The National Theatre has announced that it will be making its Christmas pantomime, Dick Whittington, available to home audiences by streaming the show online for free.

The venue will be staging only its second pantomime in its history and the online stream will allow audiences country wide to experience the show at a time when many have been forced to postpone or cancel.

Dick Whittington will be recorded live on 19 December with a socially distanced audience and will be shown on both the National Theatre and The Shows Must Go On! Youtube channels on 23 December at 3pm. It will then be available on demand until midnight on 27 December. After this date, the production will be added to the venue’s new paid-for streaming service from 11 January 2021 for six weeks.

Dick Whittington is written by Jude Christian and Cariad Lloyd, directed by Ned Bennett and is based on the 2018 Lyric Hammersmith Theatre production but has been updated for 2020.

The cast includes Dickie Beau, Amy Booth-Steel, Laura Checkley, Lawrence Hodgson-Mullings, Melanie La Barrie, Georgina Onuorah and Cleve September.

The show has design by Georgia Lowe, choreography by Danielle ’Rhimes’ Lecointe, lighting by Jessica Hung Han Yun, sound by Paul Arditti, music by DJ Walde and arrangements/additional composition by Benjamin Kwasi Burrell.

Dick Whittington plays at the National Theatre from 11 December 2020 - 23 January 2021. To book tickets, please click here.