Andrew Garfield and Denise Gough on Angels in America
The actors Andrew Garfield and Denise Gough discuss their experience of performing in Angels in America. Chaired by Kate Bassett.
Jul 04, 2017•58 min
NT Talks
Welcome to our collection of conversations recorded live from the National Theatre stages, including interviews with actors, directors and playwrights.
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Episodes
Curious Incident: Farewell to the West End
Celebrating the final week of performances in the West End, this exclusive platform brings together the original Olivier and Tony Award®-winning creative team of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, including the director Marianne Elliott, playwright, Simon Stephens, Lighting Designer, Paule Constable, Designer, Bunny Christie, Video Designer, Finn Ross, Movement directors: Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett, Sound Designer Ian Dickinson and composer Adrian Sutton.
Jun 29, 2017•29 min
Jan Ravens: Difficult Woman
One of Britain’s best loved impressionists, the BBC’s Dead Ringers star debuts her new one woman show with special guest appearances from Theresa May and Hillary Clinton to name but a few.
Jun 28, 2017•57 min
The Reality Gap
A panel discussion exploring 'The Reality Gap'; the distance between what established politicians tell voters and the perceived realities of everyday people in the US and UK. The discussion is in association with Squint theatre company and will be chaired by Squint Artistic Director Andrew Whyment, with contributions from a panel of expert political commentators including BBC Newsnight's Gabriel Gatehouse, Sarah Churchwell and David Goodhart. 2016 was a year of political change on both sides of ...
Jun 21, 2017•45 min
Nicholas Hytner: Balancing Acts
Nicholas Hytner reveals the inside story of his 12 years at the helm of the National. This is a story about actors, writers and directors; about directing new plays like The History Boys and One Man, Two Guvnors; films like The Madness of King George; about probing Shakespeare from every angle and reinventing the classics; and about coming up time and again against the challenge of reconciling art and commerce. With candour, intelligence, humour and insight borne from experience of extraordinary...
May 25, 2017•34 min
The National Theatre Podcast
We have a new show! Here's some information about the brand new National Theatre Podcast, with episode one available to download now.
May 22, 2017•53 sec
Redressing the Balance: Gender in Shakespeare
With recent productions of King Lear at the Old Vic, the Donmar’s trilogy of The Tempest, Henry IV and Julius Caesar, and our own Twelfth Night in mind, a panel questions the reasons for, and challenges of, swapping the gender for some of Shakespeare’s key roles, and whether this makes them more relevant or accessible for today’s audience. What can an actress bring to these roles – and is there any fundamental difference in the way they must be played? Guests include Maria Aberg, Samuel Barnett,...
Apr 25, 2017•23 min
Tamsin Greig on Twelfth Night
The actor reflects on the challenges and rewards of playing Malvolia in Twelfth Night.
Mar 30, 2017•38 min
Simon Godwin on Twelfth Night
Director Simon Godwin talks about his production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
Mar 29, 2017•21 min
My Country: Rufus Norris and Pádraig Cusack
The project producer, Pádraig Cusack, and the National's Director, Rufus Norris, talk about My Country.
Mar 23, 2017•32 min
Improbable on Lost Without Words
Artistic Directors Lee Simpson and Phelim McDermott discuss Improbable's new show, Lost Without Words.
Mar 17, 2017•25 min
Ugly Lies The Bone: Ferrentino and Rubasingham
Writer Lindsey Ferrentino is joined by director Indhu Rubasingham to discuss the European premiere of Ugly Lies the Bone.
Mar 10, 2017•28 min
Denzel Washington on Fences
Director and actor, Denzel Washington discusses his new film Fences adapted from the play by August Wilson.
Mar 02, 2017•23 min
Ruth Wilson on Hedda Gabler
The actor reflects on the challenges and rewards of playing the title role in Hedda Gabler.
Feb 21, 2017•33 min
Ivo van Hove and Patrick Marber on Hedda Gabler
Director Ivo van Hove and writer Patrick Marber discuss this new version of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler with Kirsty Wark.
Feb 08, 2017•24 min
Lucian Msamati on Amadeus
The actor reflects on the challenges and rewards of playing Salieri in this new production of Amadeus.
Jan 18, 2017•42 min
Alexander Zeldin on LOVE
The writer-director Alexander Zeldin talks to Samira Ahmed about his new play, LOVE.
