Consumed by an uncontrollable passion for her young stepson, and believing her absent husband is dead, Phèdre confesses her darkest desires and enters the world of nightmare. Helen Mirren plays the title role in this acclaimed production of the classic Greek tragedy. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre.
The feisty but lowly Helena falls in love with Bertram, a haughty count. To gain his hand she is set a string of impossible tasks. Even if accomplished, they can hardly guarantee his love. He refuses to bed her and yet says he'll only be hers if she bears his child; and he lusts after another. Nevertheless, our heroine, whether wisely or not, refuses to give him up. Set against a background of sexism, snobbery and a battle between the generations, Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well turns fairytale logic on its head. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
A parallel world, 1860. Two teenagers thrown together by a tsunami. One wears next to nothing, the other a long white dress. Neither speaks the others language, but somehow they must learn to survive and forge a new nation. Adapted from the Terry Pratchett novel by Mark Ravenhill, broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings, Adrian Scarborough and Frances de la Tour lead the cast in this multi-layered production. Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre.
Sir Harcourt Courtly is lured away from the epicentre of fashionable London by the promise of a rich and beautiful bride, Grace, several decades his junior. Arriving at Oak Hall, Gloucestershire, he marvels at this rural Venus until her charms are eclipsed by her hearty cousin, the foxhunting Lady Gay Spanker. Meanwhile, his disguised son turns up in flight from his creditors and falls head over heels for Grace. When Lady Spanker discovers the young couple, she needs little prompting from the visiting chancer Dazzle to lead Sir Harcourt astray. Fiona Shaw and Simon Russell-Beale take the lead in two of the greatest comic roles of the English stage, in this brilliantly funny play. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
Theatre du Complicite tell the story of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a penniless man from Madras who was also the greatest natural mathematician of the last century, and his collaboration with the great Cambridge numbers don G.H. Hardy. Broadcast live from the Theatre Royal Plymouth.
Rory Kinnear plays Hamlet in a dynamic production of Shakespeare’s complex and profound play about the human condition, directed by Nicholas Hytner. He is joined by Clare Higgins (Gertrude), Patrick Malahide (Claudius), David Calder (Polonius), James Laurenson (Ghost/Player King) and Ruth Negga (Ophelia). Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
A provocative and wholly unique hybrid of dance, theatre and music, exploring the extravagant, decadent and rebellious world of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
An ageing monarch. A kingdom divided. A child’s love rejected. As Lear’s world descends into chaos, all that he once believed is brought into question. One of the greatest works in Western literature, King Lear explores the very nature of human existence: love and duty, power and loss, good and evil. Directed by Michael Grandage with Derek Jacobi in the title role.
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. Directed by Academy Award-winner Danny Boyle, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as the creature and Jonny Lee Miller as Victor Frankenstein. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
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. Directed by Academy Award-winner Danny Boyle, featuring Jonny Lee Miller as the creature and Benedict Cumberbatch as Victor Frankenstein. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
Russia, 1904. Ranyevskaya and her brother snub the lucrative scheme of a local entrepreneur to save their family estate. In so doing, they put up their lives up for auction and jeopardise the future of their beloved cherry orchard. Zoë Wanamaker is Ranyevskaya in Andrew Upton's version of Chekhov's classic play. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancée’s dad. Holed up at The Cricketers’ Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre, and featuring a Tony Award-winning performance from James Corden as Francis Henshall.
1950s London. In the kitchen of an enormous West End restaurant, the orders are piling up: a post-war feast of soup, fish, cutlets, omelettes and fruit flans. Thrown together by their work, chefs, waitresses and porters from across Europe - English, Irish, German, Jewish - argue and flirt as they race to keep up. Arnold Wesker's extraordinary play premiered at the Royal Court in 1959 and has since been performed in over 30 countries. The Kitchen puts the workplace centre stage in a blackly funny and furious examination of life lived at breakneck speed, when work threatens to define who we are.
Moscow, 1938. A dangerous place to have a sense of humour; even more so a sense of freedom. Mikhail Bulgakov, living among dissidents, stalked by secret police, has both. And then he's offered a poisoned chalice: a commission to write a play about Stalin to celebrate his sixtieth birthday. Inspired by historical fact, Collaborators embarks on a surreal journey into the fevered imagination of the writer as he loses himself in a macabre and disturbingly funny relationship with the omnipotent subject of his drama. John Hodge's blistering play depicts a lethal game of cat and mouse through which the appalling compromises and humiliations inflicted on any artist by those with power are held up to scrutiny. Alex Jennings plays Bulgakov and Simon Russell Beale, Stalin.
How had a twenty-two-year-old pretentious layabout made a discovery that would elude everyother cinematic pioneer for years to come? In a remote village in Eastern Europe, around 1900, the young Motl Mendl is entranced by the flickering silent images on his father's cinematograph. Bankrolled by Jacob, the ebullient local timber merchant, and inspired by Anna, the girl sent to help him make moving pictures of their village, he stumbles on a revolutionary way of story-telling. Forty years on, Motl - now a famed American film director - looks back on his early life and confronts the cost of fulfilling his dreams. Nicholas Wright's new play is a funny and fascinating tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood's golden age.
