Helen Mirren in filmed play 'Audience' sets screen record MARK KENNEDY ASSOCIATED PRESS (DAYTONA BEACH NEWSJOURNAL)

NEW YORK — As a queen, Helen Mirren reigns on screen and stage.

National Theatre Live, which broadcasts stage shows from England to movie screens worldwide, said Monday that its June 13 live broadcast of Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in the play "The Audience" has captured its largest audience to date.

"We were expecting a big audience for it because there's been great buzz, but it's turned out even greater than expected," David Sabel, executive producer of NT Live, said in an interview from London. "It's very exciting."

Peter Morgan's play, performed at London's Gielgud Theatre, was seen by nearly 30,000 people in North America and nearly 80,000 people in the United Kingdom, a record for the four-year-old program which began with a screening of "Phedre" starring Mirren.

The response has prompted more encore screenings of the play. In North America, there are 700 screenings scheduled throughout the summer, with additional encores to be added. In the UK, nearly 800 screenings will take place.

READ MORE: http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130623/WIRE/306199986/1064?Title=Helen-Mirren-in-filmed-play-Audience-sets-screen-record

War Horse and Macbeth, Starring Kenneth Branagh, Will Be Featured in National Theatre Live's 2013-14 Season (PLAYBILL)By Carey Purcell 17 Jun 2013

The 2013-14 season of National Theatre Live will feature the first screening of War Horse and several Shakespeare plays.

The season will feature the National's new production of Shakespeare's Othello, directed by Nicholas Hytner, which will air Sept. 26; the Manchester International Festival's production of Macbeth, starring Kenneth Branagh, will be broadcast live in the UK on July 20 and internationally on Oct. 17 and a 50th Anniversary celebration of the National Theatre will be broadcast live from the National on Nov. 2.

The Donmar Warehouse's production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, directed by Josie Rourke, will broadcast live on Jan. 30, 2014; and the National's internationally acclaimed production of War Horse, based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford, and directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris in association with Handspring Puppet Company, will be broadcast live from the West End for the first time ever in 2014, with specific dates to be announced at a later time.


READ MORE; http://www.playbill.com/news/article/179220-War-Horse-and-Macbeth-Starring-Kenneth-Branagh-Will-Be-Featured-in-National-Theatre-Lives-2013-14-Season