The creative industries have given us even more entertainment this week, making it easier to have the safe version of a night out from the comfort of your sofa. If you’ve completed Nexflix and want something different, here are a few top picks that you might like to try.

Once again, the BBC’s Culture in Quarantine arts hub is well worth a look if you need a one stop shop, with latest highlights including multiple performances to mark the anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, lockdown reads, and a celebration of World Book Night.

Now, on to some more of this week’s best offerings…

Theatre, dance & more

National Theatre Live continues apace on YouTube, and from now until the 29th April you can watch William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, starring Tamsin Greig, for free. Watch here.

And a National Theatre Live heads up for next week! On 30th April and the 1st of May, you can watch Danny Boyle’s 2011 stage adaptation of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller.

Hampstead Theatre is showing Tiger Country for free, a hospital drama written and directed by Nina Raine that entertainingly entwines multiple stories in an extraordinary workplace, full of professionals under pressure. Starring Indira Varma. Watch here.

Chickenshed Theatre presents their latest show, Waiting For the Ship to Sail. It is an artistic response to the urgent and pressing questions of global migration, and investigates the concepts of national and personal identity. Stream it here.

The Globe Theatre is streaming the classic crowd pleaser Romeo and Juliet (2009 performance) for free until May 3, watch here.

Prefer a musical? From Friday 24th April at 7pm for 48 hours only you can watch Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of The Opera, starring Ben Lewis as The Phantom and Anna O’Byrne as Christine. Stream it via The Shows Must Go On channel.

In the mood for opera? Watch The Royal Opera House’s full version of Gloriana from any time after 7pm on the 24th of April onwards on YouTube.

Or maybe you’re in the mood for some spooky ballet. Watch The Royal Ballet’s The Metamorphosis for free online here, where a dark, surrealist nightmare is conjured up in Arthur Pita’s dance-theatre adaptation of Kafka’s novella.

For a low cost pay-per-view (two plays for £5), you can watch The Habit Of Art by Alan Bennett, directed by Philip Franks and starring Matthew Kelly and David Yelland at Original Theatre Online.

Comedy

Dublin comedy club The Laughter Lounge is staging a live Comedians of the World gig tonight with ten international comedians, including Scott Capurro, livestreaming in from their homes on Friday 24th April at 8.30pm (links go live at 8.15pm). It’s free, but you need to sign in. Join them here.

Bristol’s Slapstick Festival is adding a new free Laughter in Lockdown show every Friday. The latest is a recording of the closing gig of this year’s event, a recreation of the classic, anarchic radio comedy I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again, starring some the original cast, including Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and the late Tim Brooke-Taylor. Watch now.

Art / exhibitions

The Royal Academy of Art is screening Exhibition On Screen: David Hockney RA. Originally released in cinemas, this film takes you around two landmark exhibitions by the iconic British artist. Sit back and enjoy 2012’s ‘A Bigger Picture’, and ‘82 Portraits and One Still-Life’ from 2016. Watch now.

Tate has a curator’s tour about Andy Warhol to watch for free too.

That’s it from me for the moment – have a relaxing weekend.