Maxine Peake as Hamlet, National Theatre Live

Be ready... NT Live cinema tickets for Hamlet are likely to sell out as quickly as their theatrical counterparts – coming to UK cinemas March 23. 
What is National Theatre Live?
National Theatre Live cinema – or National Theatre on Screen – launched in 2009 with a broadcast of Phèdre starring Helen Mirren, and has since broadcast over twenty other productions live from the National Theatre in cinemas, UK and worldwide. Each broadcast is filmed in front of a live audience, with cameras carefully positioned throughout the auditorium to ensure that audiences get the 'best seat in the house'. National Theatre on Screen invites the spirit of the National Theatre, in allowing their best productions to reach as wide an audience as possible.
National Theatre Live: Hamlet, Maxine Peake
Get ready for the most exciting next instalment of National Theatre Live: Hamlet, London. UK cinemas welcome Maxine Peake in Frankcom's adaptation of Shakespeare's play to over 550 screens nationwide: broadcasting live from the Barbican, Hamlet will be showing at NT live cinemas, London and nationwide, on March 23, and will be a brilliant opportunity to catch this Shakespearean classic on the silver screen.
An unexpected Dane
When Maxine Peake Hamlet dates were announced at the Royal Exchange Theatre Londoners gnashed their teeth that Manchester audiences would have the pleasure of seeing the extraordinary Peake, an actress composed of purest Mithril, 'do' the Dane. Tickets sold like hot cakes (albeit followed by some mixed reviews for Peake). For while colour-blind casting has been popular with liberal directors for some time, it's now the turn of experiments in gender-blind casting to take centre stage.
Hamlet, Manchester Royal Exchange 
This sellout production is a stripped-back, fast-paced version of Shakespeare's tragic play. BAFTA nominee Maxine Peake takes part in this groundbreaking stage production directed by Sarah Frankcom – the Royal Exchange's fastest selling play in a decade.
Alongside Peake, a number of other roles will be played by women, including Polonius and Rosencrantz. Granted, men have played women since theatre’s beginnings, and women (albeit more rarely) have been known to play men since they were allowed on stage in 1660. But in 2014, the all-female theatre company production has been getting critical acclaim, challenging audiences to question their own preconceptions (click here to read our feature).
National Theatre Live
Hamlet is brought to cinemas by director Margaret Williams, winner of the Gramophone Contemporary Award and the Diapason d’or, and producers Anne Beresford and Debbie Gray. 
If you didn't catch her in  How To Hold You Breath, this is an unmissable opportunity to see Peake in all her glory – direct from the Mancunian stage to the comfort of the cinema. Head to one of the NT Live participating cinemas on March 23 for an up-close-and-personal look at the changing face of Shakespearean theatre.