Aegeon of Syracuse has come to Ephesus to seek his son, who went in search of his missing twin and mother months ago. Unfortunately, Ephesus has just declared war on Syracuse, and will instantly put to death any Syracusean found within their borders unless a ransom's paid. Meanwhile, the son, Antipholus, and his servant, Dromio (also an identical twin), keep running into strangers who seem to know them... Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
Hardcastle, a man of substance, looks forward to acquainting his daughter with his old pal’s son with a view to marriage. But thanks to playboy Lumpkin, he’s mistaken by his prospective son-in-law Marlow for an innkeeper, his daughter for the local barmaid. The good news is, while Marlow can barely speak to a woman of quality he’s a charmer with those of a different stamp. And so, as Hardcastle’s indignation intensifies, Miss Hardcastle’s appreciation for her misguided suitor soars. Misdemeanours multiply, love blossoms, mayhem ensues. One of the great, generous-hearted and ingenious comedies of the English language, Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer offers a celebration of chaos, courtship and the dysfunctional family.
Filmed live from the National Theatre in London, this critically acclaimed production, based on the novel by Mark Haddon and directed by Marianne Elliot (Angels in America, War Horse), has astonished audiences around the world and received seven Olivier and five Tony Awards. Fifteen-year-old Christopher has an extraordinary brain. He is exceptional at maths, while everyday life presents some barriers. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. When he falls under suspicion for killing his neighbour’s dog, it takes him on a journey that upturns his world.
Anarchic, feisty but growing old, high society drop-out Judy Haussman remains in spirit with the Ashrams of the 1960s while holed-up in her dilapidated Art Deco house on the Devon coast. After an operation, she's joined by defiant offspring Nick and Libby, sharp-eyed granddaughter Summer, local doctor Peter, and Daniel, a troubled teenager who makes use of the family's crumbling swimming pool. Together they share a few sweltering months in this chaotic world of all-day drinking, infatuations, long-held resentments, free love and failure. Julie Walters (Harry Potter, Billy Elliott, Mamma Mia!) plays Judy Haussman with Rory Kinnear (National's Hamlet) and Helen McCrory (The Queen, Hugo) as her children in this funny, touching, and sometimes savage portrait of a family that's losing its grip.
Simon Russell Beale takes the title role in this strange fable of consumption, debt and ruin. Wealthy friend to the rich and powerful, patron of the arts, and ostentatious host, Timon of Athens is surrounded by free-loaders and sycophants. He vastly outspends his resources but, finding his coffers empty, reassures his loyal steward that all will be well. When he calls upon his associates, instead of offering help, they hang him out to dry. After a final, vengeful banquet, Timon withdraws to a literal and emotional wasteland, living off roots and pouring curses on a morally bankrupt Athens.
With his louche air and a developed taste for smoking, gambling, alcohol and woman, it's hard to believe Cis Farringdon is only fourteen. And that's because he isn't. Agatha, his mother, dropped five years from her true age – and his – when she married amiable magistrate Posket. When her deception looks set to be revealed, it sparks a series of hilarious indignities and outrageous mishaps. Starring John Lithgow in the title role.
A sale? Why not? Release all your wonderful treasures onto the open market and they are there for everyone to enjoy. It’s a kind of emancipation, a setting them free to range the world… a saleroom here, an exhibition there; art, Lady Stacpoole, is a rover. People spoil things; there are so many of them and the last thing one wants is them traipsing through one’s house. But with the park a jungle and a bath on the billiard table, what is one to do? Dorothy wonders if an attic sale could be a solution in this comedy from Alan Bennett.
It’s 1974, and Britain has a hung Parliament. The corridors of Westminster ring with the sound of infighting and backstabbing as the political parties battle to change the future of a nation. This House is a moving and funny insight into the works of British politics, written by James Graham and directed by Jeremy Herrin. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren (The Queen), plays Queen Elizabeth II in the Tony Award-winning production of The Audience. For 60 years, Queen Elizabeth II has met with each of her 12 prime ministers in a private weekly meeting. This meeting is known as The Audience. No one knows what they discuss, not even their spouses. From the old warrior Winston Churchill, to Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher and finally David Cameron, the Queen advises her prime ministers on all matters both public and personal. Through these private audiences, we see glimpses of the woman behind the crown and witness the moments that shaped a monarch.
As Macbeth rides home from battle, three witches prophecise that he will soon rise in power to become King of Scotland. Aided by his wife, the pair will stop at nothing to seal their fate. Performing from within the walls of a deconsecrated Manchester church, Kenneth Branagh takes the lead role in this ambitious production of William Shakespeare’s tragic tale of ambition and treachery.
