Shows category: National Theatre Live

Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) and John Heffernan (Dracula) lead the cast in Shakespeare’s rom-com 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 the award-winning success of National Theatre Live’s 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).

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.

Emily Burns directs this spectacularly entertaining new version of Sheridan’s The Rivals. Featuring a cast including Caroline Quentin, Laurie Davidson, Natalie Simpson and Kelvin Fletcher.

‘One of the funniest productions in the National’s history.’ Guardian on One Man, Two Guvnors.

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.

Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) makes her West End debut in the UK premiere of Suzie Miller’s award-winning 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.

Justin Martin directs this solo tour de force, captured live from the intimate Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End.

ENCORE

James McAvoy (X-Men, Atonement) returns to the stage in an inventive new adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, broadcast live to cinemas from the West End in London.

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, with direction by Jamie Lloyd (Betrayal). This classic play will be brought to life with linguistic ingenuity to celebrate Cyrano’s powerful and resonant resistance against overwhelming odds.

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?

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.

Two young people and their dæmons, with everything at stake, find themselves at the centre of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future. And as the waters rise around them, powerful adversaries conspire for mastery of Dust: salvation to some, the source of infinite corruption to others.

Eighteen years after his groundbreaking production of His Dark Materials at the National Theatre, director Nicholas Hytner returns to Pullman’s parallel universe. Broadcast live from London’s Bridge Theatre.

Considered by many to be the greatest tragedy ever written, King Lear sees two aging 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.

Broadcast live and recorded in 2018 by National Theatre Live from London’s West End featuring Ian McKellan and directed by Jonathan Munby.

ENCORE

At the outbreak of World War One, Albert’s beloved horse, Joey, 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.

Now seen by more than 8 million people around the world, War Horse is a powerfully moving and imaginative drama of phenomenal inventiveness. At its heart are astonishing life-size puppets by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage.