The cinema chain will also bringing arts lovers a mix of musical theatre, opera, comedy and ballet on the big screen at a a fraction of the theatre ticket price.
And with live screenings of some performances, cinema-goers will see all the action unfold at the same time as theatre audiencrs.
Jon Nutton, Marketing Director of Empire Cinemas, said: “Empire Extra brings the excitement of live events and stage productions from around the country to our customers’ local cinema.
This March’s Empire Extra line-up is one of our strongest to date and we’re proud to offer a diverse range of content to our customers.”
Coming up next month are:
4th March: Royal Shakespeare Company LIVE 2015 – Love’s Labour’s Won. Set in autumn 1918, Christopher Luscombe directs the second of Shakespeare’s matching pair of comedies that rejoice in our capacity to find love in the most unlikely places.
Better known as Much Ado About Nothing, the play is performed under the title Love’s Labour’s Won, a name believed to have been given to it during Shakespeare’s lifetime.
11th March: English National Opera: La Traviata (Live) will be screened on 11th March. La Traviata tells the moving story of how the beautiful but fragile courtesan Violetta is coerced into sacrificing her one hope of personal happiness for the sake of her lover’s reputation.
Making her UK debut as Violetta is soprano Elizabeth Zharoff, who stars alongside ENO Artist Ben Johnson as Alfredo and acclaimed baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore as Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont.
12th March: National Theatre Live: Behind the Beautiful Forevers, starring Meera Syal (The Kumars, Goodness Gracious Me) and directed by Rufus Norris (Broken, London Road).
Fashioned on Pulizter Prize-winner Katherine Boo’s uncompromising book, David Hare’s epic play looks beyond the luxury hotels surrounding Mumbai airport, where lies a makeshift slum, full of people with plans of their own…
17th March: Royal Opera House: Swan Lake (Live). Surely the greatest of all romantic ballets, Swan Lake is the captivating story of a beautiful woman transformed into a swan, and a heart-rending tribute to the power of love.
Hitting the big screen on 23rd March is Maxine Peake as Hamlet (Royal Exchange Manchester 2014). Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most iconic work. The play explodes with big ideas and is the ultimate story of loyalty, love, betrayal, murder and madness.
This groundbreaking stage production, directed by Sarah Frankcom, was the Royal Exchange’s fastest-selling show in a decade. Alongside Maxine Peake as the eponymous prince, a number of other roles, including Polonious and Rosencrantz, are also played by women.
26th March: Mark Strong (The Imitation Game; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) stars in National Theatre Live: A View from the Bridge. The great Arthur Miller confronts the American dream in this dark and passionate tale. In Brooklyn, longshoreman Eddie Carbone welcomes his Sicilian cousins to the land of freedom. But when one of them falls for his beautiful niece, they discover that freedom comes at a price…