Furious about being overlooked for promotion, Iago plots to take revenge against his General, Othello. In this acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s timeless tale of envy and brutal revenge, Adrian Lester plays Othello and Rory Kinnear is the duplicitous Iago. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers, The Night Manager) plays the title role in Shakespeare’s searing tragedy of political manipulation and revenge. When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But he has enemies at home too. As famine threatens the city, the citizens’ hunger swells to an appetite for change, and on returning from the field, Coriolanus must confront the march of realpolitik and the voice of an angry people.
At the outbreak of World War One, Albert’s horse is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. Though still not old enough to enlist he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home. Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford, in association with the award-winning Handspring Puppet Company. Broadcast live from the Gillian Flynn Theatre.
An aged king decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, according to which of them is most eloquent in praising him. His favourite, Cordelia, says nothing. Lear’s world descends into chaos. Academy Award-winner Sam Mendes (James Bond: Skyfall, American Beauty) returns to the National Theatre to direct Simon Russell Beale (Timon of Athens, Collaborators) in the title role of Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Jack McCracken: a man of principle in a corrupt world. But not for long. Moments after taking over his father-in-law's business he's approached by a private detective armed with some compromising information. Jack's integrity fades away as he discovers his extended family to be thieves and adulterers, looting the business from their suburban homes. Rampant self-interest takes over and comic hysteria builds to a macabre climax.
On a bitterly cold London evening, schoolteacher Kyra Hollis receives an unexpected visit from her former lover, Tom Sergeant, a successful and charismatic restaurateur whose wife has recently died. As the evening progresses, the two attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires. Bill Nighy (Love Actually, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) and Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Great Gatsby) star in this production of David Hare’s Skylight, directed by Stephen Daldry (The Audience).
Heartbroken and stricken with grief, Medea plans appalling revenge on her ex-husband, Jason, to destroy everything she holds dear. Helen McCrory plays the title role in Euripides’ powerful tragedy, directed by Ben Power and with music written by Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
Gillian Anderson is Blanche DuBois, Ben Foster is Stanley, and Vanessa Kirby is Stella in Tennessee Williams’ timeless masterpiece. As Blanche’s fragile world crumbles, she turns to her sister Stella for solace – but her downward spiral brings her face to face with the brutal, unforgiving Stanley Kowalski. Broadcast live from the Young Vic.
JOHN authentically depicts real-life stories, combining movement and spoken word to create an intense and moving theatrical experience. Lloyd Newson, DV8’s Artistic Director, interviewed more than 50 men asking them frank questions, initially about love and sex. One of those men was John. What emerged was a story that is both extraordinary and touching. Years of crime, drug use and struggling to survive lead John on a search in which his life converges with others, in an unexpected place, unknown by most.
It’s a dark, stormy night. The stars are out. Jim, the inn-keeper's granddaughter, opens the door to a terrifying stranger. At the old sailor’s feet sits a huge sea-chest, full of secrets. Jim invites him in – and her dangerous voyage begins. Patsy Ferran is Jim and Arthur Darvill is Long John Silver in this rip-roaring adventure for the whole family. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
In India’s biggest slum, beyond the luxury hotels surrounding Mumbai airport, lives Zehrunisa and her 16-year old son Abdul whose gift for trash sorting is the source of his family’s income and ambitions to fund a new life. Their dreams are big, but fragile - and just one accusation could shatter the whole neighbourhood. Meera Syal and Thusitha Jayasundera play paralleled neighbours in this drama based on the book by Katherine Boo. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
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. Eddie’s jealous mistrust exposes a deep, unspeakable secret – one that drives him to commit the ultimate betrayal. Ivo Van Hove (All About Eve, Network) directs Mark Strong (The Imitation Game; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Nicola Walker (The Split, Last Tango in Halifax) in this production of Arthur Miller’s dark and passionate play. Broadcast like from the Young Vic.
Hilary, a young psychology researcher at a brain science institute, is nursing a private sorrow and a troubling question at work, where psychology and biology meet. If there is nothing but matter, what is consciousness? This is ‘the hard problem’ which puts Hilary at odds with her colleagues, including her first mentor Spike, her boss Leo, and the billionaire founder of the institute, Jerry. Is the day coming when the computer and the fMRI scanner will answer all the questions psychology can ask? Meanwhile Hilary needs a miracle, and she is prepared to pray for one. Olivia Vinall stars as Hilary alongside Vera Chok, Jonathan Coy, Damien Molony, Lucy Robinson and Parth Thakerar, in Tom Stoppard's first play for the stage since Rock'n'Roll in 2006.
Jack Tanner (Ralph Fiennes), celebrated radical thinker and rich bachelor, seems an unlikely choice as guardian to the alluring heiress, Ann Whitefield (Indira Varma). But she takes it in her assured stride and, despite the love of a poet, she decides to marry and tame this dazzling revolutionary. Based on Nietzsche's theory of the Superman, this reinvention of Shaw's witty, provocative classic tells of Ann's relentless pursuit of dedicated bachelor Jack.
