What to Watch Online: BenDeLaCreme, 12 Seconds Max, and More
As artists find new ways to connect, things are getting weird and wonderful
By Gemma Wilson April 14, 2020
4/17 and 4/15
BenDeLaCreme: Terminally Detained
This hometown drag hero may have recently relocated, but no matter, I’m a forever fan of her perpetually perky persona, and the seriously clever writing chops she brings to all her shows. Terminally Detained, a new quarantine-centric show (part of Digital Drag Fest 2020), includes both original music, parodies and stories, as well as selections from her popular solo shows including Terminally Delightful and Ready to be Committed. I’ve never used the Stageit platform on which this show is being presented, but it prides itself on being an intimate digital space: “Stageit is an online venue where artists perform live, interactive, monetized shows for their fans directly from a laptop, offering fans unique experiences that are never archived.”
4/17–5/3
Nexus
Playwright Danielle Mohlman wasn’t looking for a way to pivot her work to the digital realm, but when an idea presented itself organically, she went for it: why not ask real-life actor couples, isolating together at home, to perform her two-person play, Nexus, live over Zoom? The idea caught fire among the stuck-at-home-actor set, and every night of this three-week run a different couple will perform the play, about two people who meet at a bus stop in Washington, DC, and spend three years falling in and out of love with each other.
4/19–4/20
12 Minutes Max: The 12 Second Edition
The constraints of longstanding performance festival 12 Minutes Max have been catalyzing local creativity since 1981. Now, 2020 12MM curator Alyza Delpan-Monley has evolved the idea for our current conditions. Over the course of two nights, 60 videos from artists around the world, all 12 seconds or less, will premiere on Instagram Live via @Baseartspace, the social media home of Base: Experimental Arts + Space in Georgetown.
Through 4/24
Fleabag
The stage version of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, which was a popular solo show before it became a runaway TV hit, was filmed live at London’s National Theatre, and that film version is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime. All proceeds from the $5 rental cost (outside of taxes) will go to charities dedicated to supporting those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including some funds dedicated specifically to providing relief for freelancers and artists.
Dina Martina: Remakes from the 80’s
This adored, deranged songstress has glorified our quarantine experience with a mini-deluge of new YouTube videos, including this bizarro in-faux-mercial (yuk yuk) peddling a perfectly weird creation: “Remakes from the 80’s, a 10-DVD set of 80s music videos. But hold on! They’re not sung by the original artists. They’re sung by me. Why remake them you ask? I think you and I both know that the original versions weren’t very good.”
The Public Theatre: Much Ado About Nothing
For some high-quality light comedy, off-Broadway behemoth The Public released a streaming version of Much Ado About Nothing from its summer 2019 Shakespeare in the Park series. Danielle Brooks (Orange Is the New Black) stars as Beatrice, and discerning Seattle theater viewers will recognize Lateefah Holder as Dogberry; she starred in local company The Williams Project’s 2018 production of Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day.
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