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National Theatre
The National Theatre from Waterloo Bridge
Location within Central London
Address	South Bank
City	Lambeth, London
Coordinates	51°30′26″N 0°06′51″W / 51.5071°N 0.1141°W / 51.5071; -0.1141Coordinates: 51°30′26″N 0°06′51″W / 51.5071°N 0.1141°W / 51.5071; -0.1141
Designation	Grade II*
Architect	Denys Lasdun
Capacity	Olivier Theatre 1,160 seats Lyttelton Theatre 890 seats Cottesloe Theatre 400 seats
Type	National theatre
Opened	1976
Production	Comedy of Errors, Juno and the Paycock, Swallows and Amazons, War Horse
nationaltheatre.org.uk

The Royal National Theatre (generally known as the National Theatre) in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company. Internationally, it is styled the National Theatre of Great Britain.^[1]

From its foundation in 1963 until 1976, the company was based at the Old Vic theatre in Waterloo. The current building was designed by architects Sir Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley and contains three stages, which opened individually between 1976 and 1977.^[2] It is located next to the Thames in the South Bank area of central London. In addition to performances at the National Theatre building, the National Theatre company continues to perform touring productions at theatres across the United Kingdom.^[3]

Since 1988, the theatre has been permitted to call itself the Royal National Theatre, but the full title is rarely used. The theatre presents a varied programme, including Shakespeare and other international classic drama; and new plays by contemporary playwrights. Each auditorium in the theatre can run up to three shows in repertoire, thus further widening the number of plays which can be put on during any one season.

In the 2009-2010 season, the theatre began National Theatre Live (NT Live), a program of simulcasts of live productions to cinemas, first in the United Kingdom and then internationally. The program began its pilot season in June 2009 with a production of Phedre, starring Helen Mirren, which was screened live in 70 cinemas across the UK. Today, National Theatre Live productions are broadcast to over 700 venues in 22 countries around the world.

The NT has an annual turnover of approximately £54 million (in 2008–09). Earned income made up approximately 54% of this total (34% from ticket sales and 20% as revenue from the restaurants, bookshops, etc.). Support from the Arts Council and a number of smaller government grants provided 35% of this income, and the remaining 11% came from a mixture of private support from companies, individuals, trusts and foundations.^[4]

Origins[link]

In 1847, a critic using the pseudonym Dramaticus published a pamphlet^[5] describing the parlous state of British theatre. Production of serious plays was restricted to the patent theatres, and new plays were subjected to censorship by the Lord Chamberlain's Office. At the same time, there was a burgeoning theatre sector featuring a diet of low melodrama and musical burlesque; but critics described British theatre as driven by commercialism and a 'star' system. There was a demand to commemorate serious theatre, with the "Shakespeare Committee" purchasing the playwright's birthplace for the nation demonstrating a recognition of the importance of 'serious drama'. The following year saw more pamphlets on a demand for a National Theatre from London publisher, Effingham William Wilson.^[6] The situation continued, with a renewed call every decade for a National Theatre. Attention was aroused in 1879 when the Comédie-Française took a residency at the Gaiety Theatre, described in The Times as representing "the highest aristocracy of the theatre". The principal demands now coalesced around: a structure in the capital that would present "exemplary theatre"; that would form a permanent memorial to Shakespeare; a supported company that would represent the best of British acting; and a theatre school.^[7]

The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre was opened in Stratford upon Avon on 23 April 1879, with the New Shakespeare Company (now the Royal Shakespeare Company); and Herbert Beerbohm Tree founded an Academy of Dramatic Art at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1904. This still left the capital without a national theatre. A London Shakespeare League was founded in 1902 to develop a Shakespeare National Theatre and – with the impending tri-centenary in 1916 of his death – in 1913 purchased land for a theatre in Bloomsbury. This work was interrupted by World War I.

Finally, in 1948, the London County Council presented a site close to the Royal Festival Hall for the purpose, and a "National Theatre Act", offering financial support, was passed by Parliament in 1949.^[8] Ten years after the foundation stone had been laid in 1951, the Government declared that the nation could not afford a National Theatre; in response the LCC offered to waive any rent and pay half the construction costs. Still, the Government tried to apply unacceptable conditions in order to save money; attempting to force the amalgamation of the existing publicly supported companies: the RSC, Sadler's Wells and Old Vic.^[8]

In July 1962, with agreements finally reached, a board was set up to supervise construction, and a separate board was constituted to run a National Theatre Company and lease the Old Vic theatre. The "National Theatre Company" opened on 22 October 1963 with Hamlet. The Company was to remain at the Old Vic until 1976, when construction of the Olivier was complete.^[8]

Architecture[link]

The National Theatre building houses three separate auditoria:

• The Olivier Theatre (named after the theatre's first artistic director, Laurence Olivier), is the main auditorium, and was modelled on the ancient Greek theatre at Epidaurus; it has an open stage and a fan-shaped audience seating area for 1,160 people. An ingenious 'drum revolve' (a five-storey revolving stage section) extends eight metres beneath the stage and is operated by a single staff member. The drum has two rim revolves and two platforms, each of which can carry ten tonnes, facilitating dramatic and fluid scenery changes. Its design ensures that the audience's view is not blocked from any seat, and that the audience is fully visible to actors from the stage's centre. Designed in the 1970s and a prototype of current technology, the drum revolve and a multiple 'sky hook' flying system were initially very controversial and required ten years to commission, but seem to have fulfilled the objective of functionality with high productivity.^[9]

• The Lyttelton Theatre (named after Oliver Lyttelton, the National Theatre's first board chairman) has a proscenium-arch design and can accommodate an audience of 890.

