Shakespeare on Zoom
Autumn 2020
Digital Theatre | Live online
The Merry Wives of Whatsapp
4 – 6 September & 3 – 4 October 2020
Written and conceived by Olivia Mace (the mastermind behind Bleak House) and Lizzie Hopley (returning to us after 9 years following stints as a Roaring Girl with the RSC and writer of Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio plays), these two Zoom novices had us in stitches as they sought revenge on greasy knight John Falstaff.
A modern re-imagining of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor directed by Natasha Rickman (The Time Machine 2020), The Merry Wives of WhatsApp was a play of women, wine and wheelie bins. And WhatsApp, of course.
“The jokes come so thick and fast that really this play needs to be seen twice to catch them all. It’s a LOL comedy that is authentic and true to the spirit of the Shakespeare, but also bitingly relevant to this year’s lockdown experiences.” Jon Lewis, Newbury Today
Horatio! & Hamlet
17 – 19 September & 6 – 7 November 2020
Adapted and performed by Nicholas Osmond (A Christmas Carol 2017, Alice 2017) alongside Ryan Duncan (The Tempest 2019 & 2020), this genius Zoom production saw these two friends talk about death, friendship and how we’re coping with the “New Normal”… in Hamlet’s case, very badly!
“Osmond regularly pushed Hamlet into the background to offer a postmodern critique of a character who seems to have fallen out of favour with audiences and scholars alike in recent years. However, whilst he offered a timely snapshot of how Hamlet is apparently often viewed in 2020, Osmond did so in a lighthearted fashion rather than engaging in an in-depth critique. As with other lockdown Shakespeare productions, the emphasis was squarely on humour rather than unpicking the text’s potentially more contentious elements.” Ben Broadribb, Medium.com
