Is a "National Theatre at Home" subscription worth it?

Just coming across this streaming service now. They do have some pretty fantastic options. A Streetcar Named Desire with Gillian Anderson, The Cherry Orchard and both parts of Angels in America are of particular interest to me. The only real downside is their selection looks pretty small and most of the titles seems to only be there for a limited time. Considering that NT seems to professionally film quite a bit of their productions, this is disappointing. $130 for a year subscription certainly isn't ridiculous, but it's not particularly cheap either. For anyone who has a subscription, do you find it worth it?

National Theatre at Home

Updated On: 1/6/22 at 04:42 PM

If you only plan on watching these once each, maybe get a monthly subscription. Watch what you want for the month, then unsubscribe. If you don't finish, keep the subscription, then unsubscribe when you have watched everything. You can always re-subscribe.

If you compare it to ticket prices to see top notch shows, I found the annual cost well worth it as I probably watched 10 or 11 productions at least once.

But if you compare it to the selection you'd get on a year of Netflix for the same cost, it obviously pales.

I recall a couple of new shows being added every 4-8 weeks.

If value is the driving factor, I'd go with a month and watch everything available. Then check back in a couple of months to see if enough new selections have been added for you to repeat the process.

JasonC3 said: "If you compare it to ticket prices to see top notch shows, I found the annual cost well worth it as I probably watched 10 or 11 productions at least once.

But if you compare it to the selection you'd get on a year of Netflix for the same cost, it obviously pales.

I recall a couple of new shows being added every 4-8 weeks.

If value is the driving factor, I'd go with a month and watch everything available. Then check back in a couple of months to see if enough new selections have been added for you to repeat the process."

Thanks for the info! I went ahead and just got the yearly subscription. They have enough titles that I'm interested in seeing and I didn't wanna feel rushed to have to watch them all in a month or two. I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Gonna start with Streetcar tonight. So excited!

HBP said: "Is Fleabag on there and available to US viewers?"

Nope.

Fosse76 said: "If you only plan on watching these once each, maybe get a monthly subscription. Watch what you want for the month, then unsubscribe. If you don't finish, keep the subscription, then unsubscribe when you have watched everything. You can always re-subscribe."

This is what I’ve done. Initially got a subscription for Angels, the resubscribed for one month to watch a view from the bridge. Recently resubscribed again to watch War Horse. I hope they put Follies on there, but I’m not counting on it.

Do the NT Live events shown in theaters generally end up on NT at Home?

I watched a couple of these when they were free and was sad to see that they were completely overblown. "Streetcar" was staged as if it was a boxing match with lots of unneeded business between each round/scene. "The Deep Blue Sea" was set in much too large a space for the claustrophobic drama it was. And "Amadeus" became an elaborate pageant. Only "Les Blancs" worked.

No doubt many of you will disagree, but I would have been disappointed if I had subscribed.

If they would add their production of Follies to the library I would subscribe for sure. Hopefully they will add it at some point in the future. I may end up doing it anyway for Streetcar, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Amadeus, but am sorry to hear some negative reviews here.