To see or not to see is no longer the question, because thanks to the coronavirus pandemic we can’t see anything at the theatre at the moment.
Fortunately, London’s theatres have been rustling up some brilliant stuff from the archives, with the Almeida Theatre sharing a series of monologues from previous productions that will give you goosebumps.
Among them is Andrew Scott performing the famous ‘to be or not to be’ speech from Hamlet. He played the role in Robert Icke's production at the Almeida back in 2017, which went on to transfer to the West End, and was later broadcast on the BBC.
The series also includes Lydia Wilson performing a monologue from The Duchess of Malfi, Patsy Ferran in her Olivier Award-winning role in Summer and Smoke, Ralph Fiennes in Richard III and Kate Fleetwood in Medea and Fisayo Akinade in Shipwreck.
The videos offer a rare, intimate opportunity to see the craft of some of our very best theatre actors close up. The full series can be found on the Almeida’s YouTube channel.
The closures mean that the Almeida’s productions of Jeremy O. Harris’s Daddy and Beth Steel’s The House of Shades have been postponed. However, audiences will have the chance to watch Mike Bartlett’s Albion, directed by Almeida boss Rupert Goold, when it is broadcast on the BBC as part of its Culture in Quarantine series..
Find out where you can watch theatre, dance, comedy and opera online with our streaming guide
