14 April. Jane Eyre from National Theatre.

This excellent staging of the Jane Eyre story came courtesy of the National Theatre, It resulted from a collaboration between the NT and the Bristol Old Vic under the direction of Sally Cookson. To be honest, romantic fiction is not what I'd normally read, even if it is a classic but this staging of the story was both rivetting and ingenious in its use of a minimalist set and the way the story was brought to life. Injected with dashes of comedy (e.g., the playing of Rochester's dog by an actor), the play moved at a dashing pace with excellent acting by Nadia Clifford who played Jane and Tim Delap who was Rochester.

12 April 2020. It's true; it's true; it's true: Artemisia's Trial by Breach Theatre via National Gallery

The recording of this staging of a dramatisation of the 1612 trial of Agostino Tassi for the rape of the young painter Artemisia Gentileschi came via the National Gallery Website. Based on surviving court transcripts, Breach Theatre’s award-winning show brought the trial vividly to life with the all too familiar attempts at denouncing Artmisia as actually consenting to and enjoying the relationship with Tassi.
It was a very inventive staging that was also upsetting in its depiction of the betryal of trust by Tassi who was Artimisia's tutor and a friend of her father. Lasting only 75 minutes, it was an absorbing piece that will hopefully remain available on YouTube as it definitely bears re-viewing.

10 April 2020. Cyprus Avenue from Royal Court

This is an extremely clever play, managing to be alternatingly funny and harrowing. It is not for the faint hearted, being the tale of an Irish 'loyalist' who descends into a psychotic world where he sees the image of Gerry Adams in his grand-daughter and decides it is his duty to erase this menace from the world.
The acting by Stephen Rea was brilliant and this play definitely merits more than one viewing. For now that can be achieved via YouTube

2 April 2020. One man, two guvnors from National Theatre

This play benefited from fantastic acting, particularly from James Corden, and from the quality of production with a wonderful set etc. It is essentially a farce and so fundamentally either you like that sort of thing or you don't. However, even if you fall into the latter camp, the production and acting made it a rewarding way to spend a Covid evening.
At the outset, it is all slightly confusing, being the tale of a man who serves two people related by one having killed the brother of the other who is also the former's girlfriend. She seems perfectly happy with the killing and is now posing as her dead brother in order to collect a dowry from the father of the dead brother's girlfriend. It was really quite useful to have this as a stream rather than live theatre in order to consolidate the situation in my mind.
The first half involved James Corden apparently involving members of the audience and this worked very well. However, this technique was dropped in the second half which became a more conventional playing out of the contorted situation and its eventual resolution. To be honest, I found the second half lost my concentration a bit but, all in all, thank you National Theatre for putting this on as a contribution to the lockdown.