32 Stage Performances to Watch This Memorial Day Weekend, May 23-25
All Weekend
National Theatre: A Streetcar Named Desire
London’s National Theatre presents A Streetcar Named Desire starring Gillian Anderson as the tragic Blanche DuBois opposite Ben Foster‘s unforgiving Stanley Kowalski. Directed by Benedict Andrews, this radical reimagining of Tennessee Williams’ classic had a sold-out limited run at Brooklyn’s St. Ann’s Warehouse and features a slowly rotating set, fiery emotions and some truly brutal moments. Prepare to see this familiar play from a new perspective. Watch for free anytime through Thursday, May 28 at 2 p.m. ET on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel.
Puffs
The unofficial Harry Potter parody Puffs, which , flies into your home through the magic of streaming. Subtitled Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic & Magic, the comedy focuses on an average wizardry student and his pals living in the shadow of you know who. This performance was filmed in 2018 and is available on Playbill.com. Tickets are $8.99 with a portion of the proceeds going to the charity Frontline Foods. Watch anytime through Sunday, May 31.
Shakespeare’s Globe: The Winter’s Tale
London’s Shakespeare’s Globe shares a recording of its 2018 mounting of The Winter’s Tale, Shakespeare’s genre-shifting comedy-tragedy-romance about an insanely jealous king, a pair of determined young lovers, an oracle, a magical statue and a bear. Watch for free anytime through Sunday, May 31 on the theatre’s YouTube channel.
Timon of Athens at the Stratford Festival
Ontario’s venerable Stratford Festival continues its Shakespeare on Film series with one of the Bard’s lesser produced tragedies, Timon of Athens, often labeled as one of his problem plays. Stratford vet Joseph Ziegler stars as the title character, a wealthy and generous man whose friends disappear with his funds. Watch for free anytime through Thursday, June 11 on the Stratford Festival’s YouTube channel.
Saturday, May 23
MCC LiveLabs: One Acts: The Sentinels
MCC Theater presents The Sentinels, a one-act by The Inheritance playwright Matthew Lopez featuring a formidable foursome of fierce females: Tony winners Jane Alexander, Katrina Lenk and Priscilla Lopez, and Tony nominee Denée Benton. A meditation on mourning that moves backwards in time, the drama centers on three September 11 widows who meet every year on the anniversary of the tragedy that upended their lives. Watch the performance for free through Saturday evening on MCC Theater’s YouTube page.
Marry Harry
On Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, catch the musical rom-com Marry Harry, seen at NYC’s York Theatre Company in 2017. An old-fashioned romp, it centers on an unlikely couple and their overbearing parents, who almost detail the relationship. The cast includes Tony nominee Veanne Cox. Watch for free on the show’s website
Faust at the Met
On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares its 2011 mounting of Gounod’s Faust, starring Marina Poplavskaya, Jonas Kaufmann and René Pape, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The production was filmed for the company’s Live in HD series, and is available to watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s offering, Don Giovanni, until 6:30 p.m. today.
Creede Repertory Theatre: Ripcord
On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, Colorado’s Creede Repertory Theatre shares a recording of its production of Ripcord, Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire’s dark comedy about a pair of assisted living roommates who enter into a life-changing bet. Tickets are available to purchase from the theatre but TDF members get a discount. Also on Sunday.
LAByrinth Theater Company: Our Lady of 121st Street
On Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, the celebrated LAByrinth Theater Company presents a reading of one of its biggest hits, Stephen Adly Guirgis‘ Our Lady of 121st Street about a bunch of former friends reuniting at the Harlem funeral of their Catholic school teacher Sister Rose. Tony nominee Elizabeth Rodriguez directs this event, which features cast members from the original 2002 production alongside Bobby Cannavale and Tony winner Laurence Fishburne. Watch for free for 24 hours on LAByrinth’s website.
TimeLine Theatre Company: To Master the Art
On Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET, Chicago’s TimeLine Theatre Company shares a recording of its production of To Master the Art, William Brown and Doug Frew’s play about Paul and Julia Child’s glorious journey of discovery in 1950s Paris. Tickets are available to purchase from the theatre but TDF members get a discount. Also on Sunday.
Sunday, May 24
Irish Arts Center: A Night in November Parts I and II
On Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, the Irish Arts Center presents the second installment of A Night in November, Marie Jones’ one-man play about an Irishman’s gradual epiphany in 1990s Belfast. Performed by Matthew Forsythe, the show is being released in three free installments. Part I is already online, and you can watch Part II on Sunday on the Irish Arts Center’s YouTube channel. Part III will be released May 31.
Theatre for a New Audience: Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest
At 5 p.m. ET, Brooklyn’s Theatre for a New Audience and the Fisher Center at Bard present a Zoom adaptation of Mad Forest, groundbreaking playwright Caryl Churchill‘s drama exploring the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Directed by Ashley Tata and starring students from the Bard Theater & Performance Program, the production combines live acting and video technology. The show is free but you must reserve your spot by Sunday at noon in order to receive the viewing link! If you miss out today, it will be performed once more on Wednesday May 27 at 3 p.m.
Manon at the Met
On Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares its 2012 mounting of Massenet’s Manon, starring Marina Poplavskaya, Jonas Kaufmann and René Pape, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The production was filmed for the company’s Live in HD series, and is available to watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s offering, Faust, until 6:30 p.m. today.
Monday, May 25
Bedlam: Much Ado About Nothing
On Monday at 6 p.m. ET, Bedlam, a theatre company lauded for its reinventions of classics (Sense & Sensibility, The Crucible), presents a reading of Shakespeare’s effervescent comedy Much Ado About Nothing. Many of the troupe’s regulars are performing, including artistic director Eric Tucker, and the evening kicks off with a half hour of live music. Watch for free on YouTube though donations are encouraged.
La Damnation de Faust at the Met
On Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Metropolitan Opera shares its 2008 mounting of Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, starring Susan Graham, Marcello Giordani and John Relyea, conducted by James Levine. The production was filmed for the company’s Live in HD series, and is available to watch for free for 23 hours after the start time on the Metropolitan Opera’s website. You can still stream yesterday’s offering, Manon, until 6:30 p.m. today.
Bindlestiff Open Stage: Quarantine Edition
On Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET, run away with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus at the troupe’s weekly live-streamed variety show, hosted by adorkable ringmaster Keith Nelson. Enjoy a cavalcade of jaw-dropping acts, including magician Lou Johnson, contortionist juggler Kira DiPietrantonio, aerialist Candice Storley, The Damm Family Circus and hula hooper Leonid the Magnificent. Watch for free on Bindlestiff’s Facebook page though donations are encouraged.
Jim Caruso’s Pajama Cast Party
On Monday at 8 p.m. ET, cabaret maven Jim Caruso welcomes renowned singers and up-and-comers at Pajama Cast Party, a live-streamed version of his popular weekly Cast Party gatherings that have taken place at Birdland for decades. Tonight’s lineup includes Cats Tony winner Betty Buckley, jazz pianist Rocco Fiorentino, performer, impressionist and friend to TDF Christina Bianco and Mo Rocca from CBS Sunday Morning. Watch for free on YouTube though tips via the Venmo app are appreciated.
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RAVEN SNOOK