NT Live Marks 17 Years in Australia as The Misanthrope and Golden Boy Lead 2025 Slate
For 17 years, National Theatre Live (NT Live) has been showcasing British theatrical performances in Australian cinemas, with Sharmill Films handling distribution since 2009. The initiative kicked off with Helen Mirren's performance in Phèdre and rapidly gained popularity. It now averages around 50 cinemas per title, occasionally reaching up to 80–90. The Audience, featuring Mirren in 2013, marked the first production to surpass $1 million at the Australian box office. Upcoming shows include The Misanthrope on 1 October and Golden Boy on 19 November. Australia ranks as NT Live’s second-best performing market worldwide. The National Theatre’s 2027 season is set to include Death of a Salesman and Suddenly Last Summer, although Australian titles remain unannounced.
Key facts
- NT Live launched in the UK and Australia in 2009 with Helen Mirren in Phèdre.
- Sharmill Films has distributed NT Live in Australia for 17 years.
- The Audience (2013) was the first NT Live title to gross over $1 million in Australia.
- The Misanthrope, starring Sandra Oh, screens on 1 October in 55 Australian cinemas.
- Golden Boy, starring Josh O’Connor, screens on 19 November in over 40 Australian venues.
- Prima Facie at Sydney’s Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace was the highest-grossing cinema worldwide for that title.
- Australia is NT Live’s second-best performing territory globally, consistently outperforming the US.
- The National Theatre’s 2027 season includes Death of a Salesman with Paul Mescal and Tracy Letts, and Suddenly Last Summer with Emma Corrin and Harriet Walter.
Entities
Artists
- Mary Shelley
- Danny Boyle
- Benedict Cumberbatch
- Jonny Lee Miller
- James Corden
- Helen Mirren
- Phoebe Waller-Bridge
- Sandra Oh
- Josh O’Connor
- Jodie Comer
- Andrew Scott
- Suzie Miller
- Rosamund Pike
- Paul Mescal
- Tracy Letts
- Emma Corrin
- Harriet Walter
- David Tennant
- Bill Nighy
- Carey Mulligan
- Gillian Anderson
- Vanessa Kirby
- Ben Foster
- Cynthia Erivo
- Katharine Thornton
- Natalie Miller
- Barry Peak
- Alex Temesvari
- Sarah Ward
- Troy Rogers
- Andrea Louise Thomas
- Steven Mitchell Wright
- Stephen A Russell
- Mich McCowage
- Izabella Yena
- Angus Cameron
- Sting
- Dr Diana Carroll
- Leah J. Williams
- Dave Green
Institutions
- Royal National Theatre
- National Theatre Live
- Sharmill Films
- The Metropolitan Opera Live
- Cinema Nova
- Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace
- ScreenHub
- ArtsHub
- Frankston Arts Centre
- Brisbane Festival
- Grey’s Anatomy
- Killing Eve
- The Crown
- Challengers
- Disclosure Day
- Variety Australia
- Concrete Playground
- Goethe-Institut Australien
- Australian Centre for the Moving Image
- Birth.Movies.Death
- SBS
- SBS Movies
- Flicks
- Lumina
- Senses of Cinema
- Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts
- Junkee
- FilmInk
- Broadsheet
- Televised Revolution
- Metro Magazine
- Screen Education
- City of Gold Coast
- World Film Locations
- Alliance of Women Film Journalists
- Screen International
- ABC radio Gold Coast
- National Theatre
- NT Live
- BBC Studios
- Creator Lab Australia
- The Mill at Sonning
Locations
- Australia
- United Kingdom
- London
- New South Wales
- Victoria
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Western Australia
- Canberra
- Tasmania
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Brisbane
- Frankston
- New York
- United States
- Wallsend