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      U.K. Theatergoers Cover Up Again, After Months Without Masks

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      Since England’s theaters reopened without restrictions in July, one thing has been as notable as the action onstage: the lack of masks in the audience.Unlike in Broadway theaters, patrons here have not been required to wear face coverings, and many attendees have chosen to ignore preshow announcements encouraging them to mask up.Several visiting theater critics have been left aghast. Laura Collins-Hughes, writing in The New York Times in September, said that at “nearly every production I saw, there were loads — sometimes a majority — of barefaced people in the crowd, which felt reckless and delusional.”Peter Marks, writing in The Washington Post in November, called London’s theaters “consistently shocking these days.” That had nothing to do with the action onstage, he added; it was entirely down to the absence of masks.Now, that image may be about to change. On Saturday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made masks mandatory in stores and on public transportation in England, responding to the newly discovered Omicron variant of the coronavirus.He did not make them mandatory in theaters, but several venues have now done so voluntarily. On Monday, the Royal Shakespeare Company said face coverings would be required at its theaters in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, unless an attendee is under age 12 or has a medical exemption.“We want to do all we can to ensure that we do not have to cancel performances and disappoint our audiences,” the company’s executive director, Catherine Mallyon, said in a news release.Other theaters quickly followed. On Monday, Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer and theater impresario, quietly strengthened rules for the six theaters he owns in the West End. His company website was updated to say, “All audience members must wear a face covering throughout their visit, except when eating and drinking, or if they are medically exempt.” Previously, those theaters requested masks, but did not require them.On Tuesday, the National Theater, the Royal Opera House, the English National Opera and the Old Vic also said they would make masks mandatory.The rules might only last a few weeks. The National Theater’s website says the measure will be in place until Dec. 19, “when the next government review of Covid measures is due.”So far, there appears to be little resistance to the changes. Kate Evans, a spokeswoman for the Royal Shakespeare Company, said 45 people had asked for refunds or to exchange their tickets for vouchers to see a future show since the mandate was announced, out of 6,000 who had booked to see its current show, “The Magician’s Elephant.”“The majority of feedback we’ve received around the decision has been very positive,” she said. More

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      Theater to Stream: ‘Wicked in Concert,’ Christopher Lloyd as Lear

