Sampling a brand new world of online theatre

Not that, for one millisecond, we would have wished this awful crisis on ourselves – but we are learning to make the best of it. Stuck at home, movie addicts are dusting down the stack of old DVDs, or signing up for a streaming service. And there is ample time for television catch-up.

For theatre lovers, it’s a tiny bit trickier. We thrive on live performances, of which there are none, and we love not just the show, but that whole fun of a night out: a lavish family musical at the Congress, a cracking one-nighter at the Royal Hippodrome, or an intimate thriller at the Devonshire Park. Theatre is for sharing.

But now, with a bit of improvisation and a dash of imagination, you can have your theatre, as-live if not actually live, in your own front room. Either free or at nominal cost, the nation’s very best companies are streaming – nay, cascading – wonderful performances to a sofa near you.

The National Theatre, the RSC, The Globe, the Royal Opera House and many others too numerous to name. Personally, I’m racing to keep up.

And not just the huge national names. The Original Theatre Company, regular Eastbourne visitors, stole a march three weeks ago by filming Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art, and now they have a follow-up online.

Philip Franks’ production of The Croft, a thriller by Ali Milles (pictured), should actually have been touring to the Devonshire Park this week, but – just ahead of the lock-down – this enterprising company captured a performance for streaming.

Right then, let’s try a bit of home theatre. We have drawn the curtains and dimmed the house lights. I’ve even enlisted our actor-daughter – cocooned with us for the duration – as front of house staff and ordered my interval drink.

To match the mood of the play, the director suggests a large whisky or an indulgent mug of steaming hot chocolate, but I’m staying with my usual Devonshire Park tipple of apple and mango. Oh, and mobile phones off, please...

The opening moments beckon us in. Elusive, abstracted music and a single flickering lantern, then lights go up on Adrian Linford’s imaginative set: inside, a crofter’s cottage of dour browns and greys, almost a homage to Hitchcock’s 39 Steps until you take in the wild, streaked sky beyond. And then, like a line from the Scottish Play, a disembodied voice “Let them all come!” Seldom was so much atmosphere captured in a single opening minute.

Suzanne and Laura (splendid acting and great chemistry between Caroline Harker and Lucy Doyle) are up from London and forging a new life and partnership. Their characters are real, engaging and likeable.

Liberal values, though, may not quite have permeated the far reaches of the Highlands, and genial neighbour David (Drew Cain) betrays his reservations in a skilfully judged portrayal, coded with enigmatic comments. “You’re walking on the same floor as hundreds of years of crofters.” “It’s not for everyone, this land. You have to have it in your blood.”

No more, in this review, of the expertly crafted plot, but storm-clouds are glowering and gathering. This same simple cottage has another story from another century, played out in angry conflict between Simon Roberts‘ callous landlord and Gwen Taylor’s achingly wronged tenant, shawl-shrouded and scathing.

This intriguing, often heart-pounding drama has both actors and audience trapped between the real and the unreal, the past and the present, the dark and the light. Always nuanced, never cliched, the writing and the playing will grip you like a vice. Accomplished and genuinely compelling.

And that home-theatre experience? It works very much better than you might imagine. Skilful but unobtrusive camera-work brings the action really close: you will feel like privileged front-stalls patrons, rather than distant dress-circle punters. There is an intimacy with the actors, with their emotions, their laughter and their very real fear.

Warm applause from the sofa, house lights up, and head for home. Oh no – I am already there! And a little ashamed that the whole experience had cost me just £2.50. Time to head back to the Original Theatre website and top up the donation. We must keep theatre living and breathing, until the live performances return.

Details of downloads are on the company’s website www.originaltheatre.com