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BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Improvement plan and £285k investment for Wantage theatre
A £285,000 revamp of an Oxfordshire town's arts centre has been approved, along with an improvement plan for the money from Vale of White Horse District Council will be spent on refurbishing the Beacon Arts Centre, in part of the action plan, food and drink offerings will be reviewed and "more co-ordinated" marketing will be carried out to boost ticket the council said fees and charges had already been increased at the venue - and would be reviewed again in the middle of the year to "assess if any further commercial opportunities exist". The money will also pay for improving the venue's reception area, refurbishing toilets and creating a more attractive entrance. Originally a Civic Hall built in 1973, The Beacon now has a theatre, dance studio and three function improvements are the second phase of an action plan - and the council said it had already done things like start National Theatre Live screenings and re-introduce a Helen Pighill said the authority had to balance The Beacon's "dual role" as an entertainment venue, aiming to be more commercial, and the "valuable public service" it offered for things like training and said: "The first phase action plan for the Beacon, adopted in February 2024, laid the groundwork for improvements and this next phase addresses outstanding actions, while introducing a comprehensive set of new initiatives."The council said it was also developing a "Culture, Heritage and Creative Industries Strategy" for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
South Wales Argus
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
West End shows coming to Newport at Riverfront Cinema
This month, The Riverfront launched its initiative to bring live theatre to the big screen so that the city centre could experience some of the UK's best productions. One person already enjoying the initiative said: "A West End experience without the travel. "I've been to National Theatre Live screenings before at the cinema and am pleased that The Riverfront is now able to offer similar." The initiative features a repertoire of renowned West End shows, award-winning productions, and National Theatre Live stage plays. Tickets are priced at £12, and £11 for concessions, making it accessible for many to relish the vibrance of live performances amidst the comfort of a cinema. Over the summer, people can catch Les Miserables: The Staged Concert - 40th Anniversary, Jesus Christ Superstar: The Musical Arena Tour, and the National Theatre Live: Dr. Strangelove, among others. Les Misérables, celebrating its 40th year, presents an all-star cast including Michael Ball, Alfie Boe, and Carrie Hope Fletcher in a grandiose display of music and performance on May 17. Jesus Christ Superstar - The Musical Arena Tour, and National Theatre Live: Dr. Strangelove, starring Tim Minchin and Steve Coogan respectively, also promise compelling performances on May 28 and 29 respectively. Ben Foster and Vanessa Kirby are set to show off their talent in National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire - a production of Tennessee Williams' iconic drama on June 5, while Billy Elliot The Musical Live - 20th Anniversary, with music by Elton John, will add to the emotional intensity on June 12. In July, The Riverfront will also screen Bonnie & Clyde The Musical on July 2 and A Night With Janis Joplin The Musical on July 12, each a testament to the versatility of stagecraft. Members of the public can immerse themselves in the energy and emotion of these shows without leaving the city centre. The Riverfront has warmly invited all to book promptly, so as not to miss out on these shows. For tickets and more information, people can visit the Newport Live website or contact the box office directly.
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Dr Strangelove: theatre of the not-so-absurd
I recently had the pleasure of seeing Steve Coogan in the excellent National Theatre Live production of Dr Strangelove at a local cinema. Afterwards, I reread Arifa Akbar's review of the stage show from last year (29 October). Six months down the track, 'an edgy, absurdist story' sadly no longer appears quite so RushtonBridge of Weir, Renfrewshire Re the negative nature of TV news (Letters, 6 April), when my wife and I sit down to watch the news at 10pm, we actually go back to the 6pm news on catch-up. That way, we can fast-forward through the 'may-find-upsettings', the grief interviews, the sex crimes and the vox pops. On a bad-news night we get to bed much MilesHasfield, Gloucestershire It was not Clement Attlee (Letters, 6 April) but Aneurin Bevan, the health minister during Attlee's premiership, who said of doctors that he had had to 'stuff their mouths with gold', by allowing them to do private consultations alongside NHS HoskerHigh Legh, Cheshire Carrying on the great political tradition, isn't it about time that we gave Donald Trump his very own lettuce?Marilyn AdamsBristol Spring is here! I've spotted the first photo of people punting on the River Cam in the paper (9 April).Tony MitchellWorsley, Greater Manchester Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Guardian
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Guide #179: How National Theatre Live brought the magic of the stage to the cinema
