Jesus Christ Superstar: The Concert
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London

The Comedy of Errors
Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester

Blindness
Donmar Warehouse, London

For five months, digital creativity has allowed theatres – and, indeed, theatre critics – to maintain a presence during the pandemic. But since the start of August the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has permitted the restoration of live performances, subject to various mitigations against viral transmission, such as distancing on stage, and no programmes or paper ticketing. So, in another of the summer’s adjustments, this week’s column previews (unseen) rather than reviewing the first returners.

One of the productions has, appropriately, a protagonist associated with dramatic comebacks. Jesus Christ Superstar, in a tensely staged and thrillingly sung production by Timothy Shearer, has had two runs in recent years at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, plus a transfer to the Barbican Theatre, and a US tour. Now it reappears in the London park, in a “concert staging” (to accommodate DCMS spacing rules), and with only 390 of the theatre’s 1,256 seats on sale at each of nine weekly performances (from 14 August to 27 September).