• The Cottesloe Theatre (named after Lord Cottesloe, chairman of the South Bank Theatre board) is a small, adaptable studio space, designed by Iain Mackintosh, holding up to 400 people depending on the seating configuration. The Cottesloe is to be renamed the Dorfman Theatre (after Lloyd Dorfman, philanthropist and chairman of Travelex Group) in 2013 after a redevelopment of the National Theatre, known as "NT Future".^[10]

Denys Lasdun's building for the National Theatre – an "urban landscape" of interlocking terraces responding to the site at King's Reach on the River Thames to exploit views of St Paul's Cathedral and Somerset House.

The riverside forecourt of the theatre is used for regular open-air performances in the summer months. The terraces and foyers of the theatre complex have also been used for ad hoc experimental performances. The decor is frequently dynamic, with recent displays of grass turf as 'outside wallpaper', different statues located in various random places and giant chairs and furniture in the forecourt.

The National Theatre's foyers are open to the public, with a large theatrical bookshop, restaurants, bars and exhibition spaces. Backstage tours run throughout the day, and there is live music every day in the foyer before performances.

The style of the National Theatre building was described by Mark Girouard as "an aesthetic of broken forms" at the time of opening. Architectural opinion was split at the time of construction. Even enthusiastic advocates of the Modern Movement such as Sir Nikolaus Pevsner have found the Béton brut concrete both inside and out overbearing. Most notoriously, Prince Charles described the building in 1988 as "a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London without anyone objecting". Sir John Betjeman, however, a man not noted for his enthusiasm for brutalist architecture, was effusive in his praise and wrote to Lasdun stating that he "gasped with delight at the cube of your theatre in the pale blue sky and a glimpse of St. Paul's to the south of it. It is a lovely work and so good from so many angles...it has that inevitable and finished look that great work does."^[11]

Despite the controversy, the theatre has been a Grade II* listed building since 1994.^[12] Although the theatre is often cited as an archetype of Brutalist architecture in England, since Lasdun's death the building has been re-evaluated as having closer links to the work of Le Corbusier, rather than contemporary monumental 1960s buildings such as those of Paul Rudolph.^[13] The carefully refined balance between horizontal and vertical elements in Lasdun's building has been contrasted favourably with the lumpiness of neighbouring buildings such as the Hayward Gallery and Queen Elizabeth Hall. It is now in the unusual situation of having appeared simultaneously in the top ten "most popular" and "most hated" London buildings in opinion surveys. A recent lighting scheme illuminating the exterior of the building, in particular the fly towers, has proved very popular, and is one of several positive artistic responses to the building.

In September 2007, a statue of Lord Olivier as Hamlet was unveiled outside the building, to mark the centenary of the National's first artistic director.

The National also has a Studio, the National's research and development wing, founded in 1984. The Studio has played a vital role in developing work for the National's stages and throughout British theatre. Writers, actors and practitioners of all kinds can explore, experiment and devise new work there, free from the pressure of public performance. The National Theatre Archive is housed in the same building, which is across the road from the Old Vic in the Cut, Waterloo, and used to house their workshops.

Gallery[link]

• 

  An artistic lighting scheme illuminating the exterior of the building

• 

  The statue of Laurence Olivier as Hamlet was unveiled in September 2007

• 

  The terrace entrance between the mezzanine restaurant level and the Olivier cloakroom level, reached from halfway up/down Waterloo Bridge

• 

  The main entrance on the ground floor

• 

  The ensemble shows a varying range of geometric relationships.

Artistic directors[link]

• Lord Olivier OM (1963–1973)
• Sir Peter Hall CBE (1973–1988)
• Sir Richard Eyre CBE (1988–1997)
• Sir Trevor Nunn CBE (1997–2003)
• Sir Nicholas Hytner (2003–)

Laurence Olivier was the first artistic director of the Royal National Theatre, in 1963. Shown in a photograph by Carl Van Vechten, 1939

Laurence Olivier became artistic director of the National Theatre at its formation in 1963. He was considered the foremost British film and stage actor of the period, and became the first director of the Chichester Festival Theatre – there forming the company that would unite with the Old Vic Company to form the National Theatre Company. In addition to directing, he continued to appear in many successful productions. He became a life peer in 1970, for his services to theatre, and retired in 1973.