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      An all-star lineup sings Stephen Schwartz’s indelible score, and Doc from “Back to the Future” is intriguing casting for a Berkshires production.Was there a “Hunger Games”-style backstage contest for who got to sing “Popular” and “Defying Gravity”?That was my first question when I saw the lineup for the PBS special “Wicked in Concert,” hosted by the original stars Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, on Aug. 29. My personal pick for the first song is Alex Newell, who turns up alongside Mario Cantone, Gavin Creel, Ariana DeBose, Cynthia Erivo, Jennifer Nettles, Amber Riley, Ali Stroker and more. This tribute to Stephen Schwartz’s songs should keep fans happy until the show returns to Broadway (Sept. 14) and hits the big screen (eventually, one day, possibly-maybe, who knows).Quick: What performance so stunned Sheryl Lee Ralph that she described her reaction like so? “You ever see the cartoons where the lion roars, and the people are pinned to the wall? It was like that.” The answer — Jennifer Holliday’s in “Dreamgirls” — can also be found at PBS, where “Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age” is now streaming. The documentary covers musicals from 1959 to the early ’80s and includes interviews with Carol Burnett, Liza Minnelli and Dick Van Dyke. pbs.org.Lloyd as LearAdmit it: You are curious to know whether Christopher Lloyd, still best known for his comedic roles in “Taxi” and the “Back to the Future” trilogy, could pull off “King Lear.” Maybe not curious enough to travel all the way to Lenox, Mass., where the actor recently took on the daunting title role outdoors, but streaming the show from home is an easier way to find out what went down in the Berkshires. Nicole Ricciardi’s production for Shakespeare & Company earned wildly divergent reviews, which is often a sign that at least something is going on. Through Aug. 28; theatermania.stream.If you are really feeling adventurous, head to the Hollywood Fringe, which takes a “free-for-all approach,” unfettered by that tyrannical institution known as a “curative body.” Will it be exciting, terrifying, or both? Just select “streaming” as a filter, take a deep breath and dive in. Through Aug. 29; hollywoodfringe.org.‘George M. Cohan Tonight!’The title character of this biographical show is not a household name, unless the house hosts a coven of musical-theater experts. Yet if you have ever been on Times Square, chances are good you have at least glimpsed a representation of Cohan: It’s his statue next to the TKTS booth. Cohan was such an influential songwriter, director and producer in the Broadway of the early 20th century that he has earned two biopics, “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “George M!” — portrayed by James Cagney in 1942 and Joel Grey in 1970, respectively, which is a quite a range of actors — and this bio-show, which premiered at Irish Repertory Theater in 2006. The company is now bringing back an abridged digital version of Chip Deffaa’s musical, starring Jon Peterson. Through Aug. 29; irishrep.org.‘Bagdad Cafe’The indefatigable British director Emma Rice is a master at translating films to the stage — which is a lot harder than you might think. Only a few of those productions have crossed the Atlantic, most notably the lovely “Brief Encounter,” which made it to Broadway in 2010. Now comes her adaptation of “Bagdad Cafe,” Percy and Eleonore Adlon’s 1987 art-house staple, in which two women form a bond in a Mojave roadside joint. It was an unlikely project (a West German production set in America and starring the great CCH Pounder long before she found television fame), boosted by an unlikely hit song, “Calling You.” The show is in person at the Old Vic and streaming for a limited time as part of the company’s famed In Camera series. Aug. 25-28; oldvictheatre.com.‘The Blackest Battle’Emmanuel Kyei-Baffour, left, and Gary Perkins in “The Blackest Battle.”Theater AllianceIn this new hip-hop musical by Psalmayene 24 and nick tha 1da, Bliss (Gary Perkins) and Dream (Imani Branch) fall in love in a dystopian America. Unfortunately, they belong to enemy factions that engage in fiery rap battles, which goes to show that futuristic America is just like Shakespearean Verona of “Romeo and Juliet.” Raymond O. Caldwell’s production is presented by Theater Alliance, in Washington, D.C. Through Aug. 29; theateralliance.com.‘Ni Mi Madre’The intimate Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, in New York City, has decided to expand it footprint by making the shows in its new season available in person and online. First out of the gate is this solo, written and performed by Arturo Luís Soria (who was in the Broadway cast of “The Inheritance”). The story, inspired by Soria’s own mother, looks at the relationship between a parent and her queer son. Through Sept. 19; rattlestick.org.Two Leading Men Open UpBack in 1996, Adam Pascal brought some rock hunkiness to musical theater when he played a guitar-strumming bohemian who made shapeless sweaters look sexy in “Rent.” Pascal went on to build a solid career through shows as diverse as “Aida” and “Something Rotten!” Now he looks back in wonder in his concert “Adam Pascal … So Far.” Through Aug. 24; stellartickets.com.Another Broadway star exploring solo waters is Norbert Leo Butz, who a few months ago found himself in Vancouver, shooting the science-fiction series “Debris.” (He plays a C.I.A. operative, and if you think that’s a stretch for this amiable star, check out his expert turn as a loser marina owner in “Bloodline.”) The gig left Butz time to work out new arrangements for some of his favorite pop tunes, which he’s now performing in his acoustic concert “Torch Songs for a Pandemic” at Feinstein’s/54 Below. Happily, one of the performances is livestreaming. Aug. 21; 54below.com.‘Lava’The British press showered Ronke Adekoluejo with praise for her performance in Benedict Lombe’s “Lava,” a continent-spanning monologue that explores issues pertaining to identity via the travails of a British-Congolese woman. The show recently had an in-person run at the Bush Theater and worldwide audiences can now check out a streaming version. Aug. 16-21; bushtheatre.co.uk. More

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      Review: Serving Murder in ‘The Dumb Waiter’

