On 19 October, audiences across the UK and around the globe are invited to join the National Theatre’s 60th anniversary celebrations with a special free worldwide stream of Othello, directed by the National Theatre’s Deputy Artistic Director, Clint Dyer.

The initiative, called Take Your Seats, will allow anyone, anywhere in the world, to enjoy this ground-breaking National Theatre production for free.

Olivier Award winner Giles Terera plays Othello and Rosy McEwen Desdemona in this critically acclaimed production of Othello. Filmed live on the Lyttelton stage, Othello will premiere on YouTube on 19 October at 7pm BST. The stream will be free to watch on YouTube until 22 October, after which it will be available for free on the National Theatre’s flagship streaming platform, National Theatre at Home, until 26 October. Othello will then join the catalogue of over 70 plays on the platform available to rent or watch via subscription. Audiences will also be able to watch the production with audio description and British Sign Language.

Created especially as a gift for audiences to celebrate the theatre’s 60th birthday, Take Your Seats brings audiences around the world together to enjoy the National Theatre for a one-night special watch-a-long in the comfort of their own homes. This release has been made possible by National Theatre at Home’s partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, supporting the National Theatre’s mission of entertaining and inspiring global audiences with world class theatre.

Director of the National Theatre, Rufus Norris, said: “I’m thrilled to be celebrating 60 years of this extraordinary creative institution by giving audiences the chance to see our productions for free. Audiences are at the heart of everything we do and throwing open our physical doors to young people and our virtual doors to everyone, wherever they may be in the world with Take Your Seats, is the perfect way to celebrate. Clint Dyer’s Othello is an astonishing interpretation of a play that has seen five different productions throughout our history and encapsulates the progression of the National Theatre over the past six decades. With the generous support of Bloomberg Philanthropies, we continue to break down barriers to accessing theatre through our flagship National Theatre at Home platform reaching over 170 countries around the world. I hope you will join me in marking this historic moment in our history. Here’s to the next 60 years!”

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