Everyman is successful, popular, and riding high. When Death comes calling, he is forced to abandon his hedonistic life and embark on a frantic search to find a friend that will speak in his defence. But with Death close behind, his time is running out. Chiwetel Ejiofor is Everyman, adapted by Carol Ann Duffy and directed by Rufus Norris. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
The ‘Beaux’: Mr Aimwell and Mr Archer, two charming, dissolute young men who have blown their fortunes in giddy London. Shamed and debt-ridden, they flee to provincial Litchfield. Their ‘Stratagem’: to marry for money. Lodged at the local inn, posing as master and servant, they encounter a teeming variety of human obstacles: a crooked landlord, a fearsome highwayman, a fervent French Count, a maid on the make, a drunken husband, a furious butler, a natural healer and a strange, turbulent priest. But their greatest obstacle is love. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy. As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralysed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state. Broadcast live from the Barbican.
This landmark revival of Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck's play is a powerful portrait of the American spirit and a heartbreaking testament to the bonds of friendship. Directed by Tony Award winner Anna D. Shapiro and starring James Franco and Chris O'Dowd, this production is the first Broadway production to be presented by National Theatre Live.
Charlotte Brontë’s story of the trailblazing Jane Eyre is as inspiring as ever in a production that uncovers one woman’s fight for freedom and fulfilment on her own terms - facing obstacles, surviving poverty, injustice and the discovery of a bitter betrayal, before taking the ultimate decision to follow her heart. This bold and dynamic production is directed by Sally Cookson. Broadcast live from the Bristol Old Vic.
Directed by Josie Rourke (Coriolanus), the cast includes Elaine Cassidy (The Paradise), Janet McTeer (The Honourable Woman) and Dominic West (The Wire). Former lovers, the Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont now compete in games of seduction and revenge. Merteuil incites Valmont to corrupt the innocent Cecile de Volanges before her wedding night but Valmont has targeted the peerlessly virtuous and beautiful Madame de Tourvel. While these merciless aristocrats toy with others’ hearts and reputations, their own may prove more fragile than they supposed.
With her father the Duke in exile, Rosalind and her cousin Celia leave their lives in the court behind them and journey into the Forest of Arden. There, released from convention, Rosalind experiences the liberating rush of transformation. Disguising herself as a boy, she embraces a different way of living and falls spectacularly in love with Orlando. This fresh, funny and invigorating production of As You Like It, directed by Polly Findlay and with Rosalie Craig as Rosalind. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
Olivier and Academy Award® winner Martin McDonagh (The Pillowman, The Cripple of Inishmaan, In Bruges) returns to the West End with Matthew Dunster’s award-winning production of his deeply funny new play HANGMEN. In his small pub in the northern English town of Oldham, Harry (David Morrissey – The Walking Dead, State of Play) is something of a local celebrity. But what’s the second-best hangman in England to do on the day they’ve abolished hanging? Amongst the cub reporters and pub regulars dying to hear Harry’s reaction to the news, his old assistant Syd (Andy Nyman – Peaky Blinders, Death at a Funeral) and the peculiar Mooney (Johnny Flynn – Clouds of Sils Maria) lurk with very different motives for their visit.
Playing one of the greatest female roles of modern drama, Helen McCrory features alongside Tom Burke in Terence Rattigan’s devastating masterpiece. When Hester is found following attempted suicide, the story of her tempestuous affair and marriage breakdown begins to emerge. With it comes a portrait of need, loneliness and long-repressed passion.
Rory Kinnear is Mack the Knife in a new version of this landmark twentieth-century musical, broadcast live from the stage of the National Theatre. Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s classic musical theatre piece is adapted by Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and directed by Rufus Norris (Everyman, London Road). As London's East End scrubs up for the coronation, Mr and Mrs Peachum gear up for a bumper day in the beggary business. Keeping tight control of the city's underground – and their daughter’s whereabouts. With Olivier Award-winner Rory Kinnear (Hamlet, Othello, James Bond) as Macheath, alongside Rosalie Craig (As You Like It, My Family and other Animals) as Polly Peachum and Haydn Gwynne (The Windsors, Drop the Dead Donkey) as Mrs Peachum. Contains filthy language and immoral behaviour.
Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart lead the cast in this glorious revival of Harold Pinter’s comic classic. One summer's evening, two ageing writers, Hirst and Spooner, meet in a Hampstead pub and continue their drinking into the night at Hirst's stately house nearby. As the pair become increasingly inebriated, and their stories increasingly unbelievable, the lively conversations turns into a revealing power game, further complicated by the return home of two sinister younger men. Broadcast live from Wyndham's Theatre.