Peter Hall took over, to manage the move to the South Bank. His career included running the Arts Theatre between 1956–1959 — where he directed the English language première of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. He went on to take over the Memorial Theatre at Stratford, and to create a permanent Royal Shakespeare Company, in 1960, also establishing a new base at the Aldwych Theatre for transfers to the West End. He was artistic director at the National between 1973 and 1988; and continues to direct major performances for both the National and the RSC. In 2008, he opened a new theatre, The Rose, and remains its director emeritus.

One of the National's associate directors, Richard Eyre became artistic director in 1988; his experience included running the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh and the Nottingham Playhouse. He was noted for his series of collaborations with David Hare on the state of contemporary Britain.

In 1997, Trevor Nunn became artistic director. He came to the National from the RSC, having undertaken a major expansion of the company into the Swan, The Other Place and the Barbican Theatres. He brought a more populist style to the National, introducing musical theatre to the repertoire.

The current artistic director, Nicholas Hytner took over in April 2003. He previously worked as an associate director with the Royal Exchange Theatre and the National. A number of his successful productions have been made into films.

Under his direction, in the 2009-2010 season, the National Theatre expanded its audience by beginning simulcast of live productions, to movie theater venues in the United Kingdom and abroad, through its programme National Theatre Live (NTLive). It is now reaching thousands of new audience members, many of whom would otherwise not have a chance to see high-quality theatre. It broadcast productions of Racine's Phèdre, Alan Bennett's The Habit of Art and Boucicault's London Assurance. In the 2010-2011 season, it presented Hamlet, Frankenstein and Fela!, as well as partnering to present productions of other companies: Complicite's A Disappearing Number and Donmar Warehouse's King Lear.

The National Theatre Live season for 2012 has broadcast Travelling Light and The Comedy of Errors and will broadcast She Stoops to Conquer on 29 March. An encore broadcast of Frankenstein has been announced.

The National Theatre participates in an Entry Pass scheme which allows young people under the age of 26 to purchase tickets for £5 to any production at the theatre.

Notable productions[link]

1963–1973[link]

In 1962, the company of the Old Vic theatre was dissolved, and reconstituted as the "National Theatre Company" opening on 22 October 1963 with Hamlet. The company remained based in the Old Vic until the new buildings opened in February 1976.

• Hamlet, directed by Laurence Olivier, with Peter O'Toole in the title-role and Michael Redgrave as Claudius (1963).
• The Recruiting Officer, directed by William Gaskill with Laurence Olivier as Captain Brazen, Maggie Smith as Sylvia and Robert Stephens as Captain Plume (1963).
• Othello, directed by John Dexter, with Laurence Olivier in the title-role, Frank Finlay as Iago and Maggie Smith as Desdemona (1964).
• The Royal Hunt of the Sun by Peter Shaffer, directed by John Dexter (1964); the National's first world premiere
• Miss Julie by August Strindberg, directed by Michael Elliott with Albert Finney and Maggie Smith in a double bill with Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer, directed by John Dexter with Derek Jacobi and Maggie Smith. (1965/66)
• As You Like It directed by Clifford Williams, the all-male production with Ronald Pickup as Rosalind, Jeremy Brett as Orlando, Charles Kay as Celia, Derek Jacobi as Touchstone, Robert Stephens as Jaques (1967).
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, directed by Derek Goldby, with John Stride and Edward Petherbridge (1967).
• The Dance of Death by August Strindberg, with Laurence Olivier as Edgar, Geraldine McEwan as Alice and Robert Stephens as Kurt (1967).
• Oedipus by Seneca translated by Ted Hughes, directed by Peter Brook, with John Gielgud as Oedipus, Irene Worth as Jocasta (1968).
• The Merchant of Venice, directed by Jonathan Miller, with Laurence Olivier as Shylock and Joan Plowright as Portia (1970)
• Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Ingmar Bergman, with Maggie Smith as Hedda (1970)
• Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill, directed by Michael Blakemore, with Laurence Olivier as James Tyrone (1971)
• Jumpers by Tom Stoppard, directed by Peter Wood, starring Michael Hordern and Diana Rigg (1972)
• The Misanthrope by Molière, translated by Tony Harrison, directed by John Dexter with Alec McCowen and Diana Rigg (1973–74)

1974–1987[link]

