Plum Viewing
Welcome to the latest edition of Plum Viewing, my weekly roundup of arts and culture to enjoy online.
Hello lovely readers. Well, as you will have noticed, Plum is coming to you today on a Saturday because, through no fault of its own, this has been a week! So, instead of pouring yourself a glass of wine, pour that second cup of coffee and enjoy this week’s picks.
New York Theater Workshop recently brought us this powerful play, Sanctuary City. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s the description: “DREAMers. Love(r)s. Life-long friends. Negotiating the promise of safety and the weight of responsibility, they’ll fight like hell to establish a place for themselves and each other in America.”
Written by Martyna Majok and directed by Rebecca Frecknall, Sanctuary City received much praise for its intelligent handling of the very challenging issue of race and immigration in America. I’m thrilled that NYTW is offering this as part of its streaming service. To my mind, this is the role of the arts: to take topics that are messy and complicated and force us to think about them differently. So important. Mr. Fairs and I will definitely be tuning into this. You can stream the performance until Nov 21. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased here.
The Royal Opera House in London is back to full operations but thankfully, they are also continuing to offer performances through their streaming service. I stumbled on this gem, Alice’s Adventure Under Ground, which premiered in 2020. It’s the dizzying world of Alice, brought to wonderful and touching life. We follow a kaleidoscope of characters into a world gone deliciously mad. The Guardian gave it 5 stars and described it as “brilliant in every surreal detail.”
It’s streaming until December 5. Tickets are 12.50 GBP (approx. $22 Cdn) and you can reserve your ticket here.
Ok, if you have been reading Plum Viewing, you KNOW I am a big fan of Hannah Moscovitch. And her latest play, Post Democracy, is currently streaming as part of Stratford Festival’s StratFest@Home service. As a quick refresh, Post Democracy explores power, privilege and corruption. Here’s the description: “Welcome to the world of the 1%, the corporate elite, the “C-suite” — the “king-makers” whose influence flows through every aspect of our lives virtually unnoticed. When a CEO and his top executives are on a business trip for a major deal, a damaging sex scandal at the company is unearthed back home. As the pressure to complete the deal mounts, more secrets come to the surface, endangering the CEO’s company, his family, and his legacy. What happens to morality when human beings have limitless power?”
You can enjoy this (and SO much more) for $10 a month and here’s a link to this performance.
Internationally famed violin soloist Hilary Hahn recently performed Dvořák’s Concerto with the Montreal Orchestra and lucky for us the recording is available to stream until December 7. Here’s what we can look forward to: Dvořák, Violin Concerto in A minor, op. 53 (32 min.) Brahms, Symphony no. 2 in D major, op. 73 (40 min.)
Beautiful. Tickets are $20 and you reserve yours here.
And, to end this delicious delight. I love Miriam Margolyes. Honestly, who wouldn’t? She is pure, unabashed joy. Here is a short film by Lucy Darwin, who offered to drive Miriam from her home in Italy to London at the height of Europe’s spring Covid wave in 2021. Along the way, Miriam regaled Lucy with hilarious stories from her career and her opinions on Brexit and the royal family, as she approached her 80th birthday and the release of her autobiography. It is 27 minutes so well spent. I LOVE how the description reads, “Strong language”. It’s Miriam. Of course there is strong language. God bless her!!
Ok, that’s it. See you next week!
And, an ask: While we’re enjoying these wonderful performances, let’s remember that for the arts organizations producing this incredible content, this is their livelihood; not a hobby. If we can, now is our time to continue to support our incredible arts community!
And, if you’d like to receive Plum Viewing weekly, send me a note at maggiefairs@gmail.com and I will add you to my mailing list.