Lucian Msamati (Luther, Game of Thrones, NT Live: The Comedy of Errors) plays Salieri in Peter Shaffer’s iconic play, broadcast live from the National Theatre, and with live orchestral accompaniment by Southbank Sinfonia. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a rowdy young prodigy, arrives in Vienna, the music capital of the world – and he’s determined to make a splash. Awestruck by his genius, court composer Antonio Salieri has the power to promote his talent or destroy his name. Seized by obsessive jealousy he begins a war with Mozart, with music, and ultimately, with God.
Josie Rourke (Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Vote, Coriolanus) directs Gemma Arterton (Their Finest, Gemma Bovery, Made in Dagenham) as Joan of Arc in this electrifying production of Bernard Shaw’s classic play, that follows the life and trial of a young country girl who declares a bloody mission to drive the English from France. As one of the first Protestants and nationalists, Joan threatens the very fabric of the feudal society and the Catholic Church across Europe.
Ruth Wilson plays Hedda and Rafe Spall is Brack in a modern production of Ibsen’s masterpiece. Hedda and Tesman have just returned from their honeymoon and the relationship is already in trouble. Trapped but determined, Hedda tries to control those around her, only to see her own world unravel. Just married. Bored already. Hedda longs to be free...
Tamsin Greig is Malvolia in a new twist on Shakespeare's classic comedy of mistaken identity. A ship is wrecked on the rocks. Viola is washed ashore but her twin brother Sebastian is lost. Determined to survive on her own, she steps out to explore a new land. So begins a whirlwind of mistaken identity and unrequited love.
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter, The Woman in Black), Joshua McGuire (The Hour) and David Haig (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Witness for the Prosecution) star in Tom Stoppard’s brilliantly funny situation comedy. Against the backdrop of Hamlet, two hapless minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, take centre stage. As the young double act stumble their way in and out of the action of Shakespeare’s iconic drama, they become increasingly out of their depth as their version of the story unfolds.
Gino is a drifter, down-at-heel and magnetically handsome. At a road side restaurant he encounters husband and wife, Giuseppe and Giovanna. Irresistibly attracted to each other, Gino and Giovanna begin a fiery affair and plot to murder her husband. But, in this chilling tale of passion and destruction, the crime only serves to tear them apart. Ivo van Hove (NT Live: A View from the Bridge, Hedda Gabler) directs and Jude Law (The Young Pope, Closer, The Talented Mr Ripley) stars in this new stage adaptation of Luchino Visconti’s 1943 film.
In the early hours of the morning on the campus of an American college, Martha, much to her husband George’s displeasure, has invited the new professor and his wife to their home for some after-party drinks. As the alcohol flows and dawn approaches, the young couple are drawn into George and Martha’s toxic games until the evening reaches its climax in a moment of devastating truth-telling. James Macdonald’s critically acclaimed, 5-star production of Edward Albee’s landmark play stars Imelda Staunton, Conleth Hill, Luke Treadaway, and Imogen Poots.
All children, except one, grow up... JM Barrie’s spellbinding classic tale Peter Pan takes flight. When Peter Pan, leader of the Lost Boys, loses his shadow, headstrong Wendy helps him to reattach it. In return, she is invited to Neverland, where Tinker Bell the fairy, Tiger Lily and the vengeful Captain Hook await. A riot of magic, music and make-believe ensues. Sally Cookson directs this wondrously inventive production of a much-loved story for all ages. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
The story has been told before, but never like this. An occupied desert nation. A radical from the wilderness on hunger strike. A girl whose mysterious dance will change the course of the world. This charged retelling turns the infamous biblical tale on its head, placing the girl we call Salomé at the centre of a revolution. Internationally acclaimed director Yaël Farber (Les Blancs) draws on multiple accounts to create her urgent, hypnotic production on the Olivier stage.
America in the mid-1980s. In the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, six New Yorkers with interconnected lives grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell. This multi-award-winning production of Tony Kushner’s two-part play is directed by Marianne Elliott, with a cast including Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, Denise Gough and Russell Tovey. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre.
As the play continues, Part Two picks up the threads of our six New Yorkers whose relationships are in tatters and fates are rapidly intertwining. Prior, Joe, Belize, Louis, Harper and Roy continue their journeys through love, loss and loneliness to overcome abandonment and ultimately discover forgiveness. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre.
The extraordinary Billie Piper plays Her, a woman driven to the unthinkable by her desperate desire to have a child. Simon Stone creates a radical new production of Lorca's achingly powerful masterpiece.
Why is Justice blind? Is she impartial? Or is she blinkered? Friends take opposing briefs in a rape case. The key witness is a woman whose life seems a world away from theirs. At home, their own lives begin to unravel as every version of the truth is challenged. Nina Raine’s powerful, painful, funny play sifts the evidence from every side and puts justice herself in the dock. Consent received its world premiere in a co-production with Out of Joint at the National Theatre in April 2017. This archive recording was captured on 9th May, 2017.
