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Theatre, opera and musical streamings to watch this weekend
26 Jun 2020
There's an abundance of live theatre, opera and musical streamings that you can watch in the comfort of your home.
Live theatre
The Fugard at Home presents Athol Fugard’s The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek, starring Tshamano Sebe, Anna-Mart van der Merwe, Sne Dladla and Lihko Mango. Written and directed by Athol Fugard and co-directed by Paula Fourie, the play is inspired by the life of farmworker Nukain Mabuza, a self-taught artist living in segregated, pre-liberation South Africa. The Stone Garden of Nukain Mabuza is considered by experts in outsider art circles as one of only 44 global examples of environmentally-based outsider art. Watch here
The Road to Mecca
You can also watch Fugard’s The Road to Mecca, in honour of the iconic playwright’s 85th birthday. Inspired by Helen Martins, who lived in Nieu-Bethesda and created the now-famous Owl House – which is designated a provincial heritage site – The Road to Mecca is the story of a woman’s desire for personal and artistic freedom within the narrow confines of a conservative and highly religious community in the Karoo in early ‘70s Apartheid South Africa. Directed by Greg Karvellas (The Fugard’s Shakespeare in Love, Clybourne Park, The Father, Bad Jews), the production stars Sandra Prinsloo, Marius Weyers and Emily Child.Watch here
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, from Bridge Theatre, is streaming from until 1 July. A feuding fairy King and Queen of the forest cross paths with four runaway lovers and a troupe of actors trying to rehearse a play. As their dispute grows, the magical royal couple meddles with mortal lives leading to love triangles, mistaken identities and transformations, with hilarious, but dark consequences. Shakespeare’s most famous romantic comedy was filmed live from the Bridge Theatre in London, offering magical and immersive viewing.
Opera
The Metropolitan Opera in New York’s online streamings continue with Massenet’s Manon (26 June), featuring one of the all-time most challenging, and most beguiling, roles for soprano, as well as the composer’s trademark combination of sophistication and sensuality; John Copley’s colourful production of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (27 June) was created around the beloved superstar Luciano Pavarotti; the enchanting Cendrillon (28 June) is Massenet’s glittering operatic adaptation of the Cinderella story; and Tony award-winner Julie Taymor matches the magic and mystery of Mozart’s timeless fable Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) (28 June) with a staging that bursts to life with vivid colours, intricate costumes, and inventive puppetry, a whimsical fairy tale with themes deeply rooted in the Enlightenment and principles of FreeMasonry that appeals to audiences of all ages, South African soprano Pretty Yende in Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment (30 June), Wagner’s rousing Die Walküre (1 July), Shostakovich’s The Nose (2 July) and Bizet’s ever-popular Carmen (3 July). Watch here.
Musicals
The sublime streaming concert Take Me to the World, featuring a gallery of musical stars, honours the probing ambivalence of a master songwriter Stephen Sondheim, celebrating his 93rd birthday. Hosted by the actor Raúl Esparza, this compilation of songs and reminiscences — and a fund-raiser for the youth arts-oriented organisation Artists Striving to End Poverty. With countless hit musicals such as Follies, A Little Night Music, Company, Sweeney Todd and Into The Woods it’s an impossible task to choose an absolute favourite.
The online concert, Kings Of Broadway, celebrates the music of the legendary Broadway composers Jule Styne, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim. The concert features a cross-section of music penned by these three Broadway legends and is performed by a starry lineup of artists.
The Broadway musical Bombshell in Concert livestream, produced by Neil Meron and Bob Greenblatt, continues the musical's association with The Actors Fund, which provides a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals. NBC’s Smash stars reunite plus a never-seen live performance, a fictional, the story of the life of Marilyn Monroe.
Read more about ballet, opera and musical streamings.
About Daniel Dercksen
Daniel Dercksen has been a contributor for Lifestyle since 2012. As the driving force behind the successful independent training initiative The Writing Studio and a published film and theatre journalist of 40 years, teaching workshops in creative writing, playwriting and screenwriting throughout South Africa and internationally the past 22 years. Visit www.writingstudio.co.za
