National Theatre at Home Will Host Captioned Premiere of THE ESTATE

National Theatre at Home has announced an online digitally subtitled premiere of The Estate to celebrate Captioning Awareness Week 2025. This special event marks 25 years of Stagetext – the deaf-led charity championing access through captioning and subtitling across the arts. On the night, subscribers can watch the filmed production live alongside audiences around the world from the comfort of home, while participating in a live chat to engage with other viewers. Audiences can also access BSL-interpreted, audio-described and non-captioned versions of the production.

On 12 November from 7pm BST subscribers to National Theatre at Home can tune in to watch the subtitled recording of the debut play by Shaan Sahota, directed by Daniel Raggett (Accidental Death of an Anarchist) filmed live from the Dorfman stage earlier this year. BAFTA winning actor Adeel Akhtar (Fool Me Once) plays Angad, an ambitious politician in this razor-sharp exploration of family, power and the lies we tell about ourselves.  

Captioning Awareness Week is an annual event led by Stagetext. It takes place from 10 - 16 November, raising awareness of how text-based deaf access in arts and cultural venues can support the 18 million deaf, deafened and hard of hearing adults in the UK.

National Theatre at Home offers captions for all productions on the platform, with 85% offering Audio Description and a growing number providing BSL.

Following the premiere, The Estate will join the catalogue of over 100 titles available to stream on National Theatre at Home. Audiences can subscribe to the platform for £9.99/month or £99.99/year at ntathome.com.

Melanie Sharpe, CEO of Stagetext, has said: "We are very excited to be working in collaboration with The National Theatre At Home team to present a digital subtitled version of The Estate. Stagetext and The National Theatre have a shared vision – that everyone should be able to access great art and culture.  By providing accurate deaf accessible digital subtitles, you can relax in the comfort of your own home and experience a fantastic competitively priced theatrical treat – no negotiating over rail timetables and costly hotel accommodation! What a treat for the 18 million deaf deafened and hard of hearing UK population to be included in experiencing the joys of a National Theatre production."

David Bellwood, Head of Access at The National Theatre, has said: “We're delighted to be working with Stagetext and celebrating Captioning Awareness Week 2025. This collaboration aligns brilliantly with National Theatre at Home's mission of offering unparalleled access to theatre for audiences worldwide. Captioning both live productions and those available on NT at Home is a key part to ensuring our work is as widely accessible as possible. With the subtitled premiere of The Estate, we hope to bring together a global community of theatre-lovers and caption-users.”