New York, 1971. There’s a party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre. Tomorrow the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves. Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee and Imelda Staunton play the magnificent Follies in this dazzling production. Featuring a cast of 37 and an orchestra of 21, Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical is directed by Dominic Cooke.
1850, and Europe’s most feared terrorist is hiding in Dean Street, Soho. Broke, restless and horny, the thirty-two-year-old revolutionary is a frothing combination of intellectual brilliance, invective, satiric wit, and child-like emotional illiteracy. Creditors, spies, rival revolutionary factions and prospective seducers of his beautiful wife all circle like vultures. His writing blocked, his marriage dying, and his friend Engels in despair at his wasted genius, his only hope is a job on the railway. But there’s still no one in the capital who can show you a better night on the piss than Karl Heinrich Marx. Rory Kinnear is Marx and Oliver Chris is Engels in this comedy directed by Nicholas Hytner. Broadcast live from the Bridge Theatre.
Sienna Miller and Jack O’Connell feature in this powerful masterpiece by Tennesse Williams. A Mississippi family gather at their country property to celebrate Big Daddy’s birthday. The scorching heat is almost as oppressive as the lies they tell each other. Brick and Maggie dance around the secrets and sexual tensions that threaten to destroy their marriage. Which version of the truth is real – and which will win out?
Caesar returns in triumph to Rome and the people pour out of their homes to celebrate. Alarmed by the autocrat’s popularity, the educated élite conspire to bring him down. After his assassination, civil war erupts on the streets of the capital. Nicholas Hytner’s production will thrust the audience into the street party that greets Caesar’s return, the congress that witnesses his murder, the rally that assembles for his funeral and the chaos that explodes in its wake. Ben Whishaw (The Danish Girl, Skyfall, Hamlet) and Michelle Fairley (Fortitude, Game of Thrones) play Brutus and Cassius, David Calder (The Lost City of Z, The Hatton Garden Job) plays Caesar and David Morrissey (The Missing, Hangmen, The Walking Dead) is Mark Antony.
In the ruined aftermath of a bloody civil war and ruthlessly fighting to survive, the Macbeths are propelled toward the crown by forces of elemental darkness. Shakespeare’s most intense and terrifying tragedy will see Rory Kinnear (Young Marx, Othello) and Anne-Marie Duff (Oil, Suffragette) return to the National Theatre to play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Vanessa Kirby plays Julie in Polly Stenham’s shocking and fiercely relevant new version of August Strindberg’s play Miss Julie. Wild and single, Julie throws a huge party in her luxurious London house which rapidly descends into a fight for her own survival.
King Lear sees two ageing fathers – one a King, one his courtier – reject the children who truly love them. Their blindness unleashes a tornado of pitiless ambition and treachery, as family and state are plunged into a violent power struggle with bitter ends. Considered by many to be the greatest tragedy ever written, Ian McKellen is King Lear in Shakespeare’s tender, violent, moving and shocking play, directed by Johnathan Munby. Broadcast live from the Duke of York's Theatre.
The Beth, an old fashioned cradle-to-grave hospital serving a town in Yorkshire, is threatened with closure as part of an efficiency drive in this Alan Bennett play. A documentary crew, eager to capture its fight for survival, follows the daily struggle to find beds on the Dusty Springfield Geriatric Ward, and the triumphs of the old people’s choir. Directed by Nicholas Hytner, and broadcast live from the Bridge Theatre.
It’s 1786 and King George III is the most powerful man in the world. But his behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic as he succumbs to fits of lunacy. With the King’s mind unravelling at a dramatic pace, ambitious politicians and the scheming Prince of Wales threaten to undermine the power of the Crown, and expose the fine line between a King and a man. The cast of this new production includes Olivier Award-winners Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Wolf Hall, NT Live Coriolanus) in the title role, and Adrian Scarborough (Gavin and Stacey, Upstairs Downstairs, After the Dance).
Simon Godwin directs Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo as the famous fated couple. Caesar and his assassins are dead. General Mark Antony now rules alongside his fellow defenders of Rome. But at the fringes of a war-torn empire the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony have fallen fiercely in love. In a tragic fight between devotion and duty, obsession becomes a catalyst for war. Politics and passion are violently intertwined in Shakespeare’s gripping tale of power.
Richard II, King of England, is irresponsible, foolish and vain. His weak leadership sends his kingdom into disarray and his court into uproar. Seeing no other option but to seize power, the ambitious Bolingbroke challenges the throne and the king’s divine right to rule. Simon Russell Beale plays William Shakespeare’s Richard II in this visceral new production about the limits of power, directed by Joe Hill-Gibbin and broadcast live from the stage of the Almeida Theatre.
Pauline Gibson has spent her life as a doctor, the inspiring leader of a local health campaign. When she crosses paths with her old boyfriend, a stalwart loyalist in Labour Party politics, she’s faced with an agonising decision. What’s involved in sacrificing your private life and your peace of mind for something more than a single issue? Does she dare? I’m Not Running is an explosive new play by David Hare, broadcast live from the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre.
