Below are just some of the digital offerings this weekend. For more, check out Playbill’s Streaming Calendar, presented in partnership with Broadway Podcast Network.
Friday, January 15
Catch a series of eight original plays written to be performed live on Zoom, each pairing actors in Ireland and the United States, from playwrights Matthew Cole Kelly, Melissa Annis, James McLindon, Rachel White, Emily Bohannon, Krystal Sweedman, Seamus Scanlon and Neil Sharpson. Presented by AboutFace Ireland.
7 PM: Blue Ridge
The Abby Rosebrock play debuted in 2019 at Atlantic Theatre Company starring Tony Award nominee Marin Ireland (Reasons To Be Pretty), Kyle Beltran (In the Heights), Peter Mark Kendall (Six Degrees of Separation), Nicole Lewis (Rent), Kristolyn Lloyd (Dear Evan Hansen), and Chris Stack, who all return for Play-PerView's streamed reading, along with director Taibi Magar.
Saturday, January 16
FLS Academy launches its weekend workshop series for ages 7–17, combining a variety of lessons, facilitated by Broadway stars and trained teachers, with hip hop music, improv, teamwork, and creative assignments. This weekend offers civil rights lessons...with a beat.
Sunday, January 17
Five of Northern Ireland’s most inventive female playwrights (Emily Dedakis, Gina Donnelly, Sarah Gordon, Fionnuala Kennedy and Alice Malseed) write five monologues for women inspired by Belfast’s iconic landmark. Presented by Origin Theatre Company and The Lyric Theatre.
7 PM: Civilwrights
The 10-minute play series, created in response to the national crisis on systemic racism, features four new plays from BIPOC playwrights Akin Salawu, Ren Dara Santiago, James Anthony Tyler, and Jerome A. Parker. The production concludes with a talkback.
Monday, January 18
The Brooklyn Academy of Music goes virtual this year for the annual celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The festivities include a keynote speech by Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, and performances by Grammy Award-winning gospel and R&B artist and Maroon 5 keyboardist PJ Morton, Tank and the Bangas lead vocalist Tarriona "Tank" Ball, Vy Higgensen's award-winning choir Sing Harlem!, 2020-2021 BAM Artist Resident poet Timothy DuWhite, and spoken word artist Ashley August. The program will be complemented by a digital film screening of William Greaves’s newly-restored documentary Nationtime and the week-long public art installation Let Freedom Ring. RSVP here.
9 PM: Crowndation Sneak Peek
The Fire This Time Festival offers a free look at the first offering in its Not a Moment But a Movement, a series of three events that pair play readings with visual artists and musicians, all celebrating Black voices. Crowndation; I Will Not Lie to David, by Angelica Chéri, will star Sheria Irving; Cezar Wlliams directs. The piece, subsequently available on-demand beginning January 21, follows Fatima Seed, a 29-year-old African-American woman navigating a pursuit of faith, sexuality, and purpose. The stream features an introduction by Vanessa Williams.
More Streaming Options
- U.K. streaming concert series Leave the Light On features a line-up comprising Lauren Byrne, Lauren Drew, Chelsea Halfpenny, David Hunter, Rachel John, Lucie Jones, Rob Madge, Tim Mahendran, Nicholas McLean and Billy Nevers. The daily series streams at 2:30 PM ET.
- Ordinary Days, the small-cast musical from composer-lyricist Adam Gwon, will be available on demand through January 17 from Pittsburgh Playhouse, conceived by director Dave Solomon and Jason Ardizzone-West.
- Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley’s Circle Jerk streams on demand: "It’s winter on Gaymen Island, a summer retreat for the homosexual rich and fame-ish, and this off-season, two white, gay internet trolls hatch a plot to take back what’s wrongfully theirs."
