Baku, November 28, AZERTAC

The British Council Azerbaijan has announced a new venture as from December, people in Baku can watch some of the latest and most successful performances from world-class theatres in the UK - including the National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and others. Performances will be screened live on cinema screens in Baku under the British Council’s TheatreHD project. The project has been developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the British Embassy in Baku, CoolConnections, and Nizami Cinema. The season begins on 8 December with the acclaimed production of Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

The screenings bring to Baku the performances which are most successful in London and the UK - the high-quality filming gives you the impression of being in the theatre; each broadcast is filmed in front of a live audience in the theatre, and cameras are carefully positioned throughout the auditorium to ensure that cinema audiences get the 'best seat in the house' view of each production. Stars of forthcoming screenings include Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Ralph Fiennes, Helen Mirren, Stephen Fry, Mark Rylance, Christopher Plummer, Jonas Kaufmann, Gillian Anderson, Anna Netrebko, Ildar Abdrazakov, and many others.

Elizabeth White, Director of the British Council in Azerbaijan, commented, ‘Live screenings from the great theatres, around the UK and around the world, have made it possible for a very much wider audience to see the best of today’s British theatre, with all the immediacy of experience of attending a real performance. I’m extremely pleased that we are now beginning this new venture here in Baku, and I hope that everyone will find many things to enjoy. And I’m particularly looking forward to the first screening!’.

The first screening within the TheatreHD project in Baku will be Shakespeare's Hamlet featuring Benedict Cumberbatch. The screening will take place on 8 December 2015 at 19.00 at Nizami cinema. The second screening will be Coriolanus featuring Tom Hiddleston. The screening will take place on 15 December 2015 at 19.00 at Nizami Cinema (20 Bulbul avenue). Tickets are available at the ticket offices of Nizami cinema.