Margo Channing. Legend. True star of the theatre. The spotlight is hers, always has been. But now there’s Eve. Her biggest fan. Young, beautiful Eve. The golden girl, the girl next door. But you know all about Eve... don’t you? Directed by Ivo van Hove and with Gillan Anderson and Lily James in the lead roles, All About Eve lifts the curtain on a world of jealousy and ambition, asking why our fascination with celebrity, youth, and identity never seems to get old. Broadcast live from the Noël Coward Theatre.
America, 1947. Despite hard choices and even harder knocks, Joe and Kate Keller are a success story. They have built a home, raised two sons and established a thriving business. But nothing lasts forever, and long buried truths are forced to the surface and the price of their American dream is laid bare. Jeremy Herrin directs Academy Award-winner Sally Field and Bill Pullman in Arthur Miller’s blistering drama. Broadcast live from the Old Vic.
Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer, and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots. Small Island follows their lives through the Second World War until the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury, where hopes for the future soon meet the stubborn reality of post-war Britain. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre.
On a cold September morning in 1844 a young man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside. Dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is joined by his two brothers and an American epic begins. 163 years later, the firm they establish – Lehman Brothers – spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, and triggers the largest financial crisis in history. The story of a family and a company that changed the world, told in three parts on a single evening. Academy Award-winner Sam Mendes (Skyfall, The Ferryman) directs Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Ben Miles, who play the Lehman Brothers, their sons, and grandsons.
Fleabag may seem oversexed, emotionally unfiltered and self-obsessed, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With family and friendships under strain and a guinea pig café struggling to keep afloat, Fleabag suddenly finds herself with nothing to lose. Written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve) and directed by Vicky Jones, Fleabag is a rip-roaring look at some sort of woman living her sort of life.
Deep in the magical forest a feuding King and Queen cross paths with four runaway lovers and a troupe of actors, resulting in tempestuous love triangles, contagious fogs and moonlight revels, surrounded by a roving audience following the action on foot. Gwendoline Christie, Oliver Chris, David Moorst, and Hammed Animashaun lead the cast as Titania, Oberon, Puck, and Bottom, in Shakespeare's’ most famous romantic comedy. Broadcast live from the Bridge Theatre.
It’s 1988 and Tory politician Robin Hesketh has returned home to the idyllic Cotswold house he shares with his wife of 30 years Diana. But all is not as blissful as it seems. As the day draws on, what starts as gentle ribbing and the familiar rhythms of marital scrapping quickly turns to blood-sport. Directed by Simon Godwin and featuring two-time Olivier Award winners Lindsay Duncan and Alex Jennings in this thrilling play by Simon Woods. Broadcast live from the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre.
As he prepares to embark on an overseas tour, star actor Garry Essendine’s colourful life is in danger of spiralling out of control. Engulfed by an escalating identity crisis as his many and various relationships compete for his attention, Garry’s few remaining days at home are a chaotic whirlwind of love, sex, panic and soul-searching. Matthew Warchus directs Andrew Scott in Noël Coward’s provocative comedy Present Laughter, recorded live at London's Old Vic Theatre.
Fierce with a pen and notorious in combat, Cyrano almost has it all - if only he could win the heart of his true love Roxane. There’s just one big problem: he has a nose as huge as his heart. Will a society engulfed by narcissism get the better of Cyrano - or can his mastery of language set Roxane’s world alight? Edmond Rostand’s masterwork is adapted by Martin Crimp, starring James McAvoy (X-Men, Atonement) and with direction by Jamie Lloyd (Betrayal), and broadcast live from the Playhouse Theatre in London.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Leopoldstadt was the old, crowded Jewish quarter of Vienna, Austria. But Hermann Merz, a factory owner and baptised Jew now married to Catholic Gretl, has moved up in the world. We follow his family’s story across half a century, passing through the convulsions of war, revolution, impoverishment, annexation by Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. A company of 40 actors represent each generation of the family in this epic, but intimate play.
Set twelve years before his epic His Dark Materials trilogy, this gripping adaptation revisits Phillip Pullman's fantastical world in which waters are rising and storms are brewing. Eighteen years after his groundbreaking production of His Dark Materials at the National Theatre, director Nicholas Hytner returns to Pullman's parallel universe.
Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) plays the title role in Shakespeare’s thrilling study of nationalism, war and the psychology of power. Fresh to the throne, King Henry V launches England into a bloody war with France. When his campaign encounters resistance, this inexperienced new ruler must prove he is fit to guide a country into war. Captured live from the Donmar Warehouse in London, this exciting modern production directed by Max Webster (Life of Pi) explores what it means to be English and our relationship to Europe, asking: do we ever get the leaders we deserve?
