Under Milk Wood
National Theatre, London

One lockdown survival tactic for theatres has been audio plays, recorded at home and web- streamed. Able to reopen – though with Covid precautions for audience and performers – the National Theatre has, perhaps counter-intuitively, staged a radio play, Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood.

A justification is that the production has a cast largely made up of older character actors, including Siân Phillips, 88, and multiple ­septuagenarians. This impressive senior ­representation reflects a rare positive ­consequence of the pandemic – double-jabbed, older actors are, unusually, more employable and insurable than the young.