Far from the Madding Crowd

As You Like It

All Ages • 2h 39m

Shakespeare’s romantic comedy gets a modern-day makeover with music, cross-dressing and physical comedy in this energetic production from the Royal Shakespeare Company. Captured live in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2019, Kimberley Sykes’ production invites audience participation as the ensemble brings the Forest of Arden to life. Production photography by Topher McGrillis

Antony and Cleopatra

Guidance 12+ • 3h 4m

One of his longest plays, Shakespeare’s interpretation of the Antony and Cleopatra story is brought to vivid life in this period-dress production from the Royal Shakespeare Company. Captured live in Stratford-upon-Avon, this adaptation won critical acclaim for the two actors in the eponymous roles, and saw the battle at sea played out using toy ships. Production photography by Helen Maybanks

The Seagull

12+ • 3h 26m

Anton Chekhov’s first of four major plays dramatises the romantic and artistic conflicts between its four main characters: Boris Trigorin, a well-known writer, the ingenue Nina, the fading actress Irina Arkadina, and her son, the would-be playwright Konstantin Tréplev. This production is performed in Russian with English subtitles and was captured live by Stage Russia HD at the Satirikon Theatre in Moscow. Directed by Yury Butusov, one of the foremost directors in contemporary Russian theatre, this frenetic interpretation delves deep into the throes of artistic creation and the anguish of the artist who struggles to find a language of his own.

Babydoll

Guidance 12+ • 6m

10by10 is a project developed and produced by Eclipse Theatre - Britain's leading black-led national touring company. 10 writers. 10 cities. 10 films. Sheffield. A homeless man walks the streets of Sheffield collecting 'treasures' amongst the litter. *Contains strong language.

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

All Ages • 1h 25m

The 'dazzling diamonds' of Anton Webern’s Six Orchestral Pieces and Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring open and conclude this tremendous programme, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan brings her phenomenal coloratura voice to bear on three bravura arias from Ligeti’s opera Le grand macabre and three extracts featuring Marie, the doomed heroine of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck.

Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette

All Ages • 1h 36m

In this groundbreaking take on William Shakespeare’s bittersweet tragedy, Hector Berlioz combines the playwright’s influence with all the musical drama of Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies. The Bard proved to be one of the enduring influences on Berlioz throughout his life. The composer described his first encounter with Shakespeare’s work as a ‘thunderbolt’ that changed his life – and musical imagination – forever.

See Rock City

All Ages • 1h 28m

Victory overseas results in unexpected consequences for May and Raleigh who are confronted with hidden truths whilst dealing with the challenges of a new, post-war America. The sequel to Arlene Hutton’s Last Train to Nibroc, this production was captured by Cinevative at the Rubicon Theatre Company in California. Lily Nicksay and Erik Odom reprise their roles in this gentle comedy, which gained Nicksay and Ovation Award for Best Actress, as Raleigh and May return home to their parents in Kentucky.

The Poltergeist

Guidance 15+ • 1h 12m

Sasha (Joseph Potter) was destined to take the art world by storm. At the age of fifteen pop stars wanted his paintings, and a new exhibition was going to make him a millionaire. But now he lives in a run-down flat with his out-of-work boyfriend, serves in a stationers, and no one’s even heard of him… what went wrong? Philip Ridley’s darkly comic new play is about art, family, memory, and being haunted by the life we never lived.

Some Like It Hip Hop

Guidance 8+ • 1h 55m

A comedy of love, mistaken identity and revolution that revolves around Jo-Jo and Kerri, two women who disguise themselves as men to thrive in a patriarchal city. Captured live at London’s Peacock Theatre in 2019, this hip hop twist on Some Like it Hot by ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company was nominated for Best Dance Production at the Black British Theatre Awards in 2020.

The Winter's Tale

Guidance All Ages • 2h 49m

King Leontes rips his family apart with his jealousy, but grief opens his heart. Will he find the child he abandoned before it is too late? Set across a 16-year span from the 1953 coronation to the moon landings, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2021 production imagines a world where the ghosts of fascist Europe collide with horrors reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale, before washing up on a joyful seashore. With lead performances from Joseph Kloska, Amanda Hadingue, Ben Caplan and Andrew French, Shakespeare's romantic comedy contains his most famous and challenging stage direction: 'Exit, pursued by a bear'. The Winter’s Tale was directed by Deputy Artistic Director Erica Whyman, and reimagined for the screen and broadcast on BBC Four. Production Photo by Topher McGrillis © RSC