On 16th March 2020 the King’s Head Theatre, Islington closed its doors due to COVID-19. Today, twelve months later, it reopens and launches straight into the work that’s been going on behind the scenes with Plays on Film, a season that can be watched from anywhere in the world on its new, on-demand digital platform KHTV, with the promise that 'every seat is the best in the house'.
Every seat is the best in the house
For those of us who’ve been missing the buzz and intimacy of the famous venue, there’s consolation to be had here. The five shows that make up the programme were filmed ‘on location’ at the King’s Head Theatre by Shoot Media, the East London company with a national and world-wide reputation for top quality film production. Puma, Nokia, Levi's and Arsenal are among their clients with award-winning material interned by the BFI in the National Film Archive. Their high-definition cinematography is designed to capture the intimacy of the setting and the sense of immediacy that goes with live performance; features that are at the heart of shows at the King's Head.
The programme has been curated by Heather Ruck, former Head of Programming at Assembly Festivals. It features drama, comedy and musical theatre in productions that have received critical acclaim in previous runs at major festivals and locations such as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, VAULT and Theatre Upstairs, Dublin. JEW...ish is a quickfire, romantic comedy exploring sex, polamory and Jewish identity; Vespertilio, an atmospheric tale of love, loneliness, bats and the unlikely connection between two gay men; Sacrament, a powerfully funny monologue about a young Irish Catholic woman questioning her sexuality; I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical, a sparkling revue show about the tumultuous world of musical theatre, on stage and off, and Illusions of Liberty, is a searing exploration of invisible illness against the backdrop of a deeply ‘hostile environment’.
Ticket revenue will be split 50:50 between the artists and companies, and the King’s Head Theatre, which after such a long closure tries to secure its future and determines to look forward to hosting live shows once again.
