City Screen, which runs Picturehouse Cinemas, has announced plans for two satellite live broadcast initiatives for opera and theatre.

City Screen/Picturehouse has secured exclusive international rights to several productions as Glyndebourne Festival Opera: The Rake’s Progress live on Aug 21; and pre-recorded programmes of Billy Budd (Aug 24) and Hansel and Gretel (Aug 26).

Also, Picturehouse has struck a deal to show Traverse Live! from the Edinburgh Festival. The one-off live broadcast on Aug 23 will be Impossible Things Before Breakfast – five new plays by Marina Carr, David Eldridge, Linda McLean, Simon Stephens and Enda Walsh. Don Boyd’s Hibrow Productions will film these script-in-hand readings for this live transmission from Scotland.

Lyn Goleby, Managing Director of Picturehouse Cinemas said: “These will be exciting performances that push the envelope of live transmission of events to cinemas a little further. The audience for cultural content in cinemas has become firmly established in the UK and we have been involved since the first pioneering screenings. This initiative takes us one step further along a road, which is transforming the cinema experience. It is not an exaggeration to say that a new art form is emerging.”

City Screen, with 19 owned and operated cinemas and programming for a further 36 venues, has experience in alternative cinema programming, having worked with the National Theatre, Royal Opera House and with live music from Metallica and other heavy metal artists.

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