News round-up: Constellations, Criminal Record and Central’s support for young actors

4 May 2024 10:36

Constellations on National Theatre at Home

The wait is over! Stunning play Constellations, starring Zoë and Peter Capaldi, is now available to watch worldwide on National Theatre at Home. Recorded during its acclaimed 2021 West End run, Constellations is an intimate two-hander about a couple whose relationship, by turns heart-warming and heart-breaking, is charted across multiple parallel universes. In other words, you see different versions of their story.

The plot may sound complicated, but don’t worry. The simplicity of the staging, in addition to the beauty and authenticity of the performances, will keep your feet on the ground, as you can tell from the superb clips from Constellations released by National Theatre at Home.

Reviewing the production in 2021 (in an article containing spoilers), the Evening Standard memorably summed it up as ‘a short, sharp, smart hit of first-class drama that humanises the randomness of the universe’. More recently, the show has caught the Guardian’s attention: it appears on the newspaper’s list of the best theatre to stream this month.

Criminal Record on Apple TV+

If you’d also like to see Zoë and Peter Capaldi take on entirely different roles, you won’t want to miss Criminal Record season one on Apple TV+. All eight episodes of this fresh, powerful crime drama are available to watch worldwide now.

In Criminal Record, Zoë plays Maureen Lenker, the fragile mother of sharp, up-and-coming East London police detective June (Cush Jumbo). Although proud of her daughter, Maureen’s relationship with the police is strained – she’s haunted by her late husband’s experience of institutional racism many years before June joined the force.

When an anonymous phone call casts doubt on a long-standing murder conviction, June’s investigation leads her to a formidable veteran detective, Daniel Hegarty (Capaldi) – and risks putting her family in danger.

Criminal Record’s plot is complex and rich. ‘The scenes with [June’s] mother (Zoe Wanamaker) and partner (Stephen Campbell Moore) hint at so much more to be told, so everything crossed for a new series,’ remarks The Herald. Thankfully, a second season could well be on the horizon, according to the Radio Times and other news sources.

Supporting ‘the next generation of theatre makers’ at Central

London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where Zoë trained, has announced it will no longer charge audition fees for undergraduate and diploma acting courses. The aim is to make Central’s training more accessible to students from all backgrounds.

As Central’s Vice-President, Zoë has spoken enthusiastically about the news, emphasising that greater diversity will enrich the arts as a whole:

‘I’m honoured to support Central’s initiative to eliminate audition fees and to help remove some of the financial barriers that aspiring artists face in accessing training. This will no doubt help to pave the way for a more accessible, diverse, and inclusive industry. In these difficult times we must all unite to support and empower the next generation of theatre makers and artists.’

As the Guardian points out, ‘Central is the most prestigious drama school to drop audition fees’ to date. The school will also introduce travel grants and continue to offer bursaries.

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