Ralph Fiennes (Antony & Cleopatra) leads the cast in David Hare's (Skylight) blazing account of the most powerful man in New York, a master manipulator whose legacy changed the city forever. For forty uninterrupted years, Robert Moses exploited those in office through a mix of charm and intimidation. Motivated at first by a determination to improve the lives of New York City's workers, he created parks, bridges and 627 miles of expressway to connect the people to the great outdoors. Faced with resistance by protest groups campaigning for a very different idea of what the city should become, will the weakness of democracy be exposed in the face of his charismatic conviction? Broadcast live from the Bridge Theatre in London, Nicholas Hytner directs this exhilarating new play.
Tessa is a young, brilliant barrister. She has worked her way up from working class origins to be at the top of her game; defending; cross examining and winning. An unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge. Prima Facie takes us to the heart of where emotion and experience collide with the rules of the game. Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) makes her West End debut in the UK premiere of Suzie Miller’s award-winning play, directed by Justin Martin and captured live from the intimate Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End.
Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) and John Heffernan (Dracula) lead the cast in Shakespeare’s romcom of sun, sea and mistaken identity. The legendary family-run Hotel Messina on the Italian Riveria has been visited by artists, celebrities and royalty. But when the owner’s daughter weds a dashing young soldier, not all guests are in the mood for love. A string of scandalous deceptions soon surround not only the young couple, but also the adamantly single Beatrice and Benedick. Following his award-winning productions of Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night and Antony and Cleopatra, director Simon Godwin returns with this irresistible comedy, broadcast live from the National Theatre stage.
A rollicking new comedy by Richard Bean (One Man, Two Guvnors) and Oliver Chris (Twelfth Night). Featuring a cast including Caroline Quentin (Jonathan Creek), Laurie Davidson (Guilty Party), Natalie Simpson (Three Sisters) and Kelvin Fletcher (Emmerdale). July 1940. After an aerial dog fight, Pilot Officer Jack Absolute flies home to win the heart of his old flame, Lydia Languish. Back on British soil, Jack’s advances soon turn to anarchy when the young heiress demands to be loved on her own, very particular, terms.
Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) makes her West End debut in this 21st century retelling of Anton Chekhov’s tale of love and loneliness. A young woman is desperate for fame and a way out. A young man is pining after the woman of his dreams. A successful writer longs for a sense of achievement. An actress wants to fight the changing of the times. In an isolated home in the countryside, dreams lie in tatters, hopes are dashed, and hearts broken. With nowhere left to turn, the only option is to turn on each other. Following his critically acclaimed five-star production of Cyrano de Bergerac, Jamie Lloyd brings Anya Reiss’ adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s classic play to stage. Filmed live in London’s West End.
Raised to be seen but not heard, a group of young women in Salem suddenly find their words have an almighty power. As a climate of fear, vendetta and accusation spreads through the community, no one is safe from trial. Erin Doherty (The Crown) and Brendan Cowell (Yerma) take the stage as Abigail Williams and John Proctor in this production, with captivating and atmospheric design by Tony Award-winner Es Devlin (The Lehman Trilogy).
Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedy, Othello returns to the National Theatre, directed by Clint Dyer (Death of England: Parts 1, 2 and 3). A bright, headstrong daughter of a senator, elevated by status but stifled by expectations; a refugee of slavery, having risen to the top of a white world, who finds that love across racial lines has a cost. Wed in secret, Desdemona and Othello crave a new life together, but find their future is not theirs to decide. Captured live on the Lyttelton stage, Giles Terera (Hamilton), Rosy McEwen (The Alienist) and Paul Hilton (The Inheritance) lead the cast.
After a cargo ship sinks in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, a 16-year-old boy named Pi is stranded on a lifeboat with four other survivors – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger. Time is against them, nature is harsh, who will survive? Puppetry, magic and storytelling combine in a unique, Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation Yann Martel's best-selling novel.
David Tennant (Doctor Who) makes a much-anticipated return to the West End in a blistering reimagining of one of Britain’s most powerful, political plays, presented by Fictionhouse and Playful Productions. As the world faces its Second World War, John Halder, a good, intelligent German professor, finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences. Olivier Award-winner Dominic Cooke (Follies) directs C.P. Taylor’s timely tale, with a cast that also features Elliot Levey (Coriolanus) and Sharon Small (The Bay). Filmed live at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End
In 1968 America, as two men fight to become the next president, all eyes are on the battle between two others: the cunningly conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and the unruly liberal Gore Vidal. During a new nightly television format, they debate the moral landscape of a shattered nation. As beliefs are challenged and slurs slung, a new frontier in American politics is opening and television news is about to be transformed forever. David Harewood (Homeland) and Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) play feuding political rivals in James Graham’s (Sherwood) multiple award-winning new drama, broadcast live from the Noël Coward Theatre.
big-hearted and colourful musical, that vividly retells the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ fairy tale. Deep in the wood, a lonely fairy longs for someone to bless. When she is summoned to the palace to help the princess sleep, her dream turns into a nightmare and her blessing becomes a curse.
