Watch our acting graduates on stage from home
As theatres were forced to close their doors during the UK lockdown, there has been a boom in theatres streaming their previous shows online, with many opportunities to see RADA graduates on stage.
Each week the National Theatre is streaming a show from their archives as part of the National Theatre At Home season, with many opportunities to see RADA graduate actors. So far the broadcasts have included: Twelfth Night (Tamara Lawrance, Phoebe Fox, Daniel Rigby and Tim McMullan); One Man Two Guvnors (Daniel Rigby); Antony and Cleopatra (Sophie Okonedo, Ralph Fiennes, Tim McMullan, Nicholas Le Provost, Alan Turkington and Alexander Cobb); and Treasure Island (Patsy Ferran, Joshua James, Arthur Darvill, Jonathan Livingstone, Alexandra Maher and Claire-Louise Cordwell. Visit the National Theatre At Home website for future broadcasts.
Shakespeare’s Globe has also been broadcasting some of their past productions for free, via the Globe Player. Look out for RADA graduates including: Michelle Terry, Jack Laskey and James Garnon (Hamlet); Ukweli Roach, Adetomiwa Edun and Philip Cumbus (Romeo and Juliet); Molly Logan, Joshua Silver, Tom Lawrence and Luke Thompson (A Midsummer Night’s Dream); Sirine Saba and Norah Lopez-Holden (The Winter’s Tale); Ellora Torchia and Jude Akuwidike (Two Noble Kinsmen); and Bryony Hannah, Nicola Charles (associate dramaturg) and Hedydd Dylan (The Merry Wives of Windsor). See the Globe’s website for the full schedule.
The Original Theatre Company have made their productions of The Habit of Art and The Croft available online, after the tours were disrupted by the pandemic. You can stream them for a small cost here; the casts include graduates Lucy Doyle (The Croft), Rob Mountford, John Wark and Benjamin Chandler (The Habit of Art). Both shows are directed by Philip Franks, who has directed several RADA productions.
Hit show Fleabag is also available online thanks to Soho Theatre On Demand. It is written by and stars graduate Phoebe Waller-Bridge with lighting by graduate Elliot Griggs. All downloads raise money for key workers and theatre workers during this crisis.
The Royal Court has also released an online film of David Ireland’s Cyprus Avenue. The recording of this award-winning dark comedy mixes live capture of the Royacl Court performance with location shooting in Belfast, and was originally shown on BBC in autumn 2019. The cast includes graduate Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo.
In 2018, graduate Lolita Chakrabarti curated a series of monologues called The Greatest Wealth for the Old Vic. Directed by Adrian Lester, they celebrated 70 years of the NHS. They are now being released weekly on Thursdays, beginning with ‘Boo’ performed by graduate Sophie Stone, which was released on 14 May here.
This is just a sample of the streamed work you can see featuring our graduates. There has also been a number of new and innovative theatre projects created during the lockdown, which also feature many RADA graduates; keep an eye on our website for updates on some of these projects soon, and news from our Theatre Production graduates.