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      Harold Pinter’s one-act play, starring Daniel Mays and David Thewlis as hit men, is available to stream live via the Old Vic Theater.Have you ever gotten stuck in a dingy basement without even a cup of tea to quench your thirst? Service these days just isn’t what it used to be.That’s the plight of the two hit men in Harold Pinter’s absurdist comedy-drama “The Dumb Waiter,” a trim and tidy production that is being streamed live by the Old Vic Theater in London.In “The Dumb Waiter,” one of Pinter’s early comedies of menace, as the critic Irving Wardle called them, the two men sit idling in a basement room of what was apparently a former cafe. They’re waiting, Godot-style, on orders for their next job, making small talk that highlights their differences. Ben (David Thewlis) opts to follow procedure, though he’s coy when discussing the details with his partner. Gus (Daniel Mays), on the other hand, has his doubts about their occupation and the way they do things. He wishes for less seedy locations, more clarity on the jobs and better hours. And he has many questions. When the pair inexplicably start getting very specific food requests via a dumbwaiter, the job suddenly changes.The Old Vic’s production of the 50-minute one-act play, directed by Jeremy Herrin, is as polished as an assassin’s gun. Well, maybe not Gus’s, since Ben scolds his partner for his grubby-looking firearm. Appearances are important to Ben, after all, and, this being a Pinter play, so are rituals. Ben is inflexible and exacting, resolved to the simple order of their usual assignments. Gus is more circumspect and increasingly uneasy about his occupation.Hyemi Shin’s set design — a gray, lifeless room with two beds — feels appropriately bleak and isolating. Waiting, as if trapped, in a room until you’re given the OK to leave? It sure felt all too familiar to me. The grave confines of the men’s basement room seem to suggest a space where anything can happen — from a murder to a series of communications delivered by a dumbwaiter.And that small elevator for food is a perfect vehicle for Pinter’s quirky doses of comedy: It descends from the heavens (or, rather, a top floor), deus ex machina-style, bringing messages that change the characters’ relationships to each other and totally redirect the action of the story. And Thewlis and Mays’s characters grow progressively agitated: Ben turns more hostile and resolute, while Gus becomes more anxious and doubtful.The symbolic meaning behind this play isn’t so easy to decipher. Is this a philosophical statement on two antithetical approaches to life, a parable about our responses to order and chaos? Or is this political, a story about what happens when you fall in or out of line with an institution like, say, the government? Or does the play exist in — to steal the name of another Pinter work — some kind of surreal no man’s land, a cyclical purgatory where the two men relive this same situation?I’d prefer to hedge my bets and say it can be a little of all three. Pinter’s texts so often make the space for several interpretations at once, even if they seem to contradict one another. And yet in this perfectly effective production I wondered if the play lacked some stronger sense of a perspective — whether there wasn’t enough space given for the possibility of surprise. Because chances are you’ve already guessed how this one ends. The dumbwaiter interrupts the hit men’s mundane chatter but doesn’t veer the production off course from its clear road map to the conclusion.Though it’s a small complaint, because even for its mild predictability, this production of “The Dumb Waiter” makes a presentable and enjoyable feast of Pinter’s work. Grab your gun: Dinner is served.The Dumb WaiterThrough July 10; oldvictheatre.com. Running time: 50 minutes. More

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      ‘Touching the Void’ Review: Choices That Shape a Life on the Edge

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      This Bristol Old Vic production, based on the harrowing story of the British mountaineer Joe Simpson, tracks the spiral of decisions behind human exploits.Many movies, books or shows are metaphorical slogs. The play “Touching the Void” is about a literal one: the slow, agonizing crawl of the British mountaineer Joe Simpson as he tried to return to his base camp after sustaining a gruesome injury on an Andes peak.The Bristol Old Vic production, which is streaming live, then on demand, from Britain (and is presented by N.Y.U. Skirball as part of a “digital tour”), starts off with Joe’s wake in a Scottish inn. Since the show is based on the best-selling book Simpson published in 1988, three years after his ordeal, it’s not much of a spoiler to reveal that he somehow survived.The playwright David Greig came up with this narrative device mostly to introduce the character of Joe’s sister, Sarah (Fiona Hampton), who acts as the audience’s proxy. This means that Sarah needs to be told, over and over, what could possibly drive some people to risk their lives to reach mountaintops. She is angry as all get out and hates climbers, those adrenaline junkies with their “endless [expletive] stories about how they nearly died,” she tells Joe’s climbing companion, Simon Yates (Angus Yellowlees, with fetching two-tone hair). “Blah blah epic blah.”From left, Angus Yellowlees, Patrick McNamee and Fiona Hampton in the play, a Bristol Old Vic production presented by N.Y.U. Skirball.Michael WharleyMuch of the first act explores the friendship between Joe (Josh Williams) and Simon, and their ambition to make a mark by pioneering an unclimbed route, on the 20,000-foot Siula Grande in Peru. They work on the logistics of the ascent and, much more complicated, the descent.As staged by Tom Morris (the co-director of “War Horse”), the production, which premiered in 2018, remarkably evokes the physicality of scampering across rugged terrain or hanging by a thread off a snowy, freezing, windy face with just some low platforms and an apparatus halfway between a latticed scaffold and monkey bars. (This is the kind of show where the set designer Ti Green and the sound designer Jon Nicholls should be above the title on the marquee.)But as is often the case with human exploits, the most dramatically compelling parts of the story, and the play, are not so much the historical background, the practicalities of the expedition or even Simpson’s survival feat. Instead it’s the spiral of decisions, some technical and some ethical, that surround the events — just like how Jon Krakauer’s classic account of an Everest disaster, “Into Thin Air,” is made so engrossing by the human errors and the hubris. “There is always a choice,” Joe and Simon say.Williams, left, and Yellowlees on the scaffolding that represents the mountain.Michael WharleyComing down the peak, Joe falls down an ice cliff and breaks his leg (the snapping sound is especially horrifying). Simon is confronted with a terrible dilemma: stay and possibly die as well, or leave and try to at least save one life, his own.Simon leaves, thinking there is no way his friend could survive — only he does.Sarah’s heated interactions with her brother, Simon and, to a lesser degree, the comic-relief figure of the backpacker Richard (Patrick McNamee) dominate Act I, which has a genuine urgency as it deals with those pesky human issues.But after intermission, the show focuses on Joe’s journey back to safety and bogs down as he spends minutes at a time pulling himself along and yelling in excruciating pain — admittedly, streaming undercuts much of the impact those scenes likely would have in a theater, just like “War Horse” was much more effective live. The overuse of 1980s songs becomes distracting (Simpson’s real-life favorite, “This Is the Day,” plays during a scene in a crevasse and — just, no), and it eventually it starts feeling as if Greig can’t figure out how to end the show. Fortunately, real life gave him a good way out.Touching the VoidThrough May 29; on demand June 2-8; bristololdvic.org.uk More