• The Tempest with John Gielgud as Prospero, directed by Peter Hall (1974).
• No Man's Land by Harold Pinter, directed by Peter Hall, with Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud (1975)
• Illuminatus!, an eight-hour five-play cycle from Ken Campbell's The Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool (1977)
• Bedroom Farce by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Peter Hall (1977)
• Lark Rise by Keith Dewhurst, directed by Bill Bryden (1978)
• Tales from the Vienna Woods by Ödön von Horváth, translated by Christopher Hampton, directed by Maximilian Schell, with Stephen Rea and Kate Nelligan
• Plenty by David Hare, directed by the author, with Stephen Moore and Kate Nelligan (1978)
• Amadeus by Peter Shaffer, directed by Peter Hall, with Paul Scofield and Simon Callow (1979–80)
• Galileo, by Bertolt Brecht, translated by Howard Brenton directed by John Dexter with Michael Gambon (1980)
• The Romans in Britain by Howard Brenton, directed by Michael Bogdanov, subject of a private prosecution by Mary Whitehouse (1980)
• The Oresteia by Aeschylus, translated by Tony Harrison, directed by Peter Hall (1981)
• A Kind of Alaska, one-act play by Harold Pinter, directed by Peter Brook, with Judi Dench. Inspired by Awakenings, by Oliver Sacks. (1982)
• Guys and Dolls, the National's first musical, directed by Richard Eyre, starring Bob Hoskins, Julia McKenzie, Ian Charleson, and Julie Covington (1982)
• Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet, directed by Bill Bryden (1983)
• Jean Seberg, musical with a book by Julian Barry, lyrics by Christopher Adler, and music by Marvin Hamlisch; directed by Peter Hall (1983).
• Fool for Love by Sam Shepard, starring Ian Charleson and Julie Walters, directed by Peter Gill (1984)
• The Mysteries from medieval Mystery plays in a version by Tony Harrison, directed by Bill Bryden (1985)
• Pravda by Howard Brenton and David Hare, directed by David Hare, with Anthony Hopkins (1985)
• "The American Clock" by Arthur Miller, directed by Peter Wood (1986)
• Antony and Cleopatra directed by Peter Hall, with Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench (1987)
• Happy Birthday, Sir Larry directed by Mike Ockrent and Jonathan Myerson, with a cast including Peggy Ashcroft, Peter Hall, Antony Sher, Albert Finney (31 May 1987) an 80th Birthday Tribute to Sir Laurence Olivier.^[14]

1988–1997[link]

• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Howard Davies, starring Ian Charleson and Lindsay Duncan (1988)
• Fuente Ovejuna by Lope de Vega, translated by Adrian Mitchell, directed by Declan Donnellan (1989)
• Hamlet, starring Ian Charleson, directed by Richard Eyre (1989)
• Richard III starring Ian McKellen and directed by Richard Eyre (1990)
• Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, directed by Steven Pimlott (British premiere) (1990)
• The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett, directed by Nicholas Hytner, starring Nigel Hawthorne (1991)
• Angels in America by Tony Kushner, directed by Declan Donnellan (1991–92)
• An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley, directed by Stephen Daldry (1992)
• Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges, and The Absence of War, by David Hare, directed by Richard Eyre (1993)
• Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, directed by Trevor Nunn (1993)
• Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, directed by Declan Donnellan (1993)
• Les Parents terribles by Jean Cocteau, directed by Sean Mathias (1994)
• A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, directed by Sean Mathias, with Judi Dench (1995)
• King Lear directed by Richard Eyre, with Ian Holm (1997)
• The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht, translated by Frank McGuinness, directed by Simon McBurney (1997)

1998–2002[link]

• Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, directed by Michael Blakemore (1998)
• Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, directed by Trevor Nunn, with Maureen Lipman and Hugh Jackman (1998)
• Candide by Leonard Bernstein, directed by John Caird assisted by Trevor Nunn (1999)
• The Merchant of Venice directed by Trevor Nunn, with Henry Goodman (1999)
• Summerfolk by Maxim Gorky, directed by Trevor Nunn (1999)
• Honk!, Laurence Olivier Award winner (1999)
• Money by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, directed by John Caird (1999)
• Albert Speer by David Edgar, with Alex Jennings (2000)
• Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall directed by Roger Michell, with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bill Nighy and Andrew Lincoln (2000)
• The Island by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona, directed by Peter Brook and performed by Kani and Ntshona (2000)
• Far Side of the Moon written, directed and performed by Robert Lepage (2001)
• Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones directed by John Caird, with Simon Russell Beale (2001)
• South Pacific by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, directed by Trevor Nunn, with Philip Quast (2001)
• The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare directed by Nicholas Hytner, with Alex Jennings and Phil Daniels (2001)
• Vincent in Brixton by Nicholas Wright, directed by Richard Eyre, with Clare Higgins (2002)
• The Coast of Utopia, a trilogy by Tom Stoppard, comprising: Voyage, Shipwreck and Salvage, directed by Trevor Nunn, with computerised video designs by William Dudley (2002)
• Anything Goes by Cole Porter, directed by Trevor Nunn, with John Barrowman and Sally Ann Triplett (2002)
• Dinner by Moira Buffini, starring Harriet Walter, Nicholas Farrell and Catherine McCormack, directed by Fiona Buffini (2002)

2003–present[link]

