is also an evident case of miscasting, because you can’t believe her character is a country girl with low self-esteem and not blessed with physical beauty.

Rosalind Eleazar, who plays Sonya’s stepmother, Yelena, unfortunately didn’t manage to use her potential to portray a bohemian femme fatale who made every breathing being fall in love with her. Her love story with Dr Astrov does not look believable, and there is more artistic chemistry between Richard Armitage and Toby Jones.

©HAROLD PINTER THEATRE

‘Uncle Vanya’ will be on at The Harold Pinter Theatre, London, until 2 May.

Flying to Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles to watch a British musical? When it is ‘The Last Ship’ by Sting, it is absolutely worth the trip. It is a celebration of outstanding music and meaningful text that is Sting’s signature. And moreover, the multiple Grammy Award winner and songwriter performs in it. In person.

If you had a chance to see the first version of the show in Chicago or New York in 2014 based on the book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey, this is an opportunity to enjoy a new adaptation by Lorne Campbell.

The story is based on Sting’s childhood memories of his first years in Wallsend, North England, spent in proximity to a shipyard. The main character, Gideon Fletcher (played by Oliver Savile) left his native city looking for a better life. When he returns 17 years later, there are more than one surprises waiting for him. One of them is the closure of the shipyard in the 1980s that leaves the whole local community unemployed and deeply hurt.

©MATTHEW MURPHY

The idea of the musical came to Sting after a long period of the writer’s block. As he openly shared at his Ted talk in 2014, the inspiration came back as soon as he decided to ‘sidestep his own ego and stopped telling his own story to tell someone else’s story. Someone perhaps without a voice’.

The socially meaningful theme is interwoven with the private lives of the characters: love and betrayal, fear and hope, generational differences – all found their place in the story and made it private and easy to relate to. The original score (Tony Awards, 2015) also includes Sting’s evergreens from previous albums: ‘Island of Souls’ and ‘All This Time’ (The Soul Cages, 1991), ‘When We Dance’ (Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984 – 1994), and ‘Ghost Story’ (Brand New Day,1999).

©CYLLA VON TIEDEMANN

The musical engaged magnificent voices: the main female character, Gideon Fletcher’s childhood sweetheart, Meg Dawson is played by Frances McNamee, whose passionate and jazzy performance is as strong as the character herself. The artistic ensemble is also enriched by Jackie Morrison, (Peggy White, Sting’s character’s wife on the stage) and Oliver Savile who could be seen in numerous musicals in the UK, including CATS, Mamma Mia!, and Les Miserables.

One of the peculiarities of the production is the decision to use Geordie, the dialect spoken in the North–East of England, and the organisers of the show kindly included its glossary in the programme (the programmes are totally free in the LA theatres, wey aye, man!*)

©CYLLA VON TIEDEMANN

In 2018 ‘The Last Ship’ was shown in Newcastle Upon Tyne and Salfrod, and it is a true shame it didn’t make it to London. Hopefully, not yet. You can catch this absolute must see in the USA. Check the tour dates and venues on Sting’s official website.

*generic proclamation of positivity or agreement