National Theatre Live: Frankenstein

National Theatre Live: Frankenstein 2011

8.03

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 friendless Creature, increasingly desperate and vengeful, determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal. Urgent concerns of scientific responsibility, parental neglect, cognitive development and the nature of good and evil are embedded within this thrilling and deeply disturbing tale.

2011

Othello

Othello 1965

6.44

General Othello's marriage is destroyed when vengeful Ensign Iago convinces him that his new wife has been unfaithful.

1965

National Theatre: The Corn Is Green

National Theatre: The Corn Is Green 2022

10.00

One person can make all the difference. Miss Lily Moffat arrives in rural North Wales, determined to help young local miners out of poverty by teaching them to read and write. Lily soon spots talent in the unruly Morgan Evans, but when she faces growing resistance from the community, she does everything in her power to forge him a new future.

2022

National Theatre Live: The Madness of George III

National Theatre Live: The Madness of George III 2018

6.33

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.

2018

National Theatre Live: Vanya

National Theatre Live: Vanya 2024

8.30

Andrew Scott brings multiple characters to life in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, filmed live in West End, London. Hopes, dreams, and regrets are thrust into sharp focus in this one-man adaptation which explores the complexities of human emotions.

2024

She Stoops to Conquer

She Stoops to Conquer 2003

4.00

Oliver Goldsmith's classic comedy of manners tells of the clever schemes and comic ruses that unfold one night at a country house. An ambitious step-mother, impassioned sweethearts, a pragmatic father and a pair of star-crossed suitors are sent spinning through a hilarous comedy of errors by one of the great characters of the stage, Tony Lumpkin. The National Theatre and Out Of Joint co-production of Goldsmith's comedy, recorded live on stage in Bath, after it's premiere at the Lyttelton theatre in London.

2003

National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire

National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire 2014

7.53

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.

2014

National Theatre Live: Nye

National Theatre Live: Nye 2024

6.00

Confronted with death, National Health Service founder Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan’s deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament and fights with Winston Churchill.

2024

National Theatre Live: The Deep Blue Sea

National Theatre Live: The Deep Blue Sea 2016

7.00

A flat in Ladbroke Grove, West London. 1952. When Hester Collyer is found by her neighbours in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, the story of her tempestuous affair with a former RAF pilot and the breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge begins to emerge. With it comes a portrait of need, loneliness and long-repressed passion. Behind the fragile veneer of post-war civility burns a brutal sense of loss and longing.

2016

National Theatre Live: Coriolanus

National Theatre Live: Coriolanus 2014

8.38

When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But he has enemies at home too. 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.

2014

National Theatre Live: Hex

National Theatre Live: Hex 2022

1

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. Soon, she is plunged into a frantic, hundred-year quest to somehow make everything right.

2022

Frankenstein: A Modern Myth

Frankenstein: A Modern Myth 2012

6.00

From Boris Karloff to Mel Brooks - Frankenstein has fired the imagination of generations of artists who have created their own interpretation of this Gothic masterpiece. Frankenstein: A Modern Myth looks at some of these depictions, including Danny Boyle's sell-out hit at the National Theatre. The film has exclusive access to rehearsals and interviews with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller - who alternate the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature - and with Danny Boyle. It also features cult film director John Waters: "I'm sympathetic to monsters, and this was the first one I came across as a child".

2012

National Theatre Live: Jane Eyre

National Theatre Live: Jane Eyre 2015

7.00

From her beginnings as a destitute orphan, Jane Eyre’s spirited heroine faces life’s obstacles head-on, surviving poverty, injustice and the discovery of bitter betrayal before taking the ultimate decision to follow her heart.

2015

National Theatre Live: Amadeus

National Theatre Live: Amadeus 2017

7.50

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.

2017

National Theatre Live: Dear England

National Theatre Live: Dear England 2024

1

The country that gave the world football has since delivered a painful pattern of loss. Why can’t England’s men win at their own game? With the worst track record for penalties in the world, Gareth Southgate knows he needs to open his mind and face up to the years of hurt, to take team and country back to the promised land.

2024

National Theatre Live: Good

National Theatre Live: Good 2023

8.50

As the world faces its Second World War, John Halder, a good, intelligent German professor, finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences.

2023

National Theatre Live: Antony & Cleopatra

National Theatre Live: Antony & Cleopatra 2018

7.40

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.

2018

National Theatre Live: This House

National Theatre Live: This House 2013

8.50

It's February 1974. Ted Heath's Conservative government has been ousted. But only just. In the hung Parliament, Labour manages to form a minority government by sending its whips out wheeling and dealing with the Liberals, Scottish Nationalists and Northern Irish politicians. But this fragile alliance lasts only until October, when another election is called. This time, Labour win with a tiny majority of just three. Now things get tougher as old cross-Party agreements break down and even sick and dying MPs are wheeled into the chamber to cast their votes! James Graham's acclaimed new play whisks us back to the days of the UK's previous hung Parliament, when politics got really dirty in the battle for power.

2013

The Hour

The Hour 2020

1

The hour before actors go on stage at the National Theatre in London is a performance in and of itself.

2020

National Theatre: 'Master Harold’… and the boys

National Theatre: 'Master Harold’… and the boys 2019

1

St George's Park Tea Room, Port Elizabeth, 1950. On a long rainy afternoon, employees Sam and Willie practise their steps for the finals of the ballroom dancing championship. Hally arrives from school to hide out in his parents’ tea room. These two men have been unlikely best friends to Hally his whole life. But it is apartheid era South Africa: he’s Master Harold, and they are the boys. Tony Award-winning playwright Athol Fugard’s semi-autobiographical and blistering masterwork explores the nature of friendship, and the ways people are capable of hurting even those they love.

2019