ROCKLAND — The Strand Theatre announces their 2024-25 National Theatre Live series, which opens on October 3. National Theatre Live is an initiative presented by the Royal National Theatre in London that broadcasts captured-live performances to cinemas around the world. This year, new stage productions are available starting in February, so the Strand will offer encore screenings of past fan favorites this fall and announce more new shows when they become available.

Launching this season are two shows that star Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC’s Sherlock, Doctor Strange, The Power of the Dog). A production of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, with Cumberbatch as the Creature and Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary, Trainspotting) as Victor Frankenstein, will be presented on Thursday, Oct. 3; showtimes are 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the increasingly desperate and vengeful Creature determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal. Filmed at London’s Barbican in 2011, the sold-out show was directed by Academy Award®-winner Danny Boyle.

Frankenstein is appropriate for ages 15 and up.

Running time is 2 hours 10 minutes.

Tickets are $15/General Admission, $12/Strand Members, and are available at the Strand website at www.RocklandStrand.com, at the walk-up box office during box office hours and when the theater is open for shows, or at the door 30 minutes prior to show time. 

The second in the “batch of Cumberbatch” encore screenings will be Hamlet on Thursday, Nov. 7, where he takes on the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, from 2019, the comedy award-winning play that inspired the BBC’s hit TV series, will show on January 16.

The Importance of Being Earnest will be presented on February 20. In this new production, three-time Olivier Award-winner Sharon D Clarke is joined by Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who; Sex Education) in this joyful reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated comedy.

The Strand Theatre is located at 345 Main St., Rockland.