• Jerry Springer: The Opera, a musical by Stewart Lee and Richard Thomas (2003)
• Henry V by William Shakespeare. A notable modern dress version directed by Nicholas Hytner starring Adrian Lester (2003)
• Elmina's Kitchen written by Kwame Kwei-Armah, directed by Angus Jackson and starring Doña Croll, George Harris, Oscar James, and Paterson Joseph (2003).
• Democracy by Michael Frayn directed by Michael Blakemore (2003)
• His Dark Materials, a two-part adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel directed by Nicholas Hytner starring Anna Maxwell Martin and Dominic Cooper (2003)
• The History Boys by Alan Bennett directed by Nicholas Hytner starring Richard Griffiths (2004)
• Coram Boy by Helen Edmundson, directed by Melly Still (2005–2006)
• The Seafarer by Conor McPherson directed by the author, starring Jim Norton, Conleth Hill, Karl Johnson, and Michael McElhatton (2006)
• Caroline, or Change, book and lyrics by Tony Kushner, music by Jeanine Tesori, directed by Jack O'Brien (2006)
• The Man of Mode directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Rory Kinnear as Sir Foppling Flutter (2007).
• Laurence Olivier Celebratory Performance directed by Nicholas Hytner and Angus MacKechnie. A one-off tribute to Lord Laurence Olivier, the National's first director, in his centenary year and starring Richard Attenborough, Claire Bloom, Rory Kinnear, and Alex Jennings (23 September 2007)
• Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw, directed by Marianne Elliott (2007)
• War Horse based on a novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford, directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, presented in association with Handspring (2007–2009)
• Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Nicholas Hytner, starring Simon Russell Beale and Zoë Wanamaker (2007–2008).
• Burnt by the Sun, by Peter Flannery, from the screenplay by Nikita Mikhalkov and Rustam Ibragimbekov (2009)
• Dido, Queen of Carthage, by Christopher Marlowe (2009)
• Death and the King's Horseman, by Wole Soyinka, the second of the Travelex £10 tickets productions for 2009
• Time and the Conways, a play by J. B. Priestley (2009)
• Mother Courage and Her Children, by Bertolt Brecht, starring Fiona Shaw (2009)
• Phèdre featuring Helen Mirren (2009)
• Or You Could Kiss Me by Neil Bartlett and Handspring Puppet Company (2010)
• The Habit of Art, by Alan Bennet, starring Richard Griffiths (2010)
• Greenland (2011)
• Men Should Weep (2011)
• Frankenstein (2011)

Current and forthcoming productions at the National[link]

• Antigone, by Sophocles, in a version by Don Taylor (2012)^[15]
• Detroit by Lisa D'Amour (2012)^[16]
• Misterman by Enda Walsh (2012)^[17]
• Black T-shirt Collection by Inua Ellams (2012)^[18]
• One Man, Two Guvnors, based on Servant of Two Masters (2011)^[19]
• London Road, a musical by Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork (2011). Returns to the National in July
• Collaborators by John Hodge (screenwriter) (2012)^[20]
• She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith (2012)^[21]
• Moon on a Rainbow Shawl by Errol John (2012)^[22]
• Travelling Light by Nicholas Wright (playwright) (2012)^[23]

National Theatre Studio[link]

The National Theatre studio is a development space on The Cut, founded in 1985 under the directorship of Peter Gill.^[24] The studio houses work in progress such as play readings and workshops, and provides a venue for professional training.

The studio is housed in a Grade II listed building designed by architects Lyons Israel Ellis. Completed in 1958, the building was refurbished by architects Haworth Tompkins and reopened in Autumn 2007. Purni Morrell has been the Head of Studio since 2006.

National Theatre Connections[link]

This is the annual youth theatre scheme, founded in 1995.

National Theatre Live[link]

National Theatre Live is an initiative to broadcast live performances of the best of British theatre to cinemas around the world.

It launched in June 2009 with a broadcast of Phèdre with Helen Mirren, which was shown in over 200 cinemas around the world and seen by a worldwide audience of more than 50,000 people.

The season continued with Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, Nation which was based on the novel by Terry Pratchett and adapted by Mark Ravenhill and Alan Bennett's The Habit of Art''. The season concluded with London Assurance with Fiona Shaw and Simon Russell Beale.

The second season of broadcasts launched with an encore screening of Phèdre. The first NT Live collaboration with another British theatre company saw Complicite's A Disappearing Number, broadcast live from Theatre Royal Plymouth.

The season continued with Shakespeare's Hamlet and the smash-hit musical FELA!. The second collaborative broadcast King Lear with Derek Jacobi live from Covent Garden's Donmar Warehouse.

For the first time ever, National Theatre Live broadcast two separate performances of a production. Throughout the run of Frankenstein, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternated the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature. Audiences in cinemas had the chance to see both combinations.

The second season concluded on 30 June with Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, with Zoe Wanamaker.

