Months of delights in store as major theatre streams more plays to homes nationwide

Audiences across the country are promised treats aplenty in a new season of plays streamed live from the Old Vic in London.

Now in its fourth year, Jack Thorne’s A Christmas Carol will return to the venue from December 12 to 24. It will play live, as a full-scale production, for 16 performances only. Some 80,000 tickets will be available for the run.

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The production will go on sale to the public on November 9 with tickets from £10 to £65 with £80 souvenir ticket, including a limited edition poster, also available. Audiences only need to buy one ticket to watch with a group if they plan on watching together on the same screen.

The production follows the success of previous live-streamed shows in the Old Vic: In Camera season – Lungs, Three Kings and Faith Healer. They were watched by over 30,000 households from 73 countries.

The Old Vic promises “we’ll be back” as it announces a new series of shows including A Christmas Carol (photo: Manuel Harlan)

Artistic director Matthew Warchus said: “When lockdown began in March I think none of us predicted the length of the journey we’re now on.

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“I remember many theatres saying they were closing for two to four weeks. I certainly was mentally bracing myself for an unimaginably long pause of six months through to September. I’m sure most of us spent the spring glued to news reports and government announcements with anxious expectation as two weeks turned into four, six, eight, 12.

“Here at The Old Vic we have been motivated to provide treats along the way in whatever form we can – 'emergency rations' that boost morale, entertain and satisfy the human instinct for empathy in a concerted effort to continue theatre’s fundamental role of bringing people together in a shared experience even when physically impossible.

“The Old Vic: In Camera Zoomed plays streamed live from the empty Old Vic stage has proved extremely effective as a way of bringing a version of the live theatre experience to enthusiastic viewers around the world. It has also provided a modest but meaningful income for the performers and creatives and for the theatre itself which is fighting for its survival.

“I’m delighted to be announcing A Christmas Carol as the next offering. I’m excited to tell the story in this new format, with the powerful addition of close-ups, and hope it will provide much-needed sustenance for audiences on this gruelling journey. We will be announcing full casting very soon.”

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The venue has also announced that the Old Vic: In Camera series will continue through to Spring 2021 alongside Your Old Vic, a free online programme of artistic and educational content.

Mr Warchus added: “My favourite platitude in life is ‘This too shall pass’. It’s so reliably true. With necessary continuing intervention by the government plus the exceptional support of our donors, our corporate partners and our ticket-buying audience, I am more confident than not that The Old Vic and the UK theatre ecosystem as a whole will somehow claw its way back to its full glory in the foreseeable future.”

Visit oldvictheatre.com for more information and further details.

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