ABSTRACT
The year 2009 saw the launch of the National Theatre’s digital broadcasting programme, NT Live. While previous live transmissions of theatre took place on TV or on the internet, NT Live with its reach of about 260 cinema screens in the UK and an additional 390 screens in over 25 countries worldwide marks the beginning of the live broadcast as a nationwide and indeed global large-scale event. 1 Digital broadcast of performances in cinemas had been pioneered by the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2006, and it was followed by other international arts institutions. Nonetheless, the National Theatre in London was the first theatre to attempt the live cinema broadcast of its performances. Since 2009, NT Live has shown 29 productions to a global audience including spectators in the USA, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Germany. The first two experimental broadcasts of NT Live, Phèdre and All’s Well that Ends Well, were made possible by funding from Arts Council England and NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts). For subsequent broadcasts, the National Theatre was able to attract the sponsorship of insurance company AVIVA. NT Live has clearly been a success in terms of audiences, and other theatre companies are following in its footsteps: the Royal Shakespeare Company will broadcast its production of Richard II “in more than 100 cinemas, overseas as well as in Britain.” 2
