The final performance of Hampstead Theatre’s acclaimed production of Beth Steel’s miners’ strike drama Wonderland will be live-streamed online to audiences across the world for free on 26 July.
As part of the theatre’s “Access for All” philosophy, theatre fans will be able to enjoy the performance of Steel’s hard-hitting drama by watching the live streaming on either the Hampstead Theatre or the Guardian’s website.
Talking about the idea behind the project, Hampstead Theatre’s Artistic Director Edward Hall explained: “At Hampstead, we believe in accessible theatre… Our aim is to live free stream as many of our productions as possible so everyone has the opportunity to enjoy free quality theatre… Free live-streaming allows us to break new ground and reach an audience who can’t access Hampstead Theatre in person.”
The streaming of the moving drama, which marks the 30th anniversary of the strikes and retells the story from both the miners’ and the government’s viewpoints, follows Hampstead Theatre’s free streamings of past productions Drawing The Line, which was watched by more than 2,000 people in 86 countries, and #Aiww: The Arrest Of Ai Weiwei.
Steel described herself as “thrilled” that her production would become the third show to be streamed by the venue, saying: “The play covers the shattering events that took place exactly 30 years ago, events that cut to the heart of British politics, that divided communities, that changed the country forever… It addresses both sides of the political divide, and will speak to people everywhere in the world, even though they may know nothing of what occurred. Live streaming allows us to tell this story, the story of us all, to anybody anywhere – and to do so completely free of charge.”
To watch the show live and free on 26 July, visit the Hampstead Theatre website or www.theguardian.com/stage at 19:30. The filming will then be available for a further 72 hours on both websites.
You can watch a trailer of the show above here or find out more in our First Night Feature.