Jan 11, 2017•22 min
Private Eye: A Review of 2016
In his 30th year as Editor of the satirical magazine, Ian Hislop looks back on 2016 with regular guests Craig Brown, Lewis Macleod, Jan Ravens and John Sessions.
Dec 20, 2016•1 hr 1 min
Alan Bennett: Keeping On Keeping On
The writer reads from Keeping On Keeping On, his new collection of prose, following Writing Home and Untold Stories. It includes reflections on his collaboration with Nicholas Hytner, a comic radio play, and his diaries of 2005-2015, a decade that saw four premieres at the National Theatre (including The Habit of Art), a double bill in the West End, and the films of The History Boys and The Lady in the Van.
Dec 15, 2016•44 min
A Poem For Every Night Of The Year
The live recording of readings from A Poem For Every Night of the Year, including joyous, magical, dramatic and humorous poems in the journey through history and human experience. Allie Esiri’s new anthology is a journey through a calendar year, highlighting key moments and dates with a poem for every night, by writers such as Maya Angelou, Robert Burns and Benjamin Zephaniah. With guest readers Kate Duchêne, Hattie Morahan, Giles Terera and Samuel West.
Dec 08, 2016•47 min
Michael Longhurst on Amadeus
Director Michael Longhurst discusses his new production of Peter Shaffer’s play, Amadeus, with Kate Mosse.
Dec 01, 2016•23 min
David Hare and John Simenon on The Red Barn
Playwright David Hare discusses his new play, The Red Barn, adapted from Georges Simenon’s novel La Main, with John Simenon, who reflects on his father’s literary legacy. La Main is published as The Hand by Penguin Classics on 6 October, part of its long-term project to bring the Belgian writer to a British audience.
Nov 28, 2016•28 min
A Pacifist's Guide To The War On Cancer: Bryony Kimmings
Bryony Kimmings, director of this Complicite co-production, A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer, talks to comedian Jenny Eclair about the new musical as it arrives at the National. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/a-pacifists-guide-to-the-war-on-cancer
Nov 10, 2016•28 min
NT: 40 Years as a Space for Plays
On this date in 1976, the National Theatre’s new building on the South Bank was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen. Paule Constable (lighting designer and NT Associate), Richard Pilbrow (Laurence Olivier’s lighting director and theatre consultant), and Steve Tompkins (co-founder of Haworth Tompkins Ltd, architects on the NT Future project) explore the process of the architectural design of the three NT theatre spaces, and celebrate the creativity of the theatre designer over the last 40 ...
Oct 28, 2016•36 min
Alexander Technique in the Theatre
As her memoir, Touching Lives, is published, Sue Laurie reflects on thirty years of learning, training and teaching the Alexander Technique – an integral part of the inner workings of the National Theatre and RSC. She talks about the huge impact that Alexander Technique has on voice, body and mind for actors, directors and puppeteers, and her own indomitable passion for theatre with actor Michelle Terry (NT: Cleansed, London Assurance) and director Ian Rickson (NT: Evening at the Talk House, The...
Oct 17, 2016•26 min
Sean O'Casey by his Daughter
Director Shivaun O’Casey, the playwright’s daughter, reflects on his life and work, including his play, The Plough and the Stars, in a conversation with Fergal Keane, award-winning journalist and Special Correspondent with BBC News.
Sep 29, 2016•27 min
Jonathan Kent on Young Chekhov
As the Chichester Festival Theatre’s trilogy of Chekhov’s Platonov, Ivanov, and The Seagull comes to the National, director Jonathan Kent discusses the productions with Genista McIntosh. #YoungChekhov
Sep 21, 2016•32 min
Helen McCrory on The Deep Blue Sea
The actor reflects on the challenges and rewards of playing Hester Collyer in The Deep Blue Sea.
Sep 16, 2016•29 min
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour: Vicky Featherstone and Lee Hall
The director and writer discuss this new musical, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, and its journey to the National. #OurLadies https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/our-ladies-of-perpetual-succour
Sep 08, 2016•28 min
Lear and Rosalind
The timeless Shakespearean characters of Lear and Rosalind are given a voice through the different and unorthodox approach of their biographers, in two newly-published books. Michael Pennington, who played King Lear in New York and is currently touring the UK, takes us on a journey through the play from the point of view of Lear himself, commenting on its motives and themes in Lear’s own words, in King Lear in Brooklyn. Angela Thirlwell explores the fictitious life and the many after-lives of Sh...
May 31, 2016•34 min
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