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Teeth ’n’ Smiles
Like a time capsule crowbarred open, its fug filling the auditorium, this year’s 50th anniversary production of David Hare’s drama about a 60s rock band’s unravelling made for a fascinating evening. The tunes by brothers Nick and Tony Bicât – plus Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem’s new number, Maggie’s Song, which expertly matches their milieu – have been collected on a cast recording best played on repeat. Altogether now: “Don’t let the bastards come near you. They just want to prove you’re sane.”
Chewing Gum Dreams
In September, London’s Theatre503 and tiata fahodzi will revive Michaela Coel’s sparky, name-making monologue Chewing Gum Dreams. On NT at Home you can see Coel herself perform this whirlwind tour of a 14-year-old girl’s world, from the top deck of the 67 bus to nightclubs, chemists and the classroom.
Romeo and Juliet
After 14 years at the helm, Antoni Cimolino steps down as artistic director of Canada’s Stratford Festival this season (Jonathan Church takes up the role in the autumn). Cimolino began as an actor and the archive of Stratfest@Home includes his 1992 Romeo, opposite Megan Porter Follows from Anne of Green Gables.
Marco da Silva Ferreira: F*cking Future
Our critic Lyndsey Winship detected “a somewhat 3am vibe” to Portuguese choreographer Marco da Silva Ferreira’s “subtly intoxicating” protest dance piece when it visited Sadler’s Wells East in June. Available on Arte.tv, captured at the Lyon Dance Biennale in 2025.
Hamlet
Hiran Abeysekera’s irreverent Prince of Denmark wears a Blockbuster Video sweater and now you can rent his performance with a National Theatre at Home subscription. Filmed at the Lyttelton theatre, Robert Hastie’s production was part of Indhu Rubasingham’s opening programme, with Francesca Mills’s Ophelia roundly praised.
The Pansy Craze
Mason Alexander Park hosts an epic series celebrating queer performers through the ages – not just the eponymous 1930s parties but also the Elizabethan era – in what is billed as blending “the dazzle of a cabaret with the intimacy of a piano bar”. Laverne Cox, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sasha Velour also star. From Audible.
Murder at the Gates
Stranger Things’ Gaten Matarazzo – who makes his West End debut in Rent in September – can be heard on this new musical concept album by Steven Sater and James Bourne. It revolves around an heiress’s murder mystery party that goes spectacularly wrong.
Humo
Rafaela Carrasco’s flamenco ballet is the story of 19th-century cigarreras – the women who made and sold cigars – unfolding in both factories and at fiestas, exploring their fight for emancipation. On a stage dressed with just a few flowers and chairs, it’s richly atmospheric with the ensemble sometimes puffing away. On Arte.tv.
