Marie Mullen and Brian Gleeson in The Saviour by Deirdre Kinahan, directed by Louise Lowe. Presented by Landmark Productions and broadcast live from The Everyman as part of Cork Midsummer Festival 19-20 June, 2021. Image credit: Jed Neizgoda

Landmark Productions is one of Ireland’s leading theatre producers. It produces wide- ranging work in Ireland, and shares that work with international audiences. In January 2021, Landmark Live was launched, a new online streaming platform designed to bring Landmark's productions, and the thrill of live theatre, to audiences in Ireland and internationally. To date, Landmark’s digital artistic activities have included:

• The Approach, which was funded by the Arts Council under its Capacity Building Scheme and broadcast live from Project Arts Centre

• An international partnership with St Ann’s Warehouse in New York, as supported by Culture Ireland

• Happy Days as funded by an award to the Olympia Theatre by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under its Pilot Live Performance Support Scheme

• The announcement of a further live stream in June 2021 of the world premiere of a new play by Deirdre Kinahan, The Saviour, funded by the Arts Council under its Arts Grant Funding Scheme

Benefitting from the provision of tailored financial support packages, Landmark have successfully measured the impact of their digital projects. Landmark’s productions have been viewed in over 44 different countries, indicating the global appeal of the live and on-demand artistic entertainment they offer and their ability to bring the arts to a variety of different demographics and socio-economic backgrounds.

The live element was a draw for many, with 62% of respondents who took part in a post-event survey saying that the live element was ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ important. An on-demand version was also available to watch and was sent as a back-up to any ticketholders with technical issues.

Landmark views digital dissemination platforms as revolutionary in how the arts can cross traditional cultural and societal barriers. Post-COVID, rather than returning wholly to in-person theatre, Landmark is planning to have a hybrid model as it has seen that there is a clear interest and appetite from its audience, both nationally and internationally.

‘The Approach opened up US and global audiences to Irish theatre in an unprecedented way. Being able to reach audiences in their homes, at a time when public gathering has not been available, has been transformative in how the cultural sector can engage and develop audiences at home and further afield. Encouraging more – and different – people to attend the arts remains a vital issue for the cultural sector.’ —Landmark Theatre