National Theatre launches paid streaming service for filmed plays

Phèdre with Dame Helen Mirren was the first National Theatre Live broadcast in 2009

The National Theatre has launched a streaming service for its archive of filmed plays, which feature stars like Dame Helen Mirren and Olivia Colman.

National Theatre at Home will make plays available for either a one-off payment or a subscription.

They include Dame Helen's Phèdre, Medea starring Helen McCrory  and Michaela Coel, and Adrian Lester's Othello.

Many have previously been shown in cinemas, and some were streamed for free during the first lockdown.

Productions staged by the National's partner theatres can also be viewed, including the Young Vic's Yerma with Billie Piper and the Donmar Warehouse's Coriolanus starring Tom Hiddleston.

Tom Hiddleston played Shakespeare's Coriolanus in 2013

The first tranche of productions also include plays that have not previously been shown in cinemas or online - such as Mosquitoes, a 2017 play by Lucy Kirkwood in which Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams play sisters.

Lisa Burger, the National's executive director, said the venture would "continue to provide audiences with the power and joy of theatre for as long as it is needed".

New titles will be added each month. They will available online and on smart TV and mobile apps, with payment options including an annual subscription costing £100.

The London venue is currently closed but will reopen on 11 December with a socially-distanced production of Dick Whittington, only the second pantomime the venue has ever staged.