\n<\/p>\n
Stream it on Stratfest@Home<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2022, Alice Childress\u2019s play about love and hate, written in 1962, received its first major revival in 50 years, to much acclaim<\/a>. The following year, \u201cThe Wedding Band,\u201d was staged at the Stratford Festival<\/a> in Ontario, making it a welcome second coming<\/a> for our theater critic.<\/p>\n The play about an interracial couple \u2014 a Black woman, played by Antonette Rudder, and a white man, Cyrus Lane \u2014 who, in 1918 South Carolina, can\u2019t wed, is a searing examination of a miscegenation nation. Writing for The New York Times, Jesse Green called the 2023 Stratford production, directed by Sam White, a \u201crevelation,\u201d adding that the festival\u2019s revival \u201cconfirms the play\u2019s vitality.\u201d<\/p>\n From Green\u2019s critic\u2019s notebook<\/a>:<\/p>\n It\u2019s a joyful thing when a great play that seemed to be lost is found. How much more so when its greatness is confirmed and the play takes root in the soil of a new time. That was my experience seeing Alice Childress\u2019s \u201cWedding Band\u201d \u2026 The director Sam White\u2019s production unexpectedly adds another layer of tragedy. Her staging emphasizes the hard-won pleasures of the central relationship, so that something valuable is felt to be lost when the world intervenes. \u2026 We see how the tragedy of racism makes victims of everyone.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Stream it on Amazon Prime<\/a>, Pluto TV<\/a> or the Roku Channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n New York is experiencing something of an explosion of Chekhov. \u201cThe Seagull\u201d featured prominently in Theaterlab\u2019s recent production of \u201cNina<\/a>\u201d; \u201cThe Cherry Orchard\u201d is coming to St. Ann\u2019s Warehouse<\/a> next month, along with \u201cVanya<\/a>,\u201d an adaptation of \u201cUncle Vanya,\u201d starring Andrew Scott, Andrew Scott and Andrew Scott (he plays every role). Its Off Broadway<\/a> debut comes after a highly<\/a> praised<\/a> run in London. The one-man show, adapted by Simon Stephens and directed by Sam Yates, won last year\u2019s Olivier Award<\/a> \u2014 Britain\u2019s equivalent of the Tonys.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But you don\u2019t have to be in a theater to take in Chekhov. If you\u2019ve never seen \u201cVanya on 42nd Street,\u201d the 1994 Louis Malle film<\/a> of Andr\u00e9 Gregory\u2019s<\/a> production, now is a timely moment to watch.<\/p>\n The movie, starring Wallace Shawn and Julianne Moore, gets a bit heady in its conceit: Over the course of three years, Gregory and a group of actors gather to study Chekhov through performance workshops, then stage the play casually, as if for a rehearsal, in an abandoned theater. The result is a lively experiment with natural, intimate performances. The Times critic Janet Maslin applauded the \u201cvisual elegance that seems to isolate and purify its characters and their troubles.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is bare-bones Chekhov,\u201d Maslin wrote, \u201cthough it is hardly Chekhov without cachet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Stream it on L.A. Theater Works<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the 1850s, the scientist Eunice Newton Foote identified carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, an extraordinary breakthrough for climate science \u2014 and for women. If only her work wasn\u2019t forgotten by her field. In the newest addition to the L.A. Theater Works\u2019s<\/a> robust catalog of audio theater, the playwright Amanda Quaid lays bare the real-life, groundbreaking discovery of a little-known scientist whose findings take on new relevance today.<\/p>\n Directed by Anna Lyse Erikson and starring Emily Swallow and Geoffrey Arend, this dramatized portrait of Foote\u2019s work presents a rare look at an early milestone in climate science and a woman brushed aside<\/a> by history.<\/p>\n Stream it on BroadwayHD<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The cult TV show \u201cSmash,\u201d about the travails of making of a Broadway musical based on Marilyn Monroe, is getting its own Broadway treatment<\/a> in a stage adaptation<\/a> of the series starting previews next month. To understand the obsession or refresh your memory, a binge might be in order. Both seasons are now available on BroadwayHD<\/a>, where you can catch the Grammy- and Emmy-nominated pilot-closing hit, \u201cLet Me Be Your Star<\/a>\u201d (which will set the opening number on Broadway).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The streaming platform\u2019s typical fare is live-captured theatrical productions, but the site struck a deal last year with NBCUniversal for streaming rights, so you can watch the soapy drama alongside other new additions, including \u201cCats,\u201d \u201cBilly Elliot: The Musical,\u201d and the 2021 production \u201cAnnie Live!\u201d<\/p>\n Stream it on obsidianfest.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
\u2018Vanya on 42nd Street\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun\u2019s Rays\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Smash\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Obsidian Theater Festival\u2019<\/h2>\n