Theatre News

James McAvoy in Cyrano de Bergerac among NT Live broadcast shows for 2020

Productions starring Maxine Peake, Jessie Buckley and Josh O’Connor will also feature

Maxine Peake and James McAvoy
Maxine Peake and James McAvoy
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

NT Live broadcasts in 2020 will include James McAvoy in Cyrano de Bergerac and Maxine Peake in The Welkin, it was announced today.

McAvoy will appear at the Playhouse Theatre in the title role from 27 November, with Jamie Lloyd directing Martin Crimp's adaptation of the Edmond Rostand classic play. The performance will be broadcast live from the venue as part of NT Live on 20 February.

Also to be broadcast as part of NT Live in 2020 is Lucy Kirkwood's The Welkin, which will star Maxine Peake and Ria Zmitrowicz. James Macdonald directs the thriller in the Lyttleton Theatre – the show will be broadcast live on 21 May.

Two further productions will be broadcast later in the year, with dates still to be announced – Richard Bean and Oliver Chris' Jack Absolute Flies Again and Romeo and Juliet, which stars Jessie Buckley and Josh O'Connor.

The next NT Live screening this year will be Present Laughter, which starred Andrew Scott and was filmed during its sell-out run earlier in the year. It will be shown in cinemas on 28 November.

National Theatre Live celebrated ten years of broadcasting this year, with over 80 theatre productions shown in 3,500 venues worldwide and reaching an audience of nearly nine million people. NT Live UK currently screens to 2,500 venues across 65 countries and is sponsored by Sky Arts.