Alumni news: June edition

While we may not be able to visit theatres at the moment, there are still plenty of opportunities to catch the work of our alumni. Whether they are starring in the latest TV drama, performing monologues for charity or directing short films on YouTube, here are just a few highlights (including from current students and our LAMDA Director).

What’s new this month  

• Natasha Chivers designed the lighting for Gravity Fatigue, which you can watch via Sadler’s Wells YouTube channel and Facebook page until 5 June. 

• Olivier award winning show A Monster Calls will be available on the Old Vic’s YouTube channel from 5-11 June, directed by Sally Cookson and starring Matthew Tennyson.

• Patrick Robinson and Elliot Edusah star in Sitting in Limbo, premiering on BBC One on 8 June.   

• Rodrigo Beilfuss stars in Timon of Athens at Stratford Festival, streaming worldwide on the Stratford Festival YouTube channel until 11 June. 

• Julie Hesmondhalgh is providing the voiceover for the BBC’s Celebrity Supply Teacher series with a new episode airing on CBBC every morning from 8 to 12 June.  

• Tune in to Shoe Lady, starring Katherine Parkinson broadcast the weekend of 13-14 June as part of Lockdown Theatre Festival on Radio 4.  

• Annie May Fletcher and Alexandra Faye Braithwaite have designed the sound and music for The Understudy, a brand-new online play available to stream until 26 June. Click here to watch. 

• Brian Cox performed John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues as part of Scenes for Survival for BBC Scotland. Catch it here.  

• Listen to Natalie Simpson narrate Les Misérables for Penguin Classics on Audible.  

• Recorded remotely, Gerard Fletcher features in BBC Radio 4’s The Citadel which can be streamed on the BBC’s website. He also stars in Get Even available to watch on BBC iPlayer.  ​​​​​

• Listen to Mischief Makers, a podcast from Mischief Theatre giving a behind the scenes insight to their productions. 

• John Lithgow stars in new TV series Perry Mason, premiering on HBO on 21 June. Watch the trailer.  

• PTASS alum Natasha Houghton is co-creator and presenter of the new backstage podcast Production meetings. They have just topped 1,000 downloads. Listen to it here. 

• Yolanda Ovide performed as part of online fundraiser An Evening For Mental Wellbeing, hosted on The Show Must Go Online’s YouTube channel. You can watch the fundraiser here. 

• Season 2 of Deep State starring Alistair Petrie has been released in the UK on Amazon Prime.  

• Unprecedented, a series of new digital plays written and produced in lockdown is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer. You can see the work of alumni including, Stuart Thompson who stars in Viral, Lisa Kerr and Frances Grey in Going Forward, Katherine Parkinson in Grounded, and Esh Alladi, Paterson Joseph and Rory Kinnear starring in Fear Fatigue. MA Directing graduates Tinuke Craig directs Batshit and Ned Bennett directs The Night After.  

• MA Classical Acting 2019 graduates Eleanor Sturt, James Hyett, Ashley Jonassaint, Hunter Overby, Kyla Druckman, Lonny Weisz, Lennette Randall, Kaitlyn Fronton, Alastar Dimitrie, Adam David, Kacey Musson and current student Lucy Webb are working on Remotely Shakespeare. This new project is a collaboration of actors across three continents. They are rehearsing, performing and filming two separate shows via Zoom. More details to follow. 

• Comedy duo Stiff and Kitsch have written the song ‘We’re Unstoppable’ with James Taylor to raise funds for mental health charities. Catch alum Michelle Schechter and current final year student Imogen Mackie Walker in the music video. 

• Our alumni and current students have been writing and sharing their own work. Watch Lucy Girling’s poem ‘The Girl Who Captured the Sun’ on her twitter @lucegirling. Nathaniel Christian shared his poem ‘Silent Giant’ to mark Mental Health Awareness week. Listen to it here. Hannah Shuck-Hockings performed Shakespeare’s Sonnet 66 for Jermyn Street Theatre. Catch it on Twitter @JSTheatre. The award-winning sketch trio Muriel Comedy have been releasing lockdown sketches on Twitter (@MurielComedy). 

• Dame Harriet Walter will perform Soldiering On as part of Alan Bennett’s monologue collection, Talking Heads available on BBC iPlayer later this month. Director of LAMDA Sarah Frankcom will also direct Maxine Peake in the monologue Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet. 

• Jenny Boyd stars in the second season of Legacies on the CW network.   

• Tara Godolphin performed a monologue for @ClubCoronavirus on Twitter.  

Latest news 

• Billy Postlethwaite and Ekow Quartey have been shortlisted for the 2019 Ian Charleson Awards.  

• Gianna Kiehl stars in season 2 of Hannah on Amazon Prime, to be released worldwide in July.  

• The Old Guard will be released on Netflix in July starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Harry Melling.