It has created a next-level cinema-quality experience that’s unlike anything else available in the region and augments the existing schedule of independent and mainstream films on show in the Cinema. 

"We’re really excited about Screen On Stage – it represents offers a fantastic new experience for our audiences,” says Lighthouse Chief Executive Elspeth McBain. 

“We took the decision to dramatically expand our digital capabilities in lockdown and are enormously grateful to have received the funding that has enabled us to create this programme as one of a number of new developments.” 

On sale from next week, the Screen On Stage programme includes showings of the 1967 Mel Brooks classic The Producers, Bob Fosse’s 1979 autobiography All That Jazz, Bette Davis in arguably career-best form in Joe Mankiewicz’s All About Eve, Baz Luhrman’s spirited 2001 reinvention of the modern musical Moulin Rouge and Alejandro G Iñárritu’s Oscar-winning comedy-drama Birdman. 

Also scheduled for 8 July is a screening of the fantasy Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Apart in which a girl called Mia visits a traveling circus and falls in love with its main attraction, the Aerialist, before being transported to the dreamlike world of Cirque de Soleil. 

The Screen On Stage screenings are projected on a 7m x 5.25m Screen Int MajorC pro black case roller screen that can be unrolled by any amount to suit any picture ratio. When not in use it lives in a case mounted on a fly bar and can be moved between bars or taken down and stored on dollies. 

The sound processor is a Dolby 950 Digital sound processor and there are 16 JBL 8320 surround speakers – six on each side of the Theatre and four at the back – powered by three Crown XLS amplifiers. The centre, left, right and sub channels utilise the existing Theatre sound system. 

The Barco DP2K-8SLP projector has ICMP and 4TB of RAID storage enabling a range of presentation pre-sets and playback of nearly all types of video input including USB/SD and BluRay/DVD. There’s also a function to mirror satellite screenings in both the Theatre and Cinema spaces for increased capacity.