Locals can enjoy live performances of plays in high definition and surround sound through a new partnership between The Music Hall and one of the world’s leading theater producers of Shakespeare, international classic drama, and contemporary playwrights: the National Theatre of London.

The Victorian theater will be one of more than 100 venues around the world to broadcast the series, which kicks off on Thursday, June 25, with Nicholas Hytner’s new production of “Phèdre.” The other shows in the pilot season include Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well” on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m., and “Nation,” about two teenagers thrown together by a tsunami, on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. Broadcasts will also feature behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with artists.

Consumed by passion for her young stepson Hippolyte, and believing her absent husband Theseus to be dead, Phèdre confesses her darkest desires. When Theseus returns, alive and well, Phèdre, fearing exposure, accuses her stepson of rape. The result is disastrous.

Academy Award winner Dame Helen Mirren stars as the Athenian queen with a fatal attraction to her stepson. Mirren, a National Theatre associate, won an Oscar for playing the title role in “The Queen,” a Golden Globe for “Elizabeth I” and two Emmy Awards for Best Actress for “Prime Suspect.” The cast of “Phedre” also includes Dominic Cooper as Hippolytus and Margaret Tyzack as Oenone. Tyzack won the Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard awards for Best Actress with co-star Penelope Wilton. Cooper’s recent film credits include “The Duchess” and “Mamma Mia!”

Tickets for the first show are $27.50 for adults and can be purchased at The Music Hall box office at 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, 603-436-2400, or online at www.themusichall.org.