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 role in A Country Practice, Dodwell has also appeared with some of the country’s most revered theatre companies, including Belvoir, Royal Queensland Theatre Company, the State Theatre Company of South Australia and Sydney Theatre Company. Sidhu is a founding member of the Riverland Youth Theatre, one of Australia’s longest running regional theatre companies, and has had a significant presence in the independent theatre scene in Australia for many years. As one of the nation’s foremost television producers, Hiscock has brought his considerable experience working with film to the process of capturing live theatre for the screen.
“Australia produces world-class theatre, and Australian National Theatre Live will give audiences across Australia the opportunity to experience some of the best productions available – good theatre will no longer just be for metropolitan audiences,” Dodwell said of the new initiative. “Our ultimate aim is to stimulate a greater interest in live theatre, to encourage and promote writers, performers and practitioners, and create a resource for students and theatre lovers across the country.”
Australian National Theatre Live launches in Melbourne on April 22 and Sydney April 27.
Comments
Log in to join the conversation.