Teeth 'n' Smiles
This year's 50th-anniversary production of David Hare's drama about a 60s rock band's unravelling makes for a fascinating evening. The music is by brothers Nick and Tony Bicât, and Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem contributes a new number, Maggie's Song, that sits neatly alongside their work. All the tunes are on a cast recording best played on repeat. Altogether now: “Don’t let the bastards come near you. They just want to prove you’re sane.”
Chewing Gum Dreams
In September, London's Theatre503 and tiata fahodzi revive Michaela Coel's sparky, name-making monologue. On NT at Home you can watch Coel herself perform this whirlwind tour of a 14-year-old girl's world, from the top deck of the 67 bus to nightclubs, chemists and the classroom.
Romeo and Juliet
After 14 years as artistic director of Canada's Stratford Festival, Antoni Cimolino steps down this season, with Jonathan Church taking over in the autumn. The archive at Stratfest@Home includes Cimolino's 1992 Romeo, opposite Megan Porter Follows of Anne of Green Gables fame.
Marco da Silva Ferreira: F*cking Future
Portuguese choreographer Marco da Silva Ferreira's “subtly intoxicating” protest piece had “a somewhat 3am vibe”, according to our critic Lyndsey Winship when it played Sadler's Wells East in June. It was captured at the Lyon Dance Biennale in 2025 and is available on Arte.tv.
Hamlet
Hiran Abeysekera's irreverent Prince of Denmark, wearing a Blockbuster Video sweater, can be rented via a National Theatre at Home subscription. Filmed at the Lyttelton theatre, Robert Hastie's production was part of Indhu Rubasingham's opening programme, with Francesca Mills's Ophelia roundly praised.
The Pansy Craze
Mason Alexander Park hosts an epic series celebrating queer performers through the ages, from the Elizabethan era to the eponymous 1930s parties. It is billed as blending “the dazzle of a cabaret with the intimacy of a piano bar”, with Laverne Cox, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sasha Velour also starring. From Audible.
Murder at the Gates
Stranger Things' Gaten Matarazzo, who makes his West End debut in Rent in September, features on this new musical concept album by Steven Sater and James Bourne. It revolves around an heiress's murder mystery party that goes spectacularly wrong.
Humo
Rafaela Carrasco's flamenco ballet tells the story of 19th-century cigarreras, the women who made and sold cigars, in factories and at fiestas, as they fight for emancipation. With a stage dressed in just a few flowers and chairs, it is richly atmospheric, with the ensemble sometimes puffing away. On Arte.tv.
