Brooklyn’s Irondale Theater Ensemble, self described as “the intersection of art, education, community engagement and social justice” will stream a seven hour (456 minute) long Shakespeare Sonnet marathon to celebrate Shakespeare’s 456th birthday. Just think, no queuing, no uncomfortable seats! Dip in and out if you like. One hundred participants will read or sing a sonnet of their choice, choosing from 154 of Shakespeare’s 14-line lyric poems written in the signature iambic pentameter—lines ten syllables long, with accents falling on every second syllable.
As of April 20, the roster of guest artists include Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter, Schindler’s List), Grammy nominee Rufus Wainwright, Lea DeLaria (Orange is the New Black), Joe Ventimiglia (Blue Bloods, The Sopranos), Cady Huffman (The Producers) Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent), performance artist Kenyon Phillips, American Ballet Theatre Principal dancer James Whiteside and more to come.
The celebratory event will be streamed LIVE on Thursday, April 23, from 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., EST over the Zoom platform. Spectators for the celebration can tune in to the live stream on the company’s YouTube page or on their Facebook page.
For those suffering serious cold turkey, BroadwayHD, the online subscription service offering access to full length Broadway productions, is offering one week’s free trial.
Marquee TV is offering a month’s free trial including Simon Russell Beale as Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The site offers contemporary dance, ballet, opera,and documentaries as well as theater – or theatre, from Britain.
Having regretfully cancelled its summer season, The Public Theater is offering a full video of last year’s Much Ado About Nothing , a venerable comedy of presumption, miscommunication, and vengeance. Kenny Leon’s production takes place in a suburb of Atlanta and includes Stacey Abrams for President 2020 banners flying from the protagonist’s home. You can read my review here.
PBS Passport is available to anyone who donates a mere $5.00 a month to a local PBS station. It’s Great Performances series includes Broadway productions like Kinky Boots, Red, The King and I and 42nd Street as well as series, documentaries and American Masters.
England’s National Theatre can now be streamed without waiting three hours at an airport in your stocking feet. Thirty, 30! world class productions including, in part, London Assurance, Yerma, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Jane Eyre, and Medea are online free!
Shakespeare’s Globe is releasing 40 archived productions online, at the moment featuring Dominic Dromgoole’s production of Romeo and Juliet. Next Two Noble Kinsmen, then Winters Tale, The Merry Wives of Windsor…and on.
Top photo: Bigstock