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      Theater to Stream: ‘Assassins’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’

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      Highlights include a virtual production of Adam Rapp’s “The Sound Inside” and a new reading series by Roundabout Theater Company.In March of last year, Classic Stage Company announced that its revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical “Assassins” was postponed. “The production was to begin performances on April 2,” the email said. “C.S.C. intends to resume rehearsals and present ‘Assassins’ in the coming months.”Fast forward 13 months, and the company is indeed presenting “Assassins,” or at least a stopgap event until the director, John Doyle, can fully proceed. Still, fans will enjoy “Tell the Story: Celebrating Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s ‘Assassins,’” a tribute to the show — which is told from the perspective of people who have tried, successfully and not, to kill an American president — featuring chats (including with Sondheim and Weidman), performances and testimonies, with actors from the 1990 premiere and the 2004 Broadway production joining the Classic Stage Company cast.This is a rare opportunity to hear, for example, three John Wilkes Booths (Victor Garber, Michael Cerveris and Steven Pasquale) talk about their craft — and killing Lincoln. Among Doyle’s most alluring casting moves: Tavi Gevinson as Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme and Judy Kuhn as Sara Jane Moore. Even the theater superfan Hillary Clinton will weigh in on the show’s impact. Thursday through Monday; classicstage.orgMaggie Bofill, left, and Ephraim Birney “The Sound Inside.”Pedro Bermudez‘The Sound Inside’A drama as suspenseful as any thriller, Adam Rapp’s brilliant two-character Broadway debut considers how fiction can be uncomfortably close and personal. TheaterWorks Hartford’s digital version was hatched by the stage director Rob Ruggiero and the filmmaker Pedro Bermúdez, with Maggie Bofill as a Yale professor of creative writing and Ephraim Birney (the son of Reed Birney) as a student both troubled and troubling. Through April 30; twhartford.orgFrom left, Jessie Buckley, Lucian Msamati and Josh O’Connor in “Romeo and Juliet.”Rob Youngson‘Romeo and Juliet’With Jessie Buckley (“Fargo”) and Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”) as the unluckiest lovers ever, the swoon factor is high in Simon Godwin’s staging of Shakespeare’s tragic romance for the National Theater. Watch also for Deborah Findlay (a Tony Award nominee for “The Children”) and Tamsin Greig, who almost hijack the show as Juliet’s nurse and mother. April 23-May 21; pbs.orgSecond ChancesAfter a prologue set in 1600, the Chilean theater collective Bonobo’s “Tú Amarás” (“You Shall Love”) jumps to a present-day medical conference, where the arrival of aliens weighs on the proceedings. The Baryshnikov Arts Center captured the play’s New York premiere in February 2020, and is now featuring it as part of the center’s digital season. April 22-29; bacnyc.orgAnother small show getting a welcome encore online is Lizzie Vieh’s dark comedy “Monsoon Season.” All for One Theater is streaming a performance filmed during the play’s 2019 run at the Rattlestick Theater in Manhattan. Danny (Richard Thieriot) and his ex-wife, Julia (Therese Plaehn), live in a world of tech-support jobs, wannabe YouTube influencers and crummy apartments. The couple are almost never onstage at the same time yet share a weird chemistry, until an even weirder finale. Through Sunday; afo.nyc‘The Norman Conquests’In 2009, a terrific British cast led by Stephen Mangan and Jessica Hynes barreled through an inspired Broadway revival of this Alan Ayckbourn trilogy, in which each play offers a different perspective on the same hectic weekend in the country. If you want another take on these farcical shenanigans, the streaming platform Acorn and Broadway HD have made available the British mini-series adaptation from 1978. It’s deliciously drenched in 1970s aesthetics — behold the brown palette — with Tom Conti in the pivotal role of Norman. acorn.tv and BroadwayHDFrom left, Florencia Lozano, Jimmy Smits and Daphne Rubin-Vega in “Two Sisters and a Piano.”via New Normal RepNew Normal RepIt takes moxie to create a theater company these days. Welcome to the emerging New Normal Rep, which is presenting Nilo Cruz’s “Two Sisters and a Piano.” In the play, which predates Cruz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Anna in the Tropics” by a few years, the siblings of the title are under house arrest in the Havana of 1991. The cast of this virtual production, directed by the playwright, includes Daphne Rubin-Vega, a veteran of both shows, and Jimmy Smits, who was also in “Tropics.” April 21-May 23; newnormalrep.orgThe ReFocus ProjectThe powerhouse Roundabout Theater Company is launching an initiative to help rethink what constitutes the American theatrical canon. For the first year, which focuses on 20th-century works by Black playwrights, Roundabout has partnered with Black Theater United and unearthed promising texts for readings. The first is Angelina Weld Grimké’s “Rachel,” from 1916, which is thought to be the first professionally produced play by a Black woman in the United States (April 23-26). The following week brings Samm-Art Williams’s “Home,” originally produced by the Negro Ensemble Company before transferring to Broadway in 1980. (April 30-May 3). roundabouttheatre.orgThe Gay ’80sDid the recent Russell T Davies mini-series “It’s a Sin” leave you wanting more? Two solo shows explore a similar milieu: the lives of gay men in the 1980s. Ben SantaMaria’s semi-autobiographical solo play “Really Want to Hurt Me,” captured in 2018, depicts the coming-of-age of a young gay man (portrayed by Ryan Price) in 1984 Britain. bensantamaria.comThe protagonist of “Cruise” discovers he is H.I.V. positive in 1984 and spends the following four years living life to its fullest. Written and performed by Jack Holden, who was inspired by a story he heard while working at a hotline, this play is getting a digital run before a physical one (if all goes as planned) in May. Thursday through April 25; stream.theatreRosalyn Coleman in “The Woman’s Party.”via Clubbed Thumb‘The Woman’s Party’The Clubbed Thumb company, whose discoveries include “What the Constitution Means to Me” and “Tumacho,” is serializing Rinne Groff’s play, about the battle for the Equal Rights Amendment, over three episodes released weekly. The show, directed by Tara Ahmadinejad, tracks the arguments among feminist activists as they wrangled over goals and strategy. This should be catnip to the terrific cast, which includes Alma Cuervo, Marga Gomez, Marceline Hugot and Emily Kuroda. April 22 through August; clubbedthumb.orgBen Thompson, left, and David Ricardo-Pearce in rehearsal of “The Lorax.”Manuel Harlan, via The Old Vic‘The Lorax’As part of its In Camera series (“Lungs,” “Three Kings”), the Old Vic Theater in London is bringing back its 2015 production of Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax” for a handful of livestreamed performances that jointly celebrate the book’s 50th anniversary and Earth Day. Max Webster directs David Greig and Charlie Fink’s adaptation of the eco-minded story. “I am the Lorax,” the title character says. “I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” Wednesday through Saturday, with free performances for schools on April 22; oldvictheatre.com More

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      ‘Christmas Carol’ Review: Brooding Scrooge Gets Ghosted

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best ComedyBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest MoviesBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCritic’s Pick‘Christmas Carol’ Review: Brooding Scrooge Gets GhostedAn elaborate production streamed live from London makes a miser out of Andrew Lincoln and the rest of us rich with holiday cheer.Andrew Lincoln makes for a particularly charismatic, if obstinate, Scrooge in the Old Vic production of “A Christmas Carol.”Credit…Manuel HarlanPublished More