The new cinema venture, which will screen Australian theatre productions, will mirror similar offerings from the UK and Europe.

Offering cinema screenings of stage works has become an increasingly popular tool for opera and theatre companies all over the world, eager to engage with a broader public. Australians have had the pleasure of enjoying some superb presentations from overseas, but now a new initiative is aiming to champion homegrown theatre successes on the silver screen. 

Australian National Theatre Live will produce filmed versions of popular Australian productions from a range of companies across the country. Launching in April with a presentation of the Sydney-based Griffin Theatre Company’s staging of David Williamson’s Emerald City, the specially filmed production will have its onscreen premiere in Melbourne and Sydney, before being rolled out across Australia. Later this year, Sydney Theatre Company’s famous Wharf Revue, Griffin Theatre’s production of Mary Rachel Brown’s The Dapto Chaser and Geoffrey Atheron’s Liberty Equality Fraternity will also be screened as part of the new venture.

Australian National Theatre Live is the brainchild of Grant Dodwell, Raj Sidhu and Peter Hiscock, who between them boast an impressive track-record for presenting theatre in Australia. Best known for his Logie Award-winning...