Filmed during lockdown, David Tennant and Michael Sheen star as slightly exaggerated versions of themselves. In Staged (on BBC1 and iPlayer), both stars West End play has been put on hold due to Covid-19. However, their director Simon Evans persuades them to rehearse online instead but this doesn’t go completely to plan.
Staged consists of six, fifteen-minute episodes which showcases the struggles we all are or have gone through during lockdown, especially in the entertainment industry. As right now it is a difficult time to be in the creative arts industry such as theatre, films and tv productions have all been put on hold and had to adapt to the new circumstances. Theatres are facing bankruptcy and thousands are losing jobs. These are very uncertain times for this industry and no one knows how they will cope or survive. The arts will always survive in some form and come back but at the moment the arts we have are struggling to know whether they can make it to the end of the year. Individuals have been finding ways to still be creative and produce or plan while on lockdown. There are many limitations but this hasn’t stopped anyone from trying to continue to make work for audiences in some form.
Shot in the homes of all the actors by themselves. This comedy is an original idea by Simon Evan, who also writes, acts and directs, and Phin Glynn. We see Evans attempting to get the two actors to rehearse the play Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, for the West End from their homes. Sheen and Tennant were last seen working together in Good Omens. It is clear that these two actors are friends in real life and have banter. This banter we see in throughout each episode of this show. They have arguments over whose name should go first on the billing order, therefore the episode's credits change as this pair change their or each other’s name such as birth names for Tennant. It is a nice little touch that the credit names change as the pair argue in the following episode, a touch that if you aren’t paying attention you may miss.
It is hard to tell what is scripted and what is improvised. Sheen and Tennant have great dialogue between each other, it feels very natural and realistic. They talk the way you would expect friends to speak to one another. Just like in Good Omens, Sheen and Tennant have great chemistry together and are hilarious. Even though the premise of these six episodes are very simple, which is the actors don’t really want to rehearse this play, it showcases how we all have felt. We praise the NHS; we help neighbours and for some we miss the hairdressers.
We get to see the reality for parents during this lockdown through David and Georgia Tennant. We see them struggling with home schooling as it is difficult to keep children's attention and if you don’t know how to help it makes it a lot harder job. David also writes a script to help pass the time but it is true that this lockdown have given people more time to do things they may have been putting off or never done before. Along with this we see Michael helping his neighbour and we see his concern for her when she becomes ill. This is another thing a lot of us can relate to as a society we have becoming a lot more caring for our neighbours especially the elderly during this time and helping them out a lot more. Michael is helping his neighbour as she caught him putting wine bottles in her recycling bin.
With the main cast of Michael, David, Simon, Anna (Michael's girlfriend) and Georgia, there are also guest appearances of Samuel L Jackson and Julie Dench. These special appearances are a joy to watch and add even more humour to this already very funny series.
Overall, Staged is something that most people can relate too in some way and also shows how the arts will always find a way to carry on. These six episodes are light-hearted and a relief from all the doom and gloom that we are facing right now. Staged will make you laugh and make you feel less alone in how you may have been feeling during lockdown. Very relatable and simple but this show and the entire series is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Episodes include:
Episode 1: Cachu Hwch
Episode 2: Up To No Good
Episode 3: Who the F#!k Is Michael Sheen?
Episode 4: Bara Brith
Episode 5: Ulysses
Episode 6: The Cookie Jar