The third season of broadcasts launched on 15 September 2011 with One Man, Two Guvnors with James Corden. This was followed by Sir Arnold Wesker's The Kitchen. The final broadcast of 2011 was John Hodge's Collaborators with Simon Russell Beale. In 2012 they broadcast Nicholas Wright's new play Travelling Light on 9 February, followed by The Comedy of Errors with Lenny Henry on 1 March and She Stoops to Conquer with Katherine Kelly, Steve Pemberton and Sophie Thompson on 29 March.

One Man, Two Guvnors will be returning to cinema screens in the United States, Canada and Australia for a limited season in Spring 2012.

Danny Boyle's Frankenstein will be returning to cinema screens worldwide for a limited season in June and July 2012.

The fourth season of broadcasts will commence on Thursday 6 September 2012 with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a play based on the international best-selling novel by Mark Haddon. This will be followed by The Last of the Haussmans, a new play by Stephen Beresford starring Julie Walters, Rory Kinnear and Helen McCrory on Thursday 11 October 2012. William Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens will follow on 1 November 2012 starring Simon Russell Beale as Timon. On Thursday 17 January 2013, NT Live will broadcast Richard Bean's (One Man, Two Guvnors) adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.

The performances are nominated in advance to allow the cameras greater freedom in the auditorium.

Watch This Space Festival[link]

The annual "Watch This Space Festival" is a free summer-long celebration of outdoor theatre, circus and dance. It has events for all ages, including classes for children. The 2010 festival ran from 23 June to 26 September.^[25]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Elsom, John and Tomalin, Nicholas (1978): The History of the National Theatre. Jonathan Cape, London. ISBN 0-224-01340-8.

• Hall, Peter, (edited Goodwin, John) (1983): Peter Hall's Diaries: The Story of a Dramatic Battle (1972–79). Hamish Hamilton, London. ISBN 0-241-11047-5.

• Goodwin, Tim (1988), Britain's Royal National Theatre: The First 25 Years. Nick Hern Books, London. ISBN 1-85459-070-7.

• Callow, Simon (1997): The National: The Theatre and its Work, 1963–1997. Nick Hern Books, London. ISBN 1-85459-318-8.

See also[link]

• National Youth Theatre
• National Theatre of Scotland
• Wales Millennium Centre
• National Theatre of Ireland

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: National Theatre, London

• Official website
• NT Live
• The official Royal National Theatre print website containing over 700 posters from the NT

Archive

• NT Connections Official Site
• History of the National Theatre with archive images and press reports on the building

v t e London Borough of Lambeth Districts Brixton Clapham Crystal Palace Gipsy Hill Herne Hill Kennington Lambeth Oval Stockwell Streatham Streatham Hill Tulse Hill Vauxhall Waterloo West Dulwich West Norwood Attractions Imperial War Museum Lambeth Archives Lambeth Palace London Eye Lower Marsh Market Oval Cricket Ground Southbank Centre Royal National Theatre BFI Southbank Royal Festival Hall Queen Elizabeth Hall Purcell Room Hayward Bridges Waterloo Hungerford Lambeth Westminster Vauxhall Parks and open spaces Brockwell Park Jubilee Gardens Kennington Park Norwood Park Constituencies Streatham Vauxhall Dulwich and West Norwood Other topics People Public art Schools The Lambeth Walk

National Theatre may refer to:

in Africa[link]

• Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi, Kenya
• National Theatre (Accra) in Accra, Ghana

in Asia[link]

• National Theater and Concert Hall, Republic of China in Taipei, Taiwan
• National Theatre of Japan in Tokyo, Japan
• National Theater of Korea in Seoul, South Korea
• Habima Theatre in Tel Aviv, Israel

in Australia[link]

• National Theatre, Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia

in Europe[link]

Czech Republic

• National Theatre (Brno) in Brno, Czech Republic
• National Theatre (Prague) in Prague, Czech Republic

Germany

• Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar in Weimar, Germany
• National Theatre Mannheim in Mannheim, Germany
• National Theatre Munich in Munich, Germany

Spain

• Centro Dramático Nacional in Madrid, Spain
• National Theatre of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain

United Kingdom

• National Theatre of Brent in Brent, England, United Kingdom
• National Theatre of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
• Royal National Theatre in London, England, United Kingdom

Other European countries

• Abbey Theatre, also known as the National Theatre of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland
• Burgtheater, the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna, Austria
• Croatian National Theatre (disambiguation), part of name of several theatres in Croatia
• Finnish National Theatre in Helsinki, Finland
• Ivan Vazov National Theatre in Sofia, Bulgaria
• National Theatre Bucharest in Bucharest, Romania
• Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad, Serbia
• National Theatre in Belgrade in Belgrade, Serbia
• National Theatre (Budapest) in Budapest, Hungary
• National Theatre of Greece in Athens, Greece
• National Theatre, Oslo in Oslo, Norway
• Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, Slovakia

in the Americas[link]

United States

• National Theatre (Detroit, Michigan) in Detroit, Michigan, United States
• National Theatre, former name of the Nederlander Theatre in New York City, New York, United States
• National Theatre (Washington, D.C.) in Washington, D.C., United States
• National Theater (Yiddish), former theatre in New York City, New York

