National Theatre At Home will stream NT Live productions for free, starting with One Man, Two Guvnors starring James Corden on 2 April, and give students and teachers access to the National Theatre Collection at home, delivered in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing.
Each production will be screened live on Thursday at 7PM GMT, and then be available on demand for seven days. Accompanying the productions, there will also be interactive content such as Q&As with cast and creative teams and post-stream talks.
Other productions to be included are Sally Cookson’s adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre on 9 April, Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island on 16 April and Twelfth Night on the 23 April featuring Tamsin Greig as Malvolia, with further titles to be announced.
Lisa Burger, Executive Director and Joint Chief Executive, said, “we have delved into the National Theatre Live archive and curated a programme that’s varied from comedy to new dramas to classics so there is something for everyone to enjoy from their own homes. We will be streaming each production at the same time each week in order to recreate, where possible, the communal viewing experience and we hope this will be an opportunity for people to share their enjoyment together online."
Pupils studying at home will now be able to access remotely the National Theatre Collection, which includes recordings of 24 productions from 10 years of NT Live broadcasts and never-before-released productions from the National Theatre’s Archive. It’s available now for free to pupils and teachers at state schools and state-funded further education colleges. Schools will be able to share log-in details with pupils to access the National Theatre Collection at home during this period. Bloomsbury Publishing has also extended the free trial period for other academic institutions including universities, libraries and independent schools until the end of May 2020.
Alice King-Farlow, Director of Learning at the National Theatre, said, “given the unprecedented challenges we are all currently facing across the globe, we want to ensure that pupils, teachers and academic institutions are supported during this time and can continue to have access to a range of learning resources during the school closure period. The National Theatre Collection is an invaluable resource and, with thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing, we are able to open up access to pupils and teachers across the UK and ensure young people will be able to continue to explore world-class productions and all aspects of theatre-making”.