Missing trips to Campus West in Welwyn Garden City to see world-class theatre live on screen?

Welwyn Hatfield Times: National Theatre at Home will stream Antony and Cleopatra starring Sophie Okonedo on its YouTube channel from Thursday, May 7. Picture: Johan PerssonNational Theatre at Home will stream Antony and Cleopatra starring Sophie Okonedo on its YouTube channel from Thursday, May 7. Picture: Johan Persson (Image: Johan Persson)

Fear not. One of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies will be streamed on YouTube this week as part of National Theatre at Home.

Featuring dazzling performances from Academy Award nominees Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo, Antony and Cleopatra can be watched online from Thursday night.

The Evening Standard described the two leads as having “simmering chemistry’’.

Antony and Cleopatra will be broadcast on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel from 7pm on Thursday, May 7 as part of the NT’s new initiative to screen a selection of much-loved National Theatre Live productions for free over the next two months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkFSmk-ShxU

Caesar and his assassins are dead. General Mark Antony (Ralph Fiennes) now rules alongside his fellow defenders of Rome.

But at the fringes of a war-torn empire, the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra (Sophie Okonedo) and Mark Antony have fallen fiercely in love.

In a tragic fight between devotion and duty, obsession becomes a catalyst for war.

Politics and passion are violently intertwined in Shakespeare’s gripping tale of power.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: National Theatre at Home will stream Antony and Cleopatra starring Ralph Fiennes on its YouTube channel from Thursday, May 7. Picture: Johan PerssonNational Theatre at Home will stream Antony and Cleopatra starring Ralph Fiennes on its YouTube channel from Thursday, May 7. Picture: Johan Persson (Image: Johan Persson)

During this unprecedented time, which has seen the closure of theatres, cinemas and schools across the country, National Theatre at Home is providing access to content online for audiences to watch from their living rooms.

Audiences around the world can stream NT Live productions for free via YouTube every Thursday at 7pm BST, and they will then be available on demand for seven days.

You can still catch this week the last few days of monster hit Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller.

Alongside the streamed productions, National Theatre at Home will also feature the National Theatre at Home Quiz, to be played from your living room featuring familiar faces from the world of stage and screen as the quizmasters.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: National Theatre at Home will stream Antony and Cleopatra starring Sophie Okonedo on its YouTube channel. Picture: Johan PerssonNational Theatre at Home will stream Antony and Cleopatra starring Sophie Okonedo on its YouTube channel. Picture: Johan Persson (Image: Johan Persson)

On the final Monday of each month you will be to able join the virtual quiz directly from your homes via the NT’s YouTube channel and Facebook page live at 7pm.

For more information, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home