David Farnor | On 01, Dec 2020

National Theatre is going digital with the launch of its new streaming platform, National Theatre at Home.

The streaming service builds on the theatre’s online success this year, which itself was built on its long-running commitment to filming it productions for screening in cinemas. With theatres and cinemas shut due to the coronavirus pandemic, the National Theatre streamed 16 NT Live recordings on YouTube for free, each one available for a week. Now, as theatres prepare to reopen following a second lockdown in England, the National Theatre is doubling down on its digital strategy with a new streaming service bringing its NT Live archive online permanently.

The service, hosted by Vimeo, offers both transactional and subscription options, with each play available to rent for 72 hours for £5.99 (an archive play recording) or £7.99 (an NT Live recording). Alternatively, a monthly subscription costs £9.98 or an annual subscription costs £99.98.

A subscription gives unlimited access to the platform’s catalogue, as well as access to behind-the-scenes content and early access to titles. All videos include closed captioning for d/Deaf and hard of hearing audiences. Audio described versions are also on the way.

New plays will be added to the platform each month. For now, the service hosts 11 filmed productions: Amadeus, Othello, Phèdre, Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, Medea, I Want My Hat Back, Mosquitoes, Dara, the Donmar’s Coriolanus and the Young Vic’s Yerma.

National Theatre at Home is available as an app on on iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV and Roku TV devices, or through any web browser.

For our reviews of digital theatre productions, click here – or for our full guide to streaming theatre plays at home, click here.

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