Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog

As much as I’ve appreciated theatre’s making them available, I’ve been struggling to engage with streams of recorded shows in lockdown, perhaps because I’d already seen many of them in the theatre, so I was curious how I might get on with a live one. Playwright Stephen Beresford (an extraordinary playwriting debut at the NT with Last of the Haussmans, the excellent adaptation of Fanny & Alexander at the Old Vic and the screenplay for the brilliant film Pride) and actor Andrew Scott, whose streaming of Sea Wall was a notable exception, made this a real draw too.

Scott is relayed live from the Old Vic stage, the empty auditorium as his backdrop. He tells the story of his character’s estranged father and the few encounters he’s had with with him. We learn about his sister and later their brother by another wife and the multiple relationships and locations of his father. Its mostly direct to camera and Scott is mesmerising, but there’s also judicious but clever use of split screens and other features. I found it totally captivating, much more than my live open air promenade performance a few days previously. The addition of the sound of audience anticipation before the start and appreciation at the end helped create the almost live experience, with the added benefit of close-up dialogue and action.

A real success; now I can barely wait for Faith Healer, the next one, in a couple of weeks.