The at-home theatre experience of watching Hamilton

Hamilton was hailed as a revolutionary piece of theatre in 2015, with its rapping founding fathers and a cast predominantly using actors of colour.

However, many people could not see the stage show live and — with the closure of theatres during lockdown — it came to us instead by the small screen through Disney+.

This direct stage-to-screen version of Hamilton is not a filmed adaptation but a live capture of the stage show during which you can hear the audience laugh and applaud, making you feel more involved with the production.

Remarkably, it manages to keep the magic and power of a live production, even making me cry at times, as well as adding some amazing filmatic energy with shots so close that you can see the actors’ sweat dripping from their forehead or the iconic spittle from King George, as well as the side glances from Angelica Schuyler longing for Alexander Hamilton.

Some shots are wide enough to make you feel as though you are actually in the audience and allow you to get a full view of everything happening on the stage.

As an introvert, there were immediately many serious advantages to watching theatre from the comfort of your home. Firstly, you can wear your pyjamas as well as not having to spend the interval trying to get your hands on a plastic cupful of overpriced wine and an underwhelmingly small tub of ice cream, or waiting in a long queue for the bathroom.

Of course there are certain aspects of live theatre that can’t be replicated, such as the rush of getting a ticket and holding onto it for a year before setting foot in the theatre or the feeling of walking out onto the street knowing you’ve just experienced this wonderful thing with all of these people.

But the filmed version does manage to capture the instant silence from thousands of people in the audience as soon as the house lights begin to dim.

Watching the film on Disney+ only reminds me how much I love and miss the theatre. Of course I’d love to go and see Hamilton in person if I could — but for now I can settle for the filmed version.