Theater flooding does not pose a threat to human health, new research shows Theater

Live streaming services and video streaming services are no longer a threat to the “private” presence and are making audiences more active, according to a new survey commissioned by the National Theatre.

Explaining the findings on Monday, director of the NT, Indhu Rubasingham, said the number of taped performances raised serious questions including concerns that popular initiatives such as NT Live and NT Kunyumba could disrupt the audience. The agency commissioned a survey conducted by Indigo to learn more about the public’s perception of video games.

When asked about the benefits of watching theater at home, the second most popular response to the Indigo survey was “I can discover new theaters that I never thought of”. The most impressive benefit was “I can watch it on my own” – including being able to pause a show and come back later. Other notable benefits were the ability to re-watch a show that the viewer had already enjoyed in the theater and the opportunity to see more theater than you could watch in person.

The interviewees emphasized that watching at home “is a way to reduce the risk of trying something new” and that financial constraints are the main reason why they attend private shows more often than they would like. The Indigo report states that “there is very little evidence that taped theater reduces overall theater attendance” and that 93% of respondents who saw at least one performance on video or streaming also attended in person.

Kerry Radden, associate director at Indigo, said: “Our work has been concerned with the implications of recorded theater since the outbreak came to light.

As part of the research, an online audience survey took 11 days and garnered around 5,500 responses from people living in the UK. The study revealed that what Indigo calls the group’s choice of how to watch theater, the in-person experience remains at 89%. The report says “streaming is younger than you are – streaming is the most common, with half of under 35s streaming in the last 12 months”. Advertising has also been shown to increase accessibility, as 20% of home theater viewers are disabled compared to 15% of the audience.

Matt Risley, chief digital officer at National Theatresaid: “The cinema should not be designed to replace the magic of the theatre; it is an added support that can lower barriers, facilitate discovery and enable people to connect with theater over time.”

Speaking at the National Theatre, Tom Powis, chief executive of production company Wessex Grove, said recorded theater helped to “invigorate” the lives of productions that had “brief, finite” aspects in the theatre. Powis said the West End movie was a hit Vanya, and Andrew Scottwas created by theater director Sam Yates as his “piece of art”. Director Justin Martin, whose Suzie Miller legal drama Prima Facie and Inter Alia were both NT Live hits, admitted that filmed theater is on the rise and that “the more you do it the more you learn its potential”. He compared the closeness of Inter Alia’s film to a “training room experience” in the production, “being right there with the actor”.

Martin said that, when one of his productions is recorded and transferred to the screen, “you can control the music in a different way” and the big bonus is “getting closer” so that the audience can see the details of the performance. After watching the video of Inter Alia, she said, “I forgot about what Rosamund (Pike, the lead actress) was doing.” Martin said future theaters “have to be smarter” and use “multiple cameras, different angles” to push the new art form.

Prima Facie has been seen by almost 1.5 million people in cinemas since its first release in 2022. Inter Alia was broadcast live to 50,000 people in the UK, and has so far been seen by more than 450,000 people in cinemas around the world via NT Live – seven times the number of people it reached for its games at the National. It’s currently in the West End and will move to Broadway later this year.

After the success of Prima Facie and Inter Alia, Martin and Miller are planning a third drama to complete the trilogy, which will result in three films that will be “experiences that you can’t have in the theater, like a box office”, said Martin.

Rubasingham said NT Home and NT Live “are not our side projects”. The initiative is “part of us meeting the audience where they are” he added, and a way to “enhance the life and reach of what we’re doing”.