If you haven't wanted a production via Digital Theatre yet then you really should check it out. These films of great theatrical productioins (see details below) can be rented or purchased and viewed on-line, off-line, on mobiles and tablets of on Samsung Smart TVs via the app. Ghosts will cost £3.99 to rent, £8.99 to buy or £10.99 to buy in HD. Great value!
This acclaimed production sold out at the Almeida before transferring to the Trafalgar Studios where it played to packed houses, extending its original run due to popular demand. On 26 June, for one night only, Ghosts was screened in over 275 cinemas throughout the UK and Ireland and from 18th September 2014 the production is available on Digital Theatre.
Beautifully filmed to retain as much of the stage atmosphere as possible (which must have been tricky given the lighting) this is a seriously beautiful piece of theatre. Lesley Manville's Helene is completely credible throughout as she moves from stately to strident to broken while Adam Kotz's Pastor Manders is a fabulous foil, unlikeable in the extreme and yet his descent into his own hell leaves us almost with sympathy for him. The cast as a whole are superb, the direction subtle and the design and lighting mesmerizing. In all, a beautifully crafted piece of theatre. Ibsen never leaves you with a song, a joke and a smile but this classic drama, concentrating on one family over 24 hours, has a powerful ability to move us.
I give a 5* to both the original production and to this superbly captured version - a masterclass in how atmospheric theatre can be brought to screen so that those not lucky enough to have got to the theatre can still enjoy the best at its best. Runtime around 96 minutes which simply flies by ...
Digital Theatre work in partnership with leading performing arts companies to capture live performance authentically onscreen and make productions available in High Definition. Productions can be viewed on-line or on Samsung Smart TVs via the Digital Theatre app.
Recent Digital Theatre releases include the Chichester Festival Theatre's production of Private Lives starring Toby Stephens and Anna Chancellor, and Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, brought to the stage by musical theatre legend Maria Friedman. Other productions include: Almeida Theatre's production of King Lear starring Jonathan Pryce, Long Day’s Journey into Night starring David Suchet and Laurie Metcalf, Much Ado About Nothing starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate, Royal Shakespeare Company productions of The Comedy of Errors and As You Like It, the multi award-winning A Doll's House starring Hattie Morahan for the Young Vic, the West End revival of Jonathan Harvey's seminal Beautiful Thing and Frantic Assembly and Abi Morgan's Lovesong.
Digital Theatre also make available the Royal Opera House and Shakespeare's Globe collections. See our blog post about Digital Theatre partnering with StageText.
