National Theatre
Barber Shop Chronicles, National Theatre at Home review - still lively after all these yearsFriday, 15 May 2020
Barber shops – as we are all starting to appreciate in this time of lockdown – fulfil an emotional as much as a cosmetic role: having a haircut can represent a new beginning, a moment for reflection, or even an informal confessional. As the hugely... Read more... |
Theatre Lockdown Special 5: A solo show for the ages, Ibsen refreshed, and yet more frolicsome catsThursday, 14 May 2020
No one can accuse the gods of streaming of failing to cast a wide net. That's even more so with an array of streaming opportunities over the next week that ranges from Off West End Ibsen given a second chance to shine to an online encounter with,... Read more... |
Antony and Cleopatra, National Theatre at Home review – Fiennes and Okonedo triumph in dragging tragedyMonday, 11 May 2020
Like an asp eating its own tail, the National Theatre's 2018 production of Antony and Cleopatra, streaming on YouTube until 14 May, begins as it will end. Director Simon Godwin's first tableau is the play's finale: Cleopatra (Sophie Okonedo) lies in... Read more... |
Theatre Lockdown Special 4: Little-known Lloyd Webber, prize-winning Shakespeare, and starry David MametThursday, 07 May 2020
Has anyone else noticed how fulltime this streaming thing has become? Those who were of a mind to (and who never slept) could find enough cultural output to satisfy 24/7, especially if one adds to the free offerings that crop up by the week... Read more... |
Frankenstein, National Theatre at Home review – creature discomfortsSaturday, 02 May 2020
So far, it could be said that the National Theatre is having a good lockdown. Every week, this flagship streams one of its stock of NT Live films, which are always a welcome reminder of the range of its output over the past decade or so. This week... Read more... |
Theatre Lockdown Special 3: Mary Shelley twice over, Europe writ large, and one day more for a mega-musicalThursday, 30 April 2020
Time is moving in mysterious ways at the moment. It's been possible over the last month or so to mark out the beginning of each week with the arrival online of a different production streaming from the Hampstead Theatre archives. The National,... Read more... |
Theatre Lockdown Special 2: Birthdays aplenty, songs of hope, a starry quiz - and moreThursday, 23 April 2020
As lockdown continues, so does the ability of the theatre community to find new ways to tantalise and entertain. The urge to create and perform surely isn't going to be reined-in by a virus, which explains the explosion of creatives lending their... Read more... |
Treasure Island, National Theatre at Home review - all aboard this thrilling adventure storyFriday, 17 April 2020
Swaggering pirates, X marks the spot, a chattering parrot, “Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum”? All present and correct. But Bryony Lavery’s winning 2014 adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson for the National, directed by Polly Findlay, also features... Read more... |
Jane Eyre, National Theatre at Home review - a fiery feminist adaptationFriday, 10 April 2020
The National Theatre’s online broadcasts got off to a storming start with One Man, Two Guvnors – watched by over 2.5 million people, either on the night or in the week since its live streaming, and raising around £66,000 in donations. Let’s hope... Read more... |
One Man, Two Guvnors, National Theatre at Home review – bliss, utter comic blissSaturday, 04 April 2020
Armchair theatre-lovers rejoice. During the lockdown, the National Theatre is streaming a selection of its past hits for free for one week at a time. These shows, originally filmed as part of the flagship’s NT Live project (which broadcast... Read more... |
Sondheim at 90 Songs: 1 - 'I'm Still Here'Monday, 23 March 2020
Surely there’s never been a more apt time for Sondheim’s great cry of defiance? “I’m Still Here” is sung by showgirl-turned-actress Carlotta in Follies (1971) – added during the Boston try-out in place of “Can That Boy Foxtrot”. Loosely... Read more... |
The Seven Streams of the River Ota, National Theatre review - theatre at its transcendent bestMonday, 16 March 2020
If you want to pinpoint the genius of Robert Lepage’s multi-faceted seven-hour epic, that has returned to the National Theatre 26 years after it first dazzled British audiences in 1994, you might as well begin with a stethoscope. The stethoscope is... Read more... |