Other Americas countries

• Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima, Peru
• National Theatre of Costa Rica in San Jose, Costa Rica
• National Theatre of Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico
• Rubén Darío National Theatre in Managua, Nicaragua
• Teatro de Cristóbal Colón in Bogotá, Colombia
• Teatro Nacional in Brasília, Brazil
• Teatro Nacional in Caracas, Venezuela
• Teatro Nacional in Havana, Cuba
• Teatro Nacional in Panamca City, Panama
• Teatro Nacional in Peru
• Teatro Nacional in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Teatro Nacional Cervantes in Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Teatro Nacional de El Salvador in San Salvador, El Salvador

See also[link]

• All pages with titles containing "National Theatre"
• All pages with titles containing "Teatro Nacional"
• List of national theatres, a listing of national theatres, not all of which have the words "national theatre" in their official name
• Nationalteatern, a Swedish rock group
• Teatro Nacional (disambiguation), one of several national theatres in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Richard Briers
Briers at a Memorabilia event, March 2009
Born	(1934-01-14) 14 January 1934 (age 78) Raynes Park, Surrey, England
Occupation	Actor
Spouse	Ann Davies
Children	Lucy Briers

Richard David Briers, CBE (born 14 January 1934) is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.

He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a household name. In the 1980s he starred in Ever Decreasing Circles, and from 2000 to 2002 came back to the spotlight with a leading role in Monarch of the Glen.

Early life[link]

Briers was born in Raynes Park, Surrey, England, the son of Joseph Benjamin Briers and Morna Phyllis (née Richardson).^[1] He is the second cousin of actor Terry-Thomas. He spent his childhood in Raynes Park and Guildford. His father drifted between jobs, while his mother dreamt of a career in showbiz, something she could not achieve for financial reasons.^[2] He attended Rokeby Prep School in Wimbledon, and left at the age of 16 without any formal qualifications.^[2]

His first job was a clerical post with a London cable manufacturer, and for a short time he went to evening class to qualify in electrical engineering, but soon left and became a filing clerk.^[2] At the age of 18, he was called up for two years national service in the RAF, during which he was a filing clerk at RAF Northwood, where he met future George and Mildred actor Brian Murphy. Murphy introduced Briers, who had been interested in acting since the age of 14, to the Dramatic Society at the Borough Polytechnic Institute, now London South Bank University, where he performed in several productions. When he left the RAF he studied at RADA, which he attended from 1954 to 1956.^[2] He won a scholarship with Liverpool Repertory Company, and he worked with them for 15 months, then moved to the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry for 6 months and then had his West End debut.

It was while at Liverpool Rep that he met his future wife Ann Davies, who was acting as stage manager, and has acted on television since the 1960s. Soon after meeting, he borrowed £5 from his mother, bought an engagement ring and they were married within six months.^[2] They have two children, one of whom, Lucy, is also an actress.

Television career[link]

In 1961, Briers gained the lead male role in Marriage Lines (1961–66) opposite Prunella Scales. The following year Briers appeared in Brothers in Law (from the book by Henry Cecil) as callow barrister Roger Thursby. He was cast in this role by adaptors Frank Muir and Denis Norden, who had seen him in the West End. His other early appearances included Dixon of Dock Green (1962), The Morecambe & Wise Show, The Seven Faces of Jim (1961) with Jimmy Edwards, a production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever (1968) and the storyteller in several episodes of Jackanory (1969).

Briers was cast in the lead role in The Good Life (1975–78), playing Tom Good, a draughtsman who decides, on his 40th birthday, to give up his job and try his hand at self-sufficiency. An enormously successful series, the last episode in 1978 was performed in front of the Queen. In 1977, he starred with his The Good Life co-star Penelope Keith in the televised version of Alan Ayckbourn's trilogy The Norman Conquests.

Briers was the original narrator and voice actor for the Enid Blyton series Noddy.

During the 1980s and 1990s, he played roles in many programmes including Goodbye, Mr Kent (1982), All in Good Faith (1985), Tales of the Unexpected (1988), Mr. Bean (1990) and Twelfth Night (1988) as Malvolio. In 1987, he appeared in the Doctor Who episode Paradise Towers. From 1984 to 1989 he was the lead role of Martin Bryce in Ever Decreasing Circles, and in 1993 took the lead role of Godfrey Spry in the BBC comedy drama If You See God, Tell Him. In 1995 he played the character Tony Fairfax in the BBC comedy Down to Earth. Fairfax is a cultural adviser to the president of a banana republic in Latin America. When the president is deposed by a military coup, Tony is sacked and deported back to England and ends up staying with his brother Chris (Christopher Blake) and his wife Molly (Kirsten Cooke).

