Experience the best of British theatre with new CCP National Theatre Live season

A bigger, brighter, and bolder second season of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ National Theatre Live (CCP NTL) is set to delight its devoted Filipino audiences with a new lineup of world-class stage plays filmed live from Britain’s most exciting stages.

After a successful first season boasting waves of support from theater enthusiasts, playwrights, artists, and the broader public, the CCP National Theatre Live forges on to provide yet another exceptional ‘live’ performance experience with the best of what British theatre has to offer in more cinemas near you.

Through the partnership of the CCP with National Theatre Live and Ayala Malls, the second season of CCP NTL will premiere at Ayala Malls Cinemas in Greenbelt, Makati, Vertis North in Quezon City, and at the Ayala Center in Cebu from June 25, 2024 to May 27, 2025.

Award-winning plays Vanya, Dear England, The Motive and Cue, and Nye will grace the big screens in the Philippines. 

Crowd favorites Fleabag, King Lear, Frankenstein, and Hamlet from the past season will make their comeback. 

Hopes, dreams, and regrets are thrust into sharp focus in Vanya, a one-man adaptation premiering on June 25 at the Ayala Malls Cinemas in Greenbelt, Makati. Exploring the complexities of human emotion, Andrew Scott brings multiple characters to life in Chekhov's Uncle masterpiece, filmed live in West End, London. 

Returning on June 25 at Ayala Vertis North and Ayala Center Cebu is Fleabag, a rip-roaring look at some sort of woman living her sort of life. Written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and directed by Vicky Jones, Fleabag may seem oversexed, emotionally unfiltered and self-obsessed, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. With family and friendships under strain and a guinea pig café struggling to keep afloat, Fleabag suddenly finds herself with nothing to lose. The hilarious, award-winning play that inspired the BBC’s hit TV series with the same title was filmed live on stage in London’s West End in 2019. 

On July 30, James Graham’s Dear England arrives at the Ayala Malls Cinemas in Greenbelt, Makati. With the worst track record for penalties in the world, Gareth Southgate knows he needs to open his mind and face up to the years of hurt, to take the team and country back to the promised land.

The contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s tender, violent, moving and shocking play King Lear will be re-screened on July 30 at Ayala Vertis North and Ayala Center Cebu. Considered by many to be the greatest tragedy ever written, King Lear sees two aging fathers – one a King and another, his courtier – reject the children who truly love them. Their blindness unleashes a tornado of pitiless ambition and treachery, as family and state are plunged into a violent power struggle with bitter ends. The play is directed by Jonathan Munby and stars Sir Ian McKellen. 

In Jack Thorne’s The Motive and Cue, audiences are offered a glimpse into the politics of a rehearsal room and the relationship between art and celebrity. Coming to Ayala Malls Cinemas in Greenbelt, Makati on August 27, Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, will play the title role in an experimental new Broadway production of Hamlet under John Gielgud’s exacting direction. But as rehearsals progress, two ages of theater collide and the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel.

Theater lovers and moviegoers at Ayala Vertis North and Ayala Center Cebu will have the chance to see Vanya on August 27.

Directed by Academy Award-winner Danny Boyle, with adaptation by Nick Dear, Frankenstein will return to the Ayala Malls Cinemas in Greenbelt, Makati on September 24. The thrilling, deeply disturbing Mary Shelley classic combines scientific responsibility, parental neglect, cognitive development and the nature of good and evil. Child-like in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the increasingly desperate and vengeful Creature determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal.

Captured live on stage in 2011, the sold-out production stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, alternating between the roles of Victor Frankenstein and his creation. For September 24, Miller will be playing as the Creature.

The Motive and Cue will be shown at Ayala Vertis North and Ayala Center Cebu on September 24.

Come October 30, Fleabag will return to the Ayala Malls Cinemas in Greenbelt, Makati for the third time. Frankenstein, this time with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Creature, will premiere at Ayala Vertis North and Ayala Center Cebu on same day. 

Witness Nye’s mind-bending life journey on November 26 at the Ayala Malls Cinemas in Greenbelt, Makati.

In Tim Price’s opus, Aneurin “Nye” Bevan confronted death in the eye, as he recollects his deepest memories from his childhood to mining underground, and his fights with Churchill. 

Benedict Cumberbatch plays the title role of yet another great Shakespearean tragedy, Hamlet, premiering on November 26, at Ayala Vertis North and Ayala Center Cebu. As the country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state. The play is directed by Lyndsey Turner.

Closing the 2024 CCP NTL’s lineup, Hamlet will return to the Ayala Malls Cinemas in Greenbelt, Makati on December 17. Dear England will premiere on the same day at Ayala Vertis North and Ayala Center Cebu.

Witness the magic of London National Theatre through CCP National Theatre Live. First launched in June 2009, the National Theater Live is a groundbreaking project to broadcast the best of British theatre live from the London stage to cinemas across the United Kingdom, around the world, and now in the Philippine shore. 

Digitally filmed in high-definition quality, the NTL films their plays in front of live theater audiences, but optimized for the big screen and made accessible to theater fans across the globe.

All screenings will be at 6:00pm, exclusively at Ayala Malls cinemas in Greenbelt, Makati, Vertis North in Quezon City, and at the Ayala Center in Cebu. Regular ticket price is at ₱300.00 in Makati and Cebu, and ₱350 in Vertis North, while special ticket price for students is at ₱150.00.

This new season also brings exciting bundles and subscriptions for dedicated NTL fans. Audiences in groups can avail the Barkada Pass for ₱1200 which includes five tickets at the price of four, while students can avail the Barkada Pass Student bundle at ₱600. Subscriptions for the full season cost ₱2500 and ₱1500 for the half season, allowing audiences 30% and 20% discounts respectively.

Tickets can be purchased at sureseats.com.

To get the latest updates on CCP National Theatre Live, follow the official CCP social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.