Like Water for Chocolate
Food and forbidden love are at the centre of Laura Esquivel’s magical realist novel but as choreographer Christopher Wheeldon explained last year, it has plenty more to offer. “There’s a ghost, a band of revolutionaries and, of course, the magic,” he said of his sumptuous ballet version for the Covent Garden stage, newly added to Royal Opera House Stream.
Heart
Jade Anouka’s show – “for all those who have ever felt ‘other’” – was staged as a work-in-progress at the Vault festival in 2019 and then its Kiln run in 2020 was scuppered by Covid. This summer, Anouka performs a brief run of the play in the Roundabout at Edinburgh fringe but you can hear it now as an Audible production directed by Ola Ince.
The Brutal Journey of the Heart
Another chance to catch one of Edinburgh’s hot shows before the summer. The international festival will be hosting Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar’s dance company L-E-V who perform this piece (part of their Love Cycle) on two nights. Until 22 July, Arte are streaming a 2022 staging of the same production, filmed at the Nuits de Fourvière festival.
Much Ado About Nothing
Simon Godwin, one of our very best Shakespearean directors, stages the romantic comedy with delightful performances by Katherine Parkinson and John Heffernan, plus sublime designs from Anna Fleischle (set) and Evie Gurney (costumes). Available from National Theatre at Home.
The Mystery of Charles Dickens
Newly added to BroadwayHD, this is a collaboration from 2000 between two of Dickens’ biographers: Peter Ackroyd and Simon Callow. Ackroyd’s script becomes a solo tour de force for Callow, playing the author and a whirl of his characters including Scrooge, Micawber and Pickwick.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
A fantastic opportunity to see one of the Almeida’s intimate Shakespeare stagings, shot with some unflinching closeups. Yaël Farber directs a pungent, richly musical version of the tragedy starring James McArdle and Saoirse Ronan in the lead roles. On BBC iPlayer.
Tales of Beatrix Potter
While away a summer holiday afternoon with little ones by joining Mr Jeremy Fisher, Jemima Puddle-Duck and friends in Frederick Ashton’s timeless dance production, filmed in 2007. A superb cast from the Royal Ballet give these woodland wonders plenty of spring in their step. On Marquee TV.
Bertie
London’s delightfully dinky Little Angel theatre has a strong record of introducing young audiences to important environmental issues. Bertie is the theatre’s seven-part series about a bottle who once held sparkling water but now languishes on the dump with dreams of being recycled into a kite.
Nostalgia: A Love Letter to NYC
One of a handful of new audio plays released by Audible, Hadestown actor Eva Noblezada’s solo show about the Big Apple is a blend of story and song. Recorded at its sold-out run at the Minetta Lane theatre off-Broadway earlier this year.
Margot
“She was as big a name as the prime minister of England,” says Lynn Seymour in this comprehensive 2005 documentary about Margot Fonteyn. “She was a household word. She represented ballet. She was ballerina.” Tony Palmer’s film on Marquee TV charts Fonteyn’s highs and lows, with insights from those who knew her and – of course – stunning stage footage.
