Children's Theatre Digital - New Subscription Service Launched and Patrons Announced

Children's Theatre Digital, the world's first and only platform to exclusively centralise and stream children's theatre content, has today launched a significant expansion to their offering including a monthly subscription service and school resources, as well as formally welcoming its first four Patrons: actors Nicholas Pinnock and Sonya Walger, director Michael Attenborough CBE and Channel 5 Milkshake presenter Olivia Birchenough.

Launched during the pandemic by theatre directors Annabel Morley and Sean Hollands, Children's Theatre Digital was designed to provide families, carers and teachers access to the best children's theatre from around the globe and to inspire children to have a life-long involvement with the arts.

The newly expanded platform, which has recently been featured by Sky Arts as part of their Access All Arts project, will provide four access strands to content: a monthly subscription tier to the platform's library, free content accessible to all, rental options to library content, and educational resources on the platform for schools to use. Other initiatives include a partnership with GOSH ARTS, aiming to bring more theatrical experiences, both live and digital, to children in hospital, and, and a collaboration with SEE Tickets, who are supporting Children's Theatre Digital on the development of a box office platform that makes booking family-friendly live theatre a simpler process. Children's Theatre Digital has also partnered with TEA Films to produce a range of packages for children's theatre companies to get productions filmed professionally.

The platform's library includes content from theatre companies, venues and festivals of all sizes such as Tessa Bide Productions, Can't Sit Still Theatre, Moulded Theatre, Fly High Stories and Wardrobe Ensemble and Plé Collective. The platform's extensive range of content aims to challenge the notion of what the genre of "children's theatre" is, with content including animation, interactive games, audio plays and recorded performances. A feature of the new subscription service also enables patrons to gift subscriptions to others. The subscription model is priced at £7.99 per month / £79.99 per year, with rentals between £4.99 - £7.99 ppv (with access for 3 days).

Annabel Morley and Sean Hollands said of today's announcement, "We started Children's Theatre Digital with a simple ambition, to get theatre in front of more children. We want to promote The Children's Theatre sector and share the imaginative power of theatre with new generations. When we started this project, we knew very little about streaming platforms or websites, but here we are! We have learnt a lot since we started working on this project back in the early days of 2020. We hope that you will see that hard work reflected in where Children's Theatre Digital is today."

The newly announced patrons released the following statements on supporting Children's Theatre Digital:

Nicholas Pinnock said: "Theatre is all about the creative imagination, and nowhere is this more important and more apparent than in the minds of young people. Children's theatre seeks to inspire young people to engage in the arts. For some, it inspires them to become the next generation of actors, designers, writers and directors. For others it becomes the catalyst to a life filled with stories and escapism told on the stage, as they become the audiences we strive to reach. We need to support endeavours, like Children's Theatre Digital, that seeks to make theatre for young people more accessible to all. Hoping that in the future, theatre in general will be accessible to everyone. Young and old, the future of theatre starts with children. It starts with Children's Theatre Digital."

Sonya Walger said "Children are instinctively theatrical. They build their worlds by telling stories about the experiences they see and the inner lives they imagine. Every time a child feeds their baby doll or builds a fort from blankets, they are putting on a play. I grew up in London, with access to some of the greatest theatre in the world and I know how captivating and formative those experiences were. So I am delighted to join Children's Digital Theatre and its mission to help spread access to theater to children and families across the globe."

Michael Attenborough, CBE said "In our increasingly alienated world, what could be more important than introducing young people to the healing, uniting, emotional experience of theatre? This is absolutely vital work. In it lies the future."

Channel 5 Milkshake's Olivia Birchenough said "Theatre is so important for young minds. From expanding imaginations, to connecting with emotions; the world of performance encourages confidence and enables the ability to see the world in colour."

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