National Theatre Live

I can't recommend this enough!

Britain's National Theatre regularly holds screenings around the world of theatre productions currently on in London. This weekend will be the screening of The Comedy of Errors with Lenny Henry playing the main character and one of my favourite British actresses, Claudie Blakley. This production had rave reviews from the Daily Mail as well as The Guardian. A chance to get a prime theatre seat at less than prime prices! It's $25 for Palace Club holders or $27 for adults. See the NT Live website for details of your nearest cinema. The National Theatre's official The Comedy of Errors website has links to the trailer and other resources.

They also have a Resources page relating to other current and past productions, as well as the opportunity to purchase Digital Programmes of NT Live productions.

The National Theatre has been doing an excellent job in selecting its most entertaining, challenging and thought-provoking productions to share with us (many of which have been recently nominated for prestigious Olivier Awards), including:

• A new adaptation of Frankenstein by Nick Dear, in which Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch alternated the roles of the Doctor and the Monster on successive evenings, highlighting the duality of the characters
• The crowd-pleasing modern take on commedia dell'arte and the classic gender-bending mistaken identity Shakespearesque scenario - One Man, Two Guvnors
• The imaginative The Collaborators by Trainspotting writer John Hodge,  which creatively re-creates 1930s Moscow and the interactions between dissident playwright Mikahil Bulgakov and Joseph Stalin, for whom he has been asked to write a celebratory play or see his friends "disappear"

You can see a full list of previous NT Live productions here. Unfortunately, the NT has no plans at this stage to release these recordings for purchase.

NT Live is one of a number of exciting digital initiatives allowing people around the world access to performances and exhibitions they may not otherwise be able to see unless prepared to travel. Other similar schemes include The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD and the recent screening of a walk-through of the "Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan" exhibition from the National Gallery, London (which, sadly, I missed).