Other work[link]

Briers has spent much of his career in theatre work, including appearances in plays by Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. In 1967, one of his earliest successes was playing alongside Michael Hordern and Celia Johnson in the London production of Alan Ayckbourn's Relatively Speaking.^[2] Briers was a member of Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company, taking on classical and Shakespearean roles including Malvolio in Twelfth Night and the title roles in King Lear and Uncle Vanya. Briers has also appeared in nine of Kenneth Branagh's films, such as Henry V (as Bardolph, 1989), Much Ado About Nothing (as Signor Leonato, 1993) and as Polonius in Hamlet (1996).

Briers is also a familiar voice actor, with numerous commercials, including adverts for the Midland Bank in which he was the voice of the company's Griffin symbol, and the animated children's series Roobarb (1974), Noah and Nelly in... SkylArk (1976) and Bob the Builder (2005) to his credit. He also provided the voice of Fiver in the animated film adaptation of Watership Down (1978). Between 1984 and 1986 he made a series of commercials for the Ford Sierra done in a sitcom style portraying the Sierra as "one of the family".

His work in radio includes playing Bertie Wooster in a series of adaptations of the Jeeves novels by P.G. Wodehouse, Dr. Simon Sparrow in BBC Radio 4's adaptions of Richard Gordon's Doctor in the House and Doctor At Large (1968) (currently repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra), a retired thespian in a series of six plays with Stanley Baxter Two Pipe Problems, and later the play Not Talking, commissioned for BBC Radio 3 by Mike Bartlett.

Recent years[link]

Since 1990, he has appeared in Lovejoy, Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders (the episode "Death's Shadow"), Doctors, New Tricks, Kingdom, and If You See God, Tell Him. Richard Briers starred as Hector in the first three series of Monarch of the Glen from 2000 to 2002, a role which saw him return to the limelight. He contributed "Sonnet 55" to the 2002 compilation album, When Love Speaks, which features famous actors and musicians interpreting Shakespeare's sonnets and play excerpts. In 2005, he appeared alongside Kevin Whately in Dad, a TV Film made by BBC Wales exploring issues of elder abuse. In 2006, he made an appearance in an episode of Extras, and portrayed the servant Adam in Kenneth Branagh's 2006 Shakespeare adaptation, As You Like It. He made a cameo appearance as a dying recluse in the 2008 Torchwood episode "A Day in the Death".^[3]

Richard Briers was appointed OBE in 1989, and CBE in 2003.^[4] As a result of Terry-Thomas's Parkinson's disease, Briers became President of the Parkinson's Disease Society.^[5] Briers has helped launch a Sense-National Deafblind and Rubella Association campaign.

Richard Briers is also a non-medical patron of the TOFS (Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula Support) charity, which supports children and the families of children born unable to swallow.

Selected filmography[link]

• Girls at Sea (1958)
• Bottoms Up (1960)
• The Girl on the Boat (1961)
• Murder, She Said (1961)
• A Matter of WHO (1961)
• Doctor in Distress (1963)
• The Bargee (1964)
• Fathom (1967)
• All the Way Up (1970)
• Rookery Nook (1970, TV film)
• Rentadick (1972)
• Watership Down (1978)
• A Chorus of Disapproval (1989)
• Henry V (1989)
• Peter's Friends (1992)
• Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
• Frankenstein (1994)
• A Midwinter's Tale (1995)
• Hamlet (1996)
• Spice World (1997)
• Love's Labour's Lost (2000)
• Unconditional Love (2002)
• Peter Pan (2003)
• As You Like It (2006)
• Run For Your Wife (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Richard Briers at the Internet Movie Database
• Richard Briers at the BBC Comedy Guide
• Richard Briers at BFI ScreenOnline

Hugh Jackman
Jackman at the Sydney premiere for Real Steel, September 2011
Born	Hugh Michael Jackman (1968-10-12) 12 October 1968 (age 43) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Deborra-Lee Furness (1996–present)

Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.

Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters. He is known for his role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as for his leads in Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, The Prestige, Australia, and Real Steel. Jackman is a singer, dancer, and actor in stage musicals, and won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz.

In November 2008, Open Salon named Jackman one of the sexiest men alive.^[1] Later that same month, People magazine named Jackman "Sexiest Man Alive."^[2]

A three-time host of the Tony Awards, winning an Emmy Award for one of these appearances, Jackman also hosted the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009.^[3]

Early life[link]

Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the youngest of five children of English parents Chris Jackman and Grace Watson, and the second child to be born in Australia (he also has a younger half-sister, from his mother's re-marriage).^[4] One of his paternal great-grandfathers was Greek.^[5] His parents divorced when he was eight, and he remained with his accountant father and siblings, while his mother moved back to England.^[6] As a child, Jackman liked the outdoors, spending a lot of time at the beach and on camping trips and vacations all over Australia. He wanted to see the world: "I used to spend nights looking at atlases. I decided I wanted to be a chef on a plane. Because I'd been on a plane and there was food on board, I presumed there was a chef. I thought that would be an ideal job."^[7]