Last month I went to the National Theatre to catch The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde's campy, farcical comedy. But unlike other theatre visits, this time I was surrounded by a number of large cameras. This was not due to some crisis in audience etiquette, but because I was watching the live-capture of the onstage performance. As I was enjoying Ncuti Gatwa's Algernon pretending to play piano in a dazzling hot-pink dress, production teams in a number of trucks outside were frantically working to ensure the performance would be optimised for cinema screens across the world. This is, of course, the great operation of National Theatre Live. The initiative launched in June 2009 with Helen Mirren's Phèdre beamed into 70 cinemas across the UK, and has become a resounding success, now featuring in over 850 domestic cinemas and venues, and in thousands of cinemas across the globe. Last year, the theatre celebrated its 100th cinematic release with Nye starring Michael Sheen. With The Importance of Being Earnest opening in UK cinemas last night to an estimated audience of 45,000, and Dr Strangelove premiering next month, National Theatre Live has clearly become a firm fixture of the event cinema landscape. The success of the project was not always guaranteed. Initially, there was a lot of scepticism over whether the experience of watching theatre could truly be replicated on screen, or if the production could match up to Hollywood's ever-advancing cinematography. But as Leo Jordan, head of marketing at the National Theatre, tells me: 'Everybody who gives it a go says the same thing: that it works so amazingly. While we're not ever saying that we're better than going to the theatre in person, if you can't get there it is an amazing, alternative way of watching theatre.' And National Theatre Live shows are not only aired in cinemas – they are played in village halls, community centres, and even on a mobile screen that drives around the Scottish Highlands. What is the secret behind capturing plays for the screen? Director Sam Yates, whose National Theatre Live production Vanya, a one-man adaptation of Anton Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya starring Andrew Scott, says that the key is to 'give the audience the experience of being in the best seat in the house in the theatre, but also make it stand alone as a film within its own right'. Yates is particularly keen on the use of closeup cameras to translate a stage performance to a more filmic language. He says: 'I wanted a camera that would follow Andrew around on a mid [medium camera shot] so that you can capture everything in one shot, and then a camera that was an extreme closeup. So within that, we were able to create startling cinematic images, not just capture what works on the proscenium stage.' Jess Richardson, the head of production at National Theatre Live, talks about the collaborative nature of matching filming considerations with the artistic intent of the stage director. One important thing about capturing plays is that you make decisions for the audience on where they should look, unlike when they're gazing at a large, expansive stage, where they can choose when to lock in on the action or linger on a background detail. Richardson says that 'with captured theatre we're looking at mid shots or even cowboy shots [where the subject is framed from the mid-thigh to the top of their head] and telling an audience where to look – that's really important to make sure we're telling the story in the same way. So where is your eye drawn to on stage? Where's the action that the director wants you to be looking at?' Unsurprisingly, National Theatre Live is something of a mammoth operation – on a behind-the-scenes tour I'm amazed at the number of screens and buttons and codes that have to be handled during a production. But the production team have the benefit of camera rehearsals before the official live recording, which means that (touch wood) thus far they have avoided any real hiccups. National Theatre Live is also helped by the fact that, unlike in its earlier days, it is no longer a literal live broadcast – which involves a complex operation of trucks transmitting to a satellite and then transmitting to the venues. Richardson explains: 'From 2019 there was some research from our viewers that suggested that as long as they knew it had been captured live, it didn't necessarily have to be live. What they enjoyed was that it wasn't four shows pieced together – it was one night captured.' Truly live broadcast releases are therefore now a rarity. Nearly 16 years on, now an international success, how will National Theatre Live innovate further? It has already started putting productions on streaming services since experimenting with digital releases during the pandemic, and is now looking at other technology. AI is (understandably) a dirty word in entertainment these days but is nonetheless proving to be of invaluable assistance in the creation of smooth live productions. As Richardson says: 'You've seen in films and Hollywood where AI is being used to replace voices or improve accents – that's not a world for us. But when it comes to sound mixes and recordings there's so many AI programmes and softwares that can improve sound quality. How that will come to benefit more areas will remain to be seen over the next few years.' In any case, this revolution in event cinema has expanded the reach of British theatre across the globe (a recent Spanish-subtitled run of Vanya in Mexico has added new dates due to demand). Perhaps theatre is becoming an important feature of British soft power. Sign up to The Guide Get our weekly pop culture email, free in your inbox every Friday after newsletter promotion The Importance of Being Earnest is in cinemas across the UK now. If you want to read the complete version of this newsletter please subscribe to receive The Guide in your inbox every Friday
