While there was much to admire in David Hare’s piece (My ideal theatre, 30 December), it implied that there has been “an abandonment of touring” by the National Theatre. I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight. In the last year the National Theatre has toured six productions to 36 towns and cities across the UK – Jane Eyre, People Places & Things, Hedda Gabler, My Country; a work in progress, War Horse, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This adds up to 115 touring weeks, a figure that exceeds any single year in the history of the theatre from the records we can find.
That said, we’ve made it an absolute priority for us to tour more live theatre on a sustainable basis. We’re working on ways to make that possible in the current funding climate, and in the face of the squeeze on arts and creativity in the school curriculum. In the meantime, NT Live broadcasts continue to go to 700 UK venues from Penzance to the Shetland Islands, and every school in the country is able to stream selected productions from the NT Live catalogue, for free.
Martin Prendergast
Director of communications, National Theatre
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