The democratisation of theatre

I just found out a wonderful initiative from the Royal National Theatre. Starting this summer, the RNT will film their performance live and in high definition (starting with Phèdre), then broadcast it via satellite to some 50 venues across the UK—for a potential audience of up to 10,000 in a single evening—along with 100 more in the US, Canada and Europe. This promises more opportunities for people who are interested to go to theatre but unable to afford it. Apart from the performance itself, remote audiences will be able to watch backstage footage and interviews with artists. In the UK, RNT will be partnering with the Picturehouse chain and a range of independent cinemas and arts centres and ticket prices will varied accordingly.