PISSED JULIE

Nine Years Theatre is the latest local theatre company to offer free content on its YouTube channel.

The group has lined up four plays for week-long runs during the circuit breaker month.

The streaming started on Thursday last week with An Enemy Of The People. Pissed Julie is streaming until Wednesday. Lear Is Dead and Faust/Us will round out the final two weeks of the programme.

Pissed Julie is the troupe's unusual take on August Strindberg's 1888 play Miss Julie.

While the original play was a landmark naturalistic drama, Nine Years' collaboration with the Macau Arts Festival offers a distinctly surreal take.

The characters of Julie and Jean are each played by three actors presenting different aspects of the characters at the same moment in time. The play also earned director Nelson Chia the Life Theatre Award for Best Director last year.

ADMISSION: Free INFO: str.sg/Jg8q

EVACOMICS STAY HOME COLOURING BOOKLET

Home-grown comic artist Evangeline Neo, who has published a series of travelogues starring her virtual pets Kopi and Matcha, has created a cute colouring booklet.

It is free to download from her Telegram channel (str.sg/Jg8V).

The first four pages are public service announcement-style illustrations, but subsequent pages contain quirky travel-themed illustrations with her signature characters.

Fans will know Neo loves Japan, and some of the quirky panels reflect this with scenes of cartoon character Eva and her pets in assorted Japanese settings. The quirkiest one is of Godzilla Eva stomping through a Japanese city. This is a good way to occupy both kids and adults on a rainy afternoon.

ADMISSION: Free INFO: str.sg/Jg8V

YOSHITSUNE SENBON ZAKURA (YOSHITSUNE AND THE THOUSAND CHERRY TREES)

If you miss Japan, tune in to this free kabuki programme uploaded by the National Theatre Japan (NTJ).

While there are no subtitles, there is a lengthy English summary on NTJ's website (str.sg/Jgp9).

Some kabuki performances are long - they can run for an entire day. But this one is a 100-minute presentation of an 18th-century tale about a pair of brothers who fall out over power. General Yoshitsune is suspected by his brother, the shogun Yoritomo, of treason.

The play opens with Yoshitsune fleeing for his life. Yoshitsune's lover Shizuka catches up with him at Kyoto's famed Fushimi Inari shrine to demand that he take her with him.

Expect dramatic kabuki set pieces - there is a hypnotic slow-motion sword duel midway - and dazzlingly intricate costumes which are much better appreciated in this close-up view than in live theatre.

Having the synopsis nearby will also be super handy because of the lack of subtitles in the video.

ADMISSION: Free INFO: str.sg/Jgpj

KEBAYA HOMIES

This play sold out its short five-day run at the Esplanade in January this year. For those who missed it, here is a chance to catch the play on streaming platform Vimeo, where The Necessary Stage is making it available on a pay-per-view basis.

Actors Aidli Mosbit and Siti Khalijah Zainal shine in this showcase, which makes full use of their stage charisma and easy chemistry for a rollicking investigation of Singapore Malay wokeness.

Playwright Haresh Sharma's script stitches together characters and scenes from previous plays into a new quilt that explores topics ranging from the hijab to the Arabicisation of Malay culture.

Smart and funny, this is the best $4.99 you can spend this weekend.

ADMISSION: $4.99 for a week's access INFO: str.sg/JgSi