Heya, peoples!
While I’m plugging my show (Rosegold) as part of Online@ theSpaceUK Season 2 online streaming fringe festival, I’m gonna share with you some other shows to see (after you see #Rosegold).
As always, please share these shows with folx you know. This is one of the best opportunities you will have to see such a variety of performances in the comfort of your own living space.
And see “Rosegold”: https://online.thespaceuk.com/show/rosegold
Did I mention to go see Rosegold?
I’m gonna start with shows from a couple of women I know— “Effing Robots” and “Ingenue”.
“Effing Robots: How I Taught the A.I. to Stop Worrying and Love Humans” from Giant Nerd Productions features L. Nicol Cabe taking us into the world of Artificial Intellegence happening NOW.
“Ingenue: Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland and the Golden Age of Hollywood” from Melanie Gall Presents gives us a glimpse into the Golden Age of Hollywood and regales upon one of the most famous stars we have forgotten.
These two shows are miles apart stylistically. “Effing Robots” is a heady and intimate presentation fueled by Nicol’s love of sci-fi and fascinations in the technology that draws us ever-so closer to a world we once thought out-of-reach. “Ingenue” is a character-driven review of cinema sweetheart Deanna Durbin, showcasing Melanie’s spectacular voice.
Why am I putting them together? Because both shows will learn ya somethin’, and they’ll keep you entertained while doing it. There are “aha!” moments and jaw-dropping facts in both shows. I am a HUGE proponent of theatre being sneakily informative, and these shows are two fine examples.
You can find “Effing Robots” here: https://online.thespaceuk.com/show/effing-robots-how-i-taught-the-ai-to-stop-worrying-and-love-humans
And “Ingenue” here: https://online.thespaceuk.com/show/ingenie-deanna-durbin-judy-garland-and-the-golden-age-of-hollywood .
”Happily Ever After” from Better Day Productions is just precious. They use the art of Mockumentary to its fullest, following the work of a couple (literally) of wedding planners and a bride-to-be. It hits the ground running, fueled by actors that clearly know their way around comedy.
You can find “Happily Ever After” here: https://online.thespaceuk.com/show/happily-ever-after
NEXT, I would like to highlight a group of five short shows made by three different companies. I’m putting them all together because they make a calming and beautiful collective hour of viewing:
Blue Fire Theatre company’s “Don’t Know Him From Adam” and “Ally Sloper’s Half-Holiday” are sweetly transportive. Very Victorian (especially to my American ears) and gently paced, they provide a couple moments of respite from our modern frenetic world. (Bonus: they are BEAUTIFULLY filmed. Like, really, y’all. They’re gorgeous.)
Three Chairs and a Hat brings us “Hags” and “Three Stages“. Poetic, musical meditations on the experiences of loss and aging*, they are meditative and honest. These, too, will slow the pulse for a moment of stillness.
Lastly in this clutch of calmness is Live & Local LivingRoom’s “Snapshot Stories“. Our guide Naomi Paul walks us through the beauties of her little arboreal community, clarified through the collective experience of the pandemic cloistering. This weave of songs, poems, visual explorations from Naomi and her close-knit community is deliciously pastoral.
You can find links to these shows embedded in their titles here, or as part of the full line up at Online@theSpace Season 2: https://online.thespaceuk.com/e/online-thespaceuk-season-2
*Note: aside from all these pieces being gentle and relaxing chapters that could make up a single hour of viewing, I want to honor the fact that these artists are not “glistening with the dew of youth”. In entertainment, especially here in the U.S), there is a very clear and oft-proven age bias, a nearly-impossible standard of young-ness that leaves folks looking unnaturally preserved or unjustifiably cast aside aside. From my middle-aged point-of-view, it is encouraging to see folx of all ages making their art. Take a moment to give extra support for shows that, due to gender(s), race, age, queerness or physical appearance tend to be overlooked. Art exists in all forms.
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Trying to describe Peter Hudler’s “Cello On Fire” with words is insufficient. He’s good at playing the cello… real good. Damn good, I’ll dare say, because that is a phrase that holds weight-of-meaning. Hudler’s cello produces sound that holds weight-of-meaning as well. I love watching an instrumentalist push their medium to its limit, and I found much to love in this performance.
Just to be clear, I am not talking euphemistically. This is not to be missed. I dropped my jaw so much my TMJ achieved a new level. (Just to be clear, that last sentence was figurative hyperbole.)
You can watch “Cello On Fire” here: https://online.thespaceuk.com/show/cello-on-fire
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York DramaSoc “The Same Rain That Falls On Me” is a beautiful exploration of the time between “falling aware” and “falling away”. The narrator named Alice addresses the camera as final words to a slowly-leaving loved one. It is an honest portray of youth at the time they start to feel the weight of the world piling upon them. Executed wonderfully by Ella McKeown, it is a sweetly painful “I told you so.”
You can watch “The Same Rain That Falls On Me” here: https://online.thespaceuk.com/show/the-same-rain-that-falls-on-me