Sydney Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre in free online festival

Jonathan Biggins and Amanda Bishop in The Wharf Revue.
Picture: Brett Boardman

Plays by Australian theatre companies are coming to your local wifi-enabled small screen in what’s been dubbed the (Virus) Free Theatre Festival Online.

Australian Theatre Live is a small Sydney-based company that in recent years has filmed local theatre productions for digital screening in cinemas. Three of its filmed productions — The Wharf Revue, Emerald City and The Dapto Chaser — will be available free to watch online from Friday.

READ MORE: Next best thing to a live performance | Lights go down but not out

“Our aim of this online streaming festival is to bring people together and reflect on the world-class quality and creativity of the Australian theatre community,” says Grant Dodwell, actor and co-founder of Australian Theatre Live.

The Wharf Revue — Celebrating 15 Years, from Sydney Theatre Company, will be available to watch on Friday and Saturday; David Williamson’s comedy Emerald City from Griffin Theatre on April 2 and 3; and Mary Rachel Brown’s drama about greyhound racing, The Dapto Chaser, also from Griffin, on April 10 and 11. The filmed productions are available on Australian Theatre Live’s Facebook page, @AusTheatreLive.

The company aims to capture the experience of a theatrical performance, rather than film a made-for-TV play. Productions are filmed in front of a live audience and using multiple cameras.

Other plays the company has recorded are Geoffrey Atherden’s comedy Liberty Equality Fraternity, Rumpelstiltskin featuring Paul Capsis, and Michael Gow’s Away.