Theater to Stream: Shakespeare Villains and Hot-Tub Dreams – The New York Times

Dinner with Gertrude and Lillian

Caryl Churchills Top Girls engineered a meeting between female historical figures. Little Wars, Steven Carl McCaslands new play, also sticks with literary heroines. When a dinner party includes Lillian Hellman (Juliet Stevenson) and Gertrude Stein (Linda Bassett, wondrous in Escaped Alone at the Brooklyn Academy of Music), the conversation could get interesting. Through Feb. 14; broadwayondemand.com

L.A. Theater Works specializes in audio theater with startlingly good casts, and its impressive catalog keeps growing. The latest offering is Hannie Raysons eco-minded Extinction, with a cast that includes Sarah Drew and Joanne Whalley. Hankering for the days of before? Check out the last two productions Theater Works recorded in front of a live audience, early last year: a commissioned adaptation of Frankenstein by Kate McAll, starring Stacy Keach as the creature; and Qui Nguyens semi-autobiographical Vietgone, inspired by his Vietnamese refugee parents, and directed by Tim Dang. latw.org

Theater or something companies are calling theater by mail is alive and well. Ars Novas P.S. project has been going on since November; the second season of the Artistic Stamp companys epistolary project is underway, with a third beginning soon; and next month, Arena Stage is starting Ken Ludwigs Dear Jack, Dear Louise: Love Letter Experience.

The most ambitious initiative yet may well be Post Theatrical, which encompasses 13 mail-based theatrical experiences from companies in the United States, Lebanon and Hong Kong. Through June 30; posttheatrical.org

Remember Yorick, the jester whose skull plays a big part in Hamlet? He takes center stage in Francisco Reyess solo with puppets Yorick, la Historia de Hamlet/Yorick, the Story of Hamlet, presented by the Los Angeles contempory-arts center Redcat. American audiences may know Reyes from his role as Orlando in the Chilean movie A Fantastic Woman. In English with Spanish subtitles. Feb. 12-14; redcat.org

If youre wondering about the back story to the French song in that Allstate commercial, its Non, je ne regrette rien, made famous by Edith Piaf. And if you missed the biopic La Vie en Rose, head over to Raquel Brittons docu-concert Piaf Her Story Her Songs, brought to us by Broadways Best Shows and the Actors Fund. Feb. 15-18; actorsfund.org

For tunes in English, turn to Theater Forward, an organization that supports regional theater, which will offer performances by Jason Robert Brown, Kate Baldwin, George Salazar, Anika Noni Rose, Shaina Taub, Branden Noel Thomas, Taylor Iman Jones and the Bengsons for its annual benefit. Feb. 8; theatreforward.org

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Theater to Stream: Shakespeare Villains and Hot-Tub Dreams - The New York Times