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Three major London theatre productions have been announced to make their screen debuts in cinemas later this year, as they enter the repertoire of the National Theatre’s NT Live programme.
If the previous sentence means nothing to you, then basically NT Live involves high quality, multi-camera recordings of live theatre performances that are subsequently broadcast into cinemas the world over, often for years to come. Sometimes the first screening will literally be live, more often they will be recorded in front of a live audience but broadcast at a later date. Although most of the filmed shows are staged in the National Theatre, NT Live stretches to a lot of other venues too.
Without further ado then, the new shows being screened are Mrs Warren’s Profession, The Fifth Step, and Hamlet.
The legendary Imelda Staunton will make her latest of many NT Live entries with the current West End run of the Bernard Shaw classic Mrs Warren’s Profession, which hits cinemas October 23. Dominic Cooke’s revival of the decades-ahead-of-its-time morality drama also stars Staunton’s actual daughter Bessie Carter, who plays the estranged daughter of Staunton’s eponymous brothel madame.
Hitting cinemas on November 27, The Fifth Step is just wrapping up its run at @sohoplace in the West End. Written by endlessly provocative playwright David Ireland, the sell-out hit stars big names Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden as two men who become friends and then bitter enemies via the Alcoholics Anonymous programme.
Finally, Hamlet, a play that needs no introduction, not least to NT Live viewers: the 2015 Barbican production starring Benedict Cumberbatch has been a mainstay of the cinema streaming service for a decade now, and will doubtless continue to be so for years to come. Nonetheless, a single version of Shakespeare’s masterpiece doesn’t reflect how many major productions it gets – so this will be a welcome chance to get a new one in the system. Starring Olivier-winner Hiran Abeysekera, the production will be the first National Theatre show of new artistic director Indhu Rubasingham’s tenure to get the cinema treatment. Hamlet will be in cinemas from January 22, 2026.
Head here for full NT Live listings, with other previously announced shows coming up including a live broadcast on September 4 of the much anticipated, Rosamund Pike-starring Inter Alia.
Review: Jamie Lloyd’s Evita, starring Rachel Zegler.
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