National Theatre Live has been screening theatre shows in cinemas since 2009, priding themselves on giving the audiences “the best seat in the house.” The professionally filmed, high-quality versions of these stage shows are shown across the UK, as well as sometimes internationally.
Additionally, subscription service National Theatre At Home charges £9.99 a month for access to a catalogue of over 80 shows. This makes theatre available on a far larger scale than ever before. But how does this change the experience of theatre?
Mass-marketing theatre to become something digital and available online seems like the antithesis of theatre: a live, communal experience. It is definitely true that the feeling of sitting in an audience, in the same room as the actors, and isolated from the outside world is irreplaceable. The suspense as the lights go down and conversations trail off; the reactions of the people next to you; the collective focus on one point of the room is, for me, a huge part of the appeal of theatre.
And it is true that digital theatre lacks a sense of this liveness – though cinema is still a communal experience, recliner chairs and popcorn just do not compare to the feeling of sitting in a packed audience. Additionally, the filming is definitely a different experience: the “best seat in the house” is great, but it does remove you somewhat from the live element of theatre (and sometimes the actors are acting specifically for theatre, or camera – both of which are confusing in this hybrid form).
Despite all of this, National Theatre Live has a key strength – it engages huge audiences.
By playing nationally (and internationally), audiences are able to engage with the National Theatre even if they live somewhere where they could not be there in person: it is important as a vehicle through which to make theatre available and accessible to all. This is a necessity in the notoriously London-centric, often elitist theatre landscape, and increasing access to theatre in a time when people are continually being priced-out of going to the theatre.
Shows like Prima Facie, a courtroom play about sexual assault starring Jodie Comer, captured audiences: this was certainly a great show, and the intimate monologue style really worked with the process of filming. Additionally, being able to see productions like Othello, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime whilst studying for my A-Levels, was hugely influential in bringing course texts off the page.
At around £20 a ticket, seeing shows in the cinema is often far easier and more affordable than going to theatre – using film to reach a wider net of people in this way is a huge achievement.
Not all theatres can afford to produce recorded work – and as such, perhaps the National Theatre is sidelining regional theatres in favour of making famous actors and productions more widely available. However, as a gateway into theatre, as well as broadly appealing to many theatregoers anyway, it’s hard to see this as the most significant downfall.
Currently showing on NT Live is Max Webster’s gloriously camped up take on Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, starring Sex Education and Doctor Who’s Ncuti Gatwa. Additionally, cold war satire Dr. Strangelove is in cinemas – which sees Steve Coogan in four roles.
Though it is not the same as theatre in person, and despite the fact that there is loads of live theatre happening in Edinburgh, a visit to the cinema to see a National Theatre Live play is a fun way to see a variety of great plays without travelling too far!
Image by “National Theatre, London” by Aurelien Guichard from London, United Kingdom is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.