The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre[1] (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. Internationally, it is known as the National Theatre of Great Britain.[2]
Founded by Laurence Olivier in 1963, many well-known actors have performed at the National Theatre. Until 1976, the company was based at The Old Vic theatre in Waterloo. The current building 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 tours productions at theatres across the United Kingdom.[3] The theatre has transferred numerous productions to Broadway and toured some as far as China, Australia and New Zealand. However, touring productions to European cities was suspended in February 2021 over concerns about uncertainty over work permits, additional costs and delays because of Brexit.[4] Permission to add the "Royal" prefix to the name of the theatre was given in 1988,[5] but the full title is rarely used. The theatre presents a varied programme, including Shakespeare, 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. However, the post-2020 covid repertoire model became straight runs, required by the imperatives of greater resource efficiency and financial constraint coupled with the preference (and competition for the availability) of creatives working across stage and screen, thus bringing it in line with that of most theatres.
In June 2009, the theatre began National Theatre Live (NT Live), a programme of simulcasts of live productions to cinemas, first in the United Kingdom and then internationally. The programme began with a production of Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren, which was screened live in 70 cinemas across the UK. NT Live productions have since been broadcast to over 2,500 venues in 60 countries around the world. In November 2020, National Theatre at Home was announced. It is a video on demand streaming service, specifically created for National Theatre Live recordings. Videos of plays are added every month, and can be "rented" for temporary viewing, or unlimited recordings can be watched through a monthly or yearly subscription programme.[6][7]
The NT had an annual turnover of approximately £105million in 2015–16, of which earned income made up 75% (58% from ticket sales, 5% from NT Live and Digital, and 12% from commercial revenue such as in the restaurants, bars, bookshop, etc.). Support from Arts Council England provided 17% of income, 1% from Learning and Participation activity, and the remaining 9% came from a mixture of companies, individuals, trusts and foundations.[8]
Origins
In 1847, a critic using the pseudonym Dramaticus published a pamphlet[9] 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.[10] 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 form a permanent memorial to Shakespeare; an "exemplary theatre" company producing at the highest level of quality; and a centre from which appreciation of great drama could be spread as part of education throughout the country.[11]
In 1910, George Bernard Shaw wrote a short comedy, The Dark Lady of the Sonnets, in which Shakespeare himself attempts to persuade Elizabeth I of the necessity of building a National Theatre to stage his plays. The play was part of the long-term campaign to build a National Theatre.
Finally, in 1948, the London County Council (LCC) presented a site close to the Royal Festival Hall for the purpose, so the National Theatre Act, offering financial support, was passed by Parliament in 1949.[12] 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. The Government still tried to apply unacceptable conditions to save money, attempting to force the amalgamation of the existing publicly supported companies: the RSC, Sadler's Wells and Old Vic.[12]
Meanwhile, construction of the permanent theatre proceeded with a design by architects Sir Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley and structural engineers Flint & Neill containing three stages, which opened individually between 1976 and 1977.[14] The construction work was carried out by Sir Robert McAlpine.[15]
The Company remained at the Old Vic until 1977, when construction of the Olivier was complete.[12]
Theatre building and architecture
Entrance to the National Theatre
Theatres
The National Theatre building houses three separate theatres. Additionally, a temporary structure was added in April 2013 and closed in May 2016.
Olivier Theatre
Named after the theatre's first artistic director, Laurence Olivier, this is the main auditorium, modelled on the ancient Greek theatre at Epidaurus; it has an open stage and a fan-shaped audience seating area for 1160 people. A "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.[16]
Lyttelton Theatre
Named after Oliver Lyttelton, the National Theatre's first board chairman, it has a proscenium arch design and can accommodate an audience of 890.
Dorfman Theatre
Named after Lloyd Dorfman (philanthropist and chairman of Travelex Group),[17] the Dorfman is "the smallest, the barest and the most potentially flexible of the National Theatre houses . . . a dark-walled room" with an audience capacity of 400.[18] It was formerly known as the Cottesloe Theatre (named after Lord Cottesloe, Chairman of the South Bank Theatre Board), a name which ceased to be used with the theatre's closure under the National's NT Future redevelopment.
The enhanced[18] theatre reopened in September 2014 under its new name.[19]
Temporary Theatre
The Temporary Theatre, formerly called The Shed, was a 225-seat black box theatre which opened in April 2013 and featured new works; it closed in May 2016, following the refurbishment of the Dorfman Theatre.[20]
In 2015 British artist Carl Randall painted a portrait of actress Katie Leung standing in front of The Shed as part of the artist's "London Portraits" series, where he asked various cultural figures to choose a place in London for the backdrop of their portraits.[21][22] Leung explained she chose The Shed as her backdrop because she performed there in the 2013 play The World of Extreme Happiness, and also because "... it's a temporary theatre, it's not permanent, and I wanted to make it permanent in the portrait".[23][24]
Axis view of Royal National Theatre to Olivier Theatre fly tower
Architecture
Detail of the National Theatre showing the grain of the formwork
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 found the Béton brut concrete both inside and out overbearing. Most notoriously, Charles III 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, a man not noted for his enthusiasm for brutalist architecture, wrote to Lasdun stating ironically 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."[25]
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.
Despite the controversy, the theatre has been a Grade II* listed building since 1994.[26] 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.[27] 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. A key intended viewing axis[28] is from Waterloo Bridge at 45 degrees head on to the fly tower of the Olivier Theatre (the largest and highest element of the building) and the steps from ground level. This view is largely obscured now by mature trees along the riverside walk but it can be seen in a more limited way at ground level.
Foyers and interior spaces
The National Theatre's foyers are open to the public, with a large theatrical bookshop, restaurants, bars and exhibition spaces. The terraces and foyers of the theatre complex have also been used for ad hoc, short seasonal and experimental performances and screenings. The riverside forecourt of the theatre is used for regular season of open-air performances in the summer months.
The Clore Learning Centre is a new dedicated space for learning at the National Theatre. It offers events and courses for all ages, exploring theatre-making from playwriting to technical skills, often led by the NT's own artists and staff. One of its spaces is The Cottesloe Room, so called in recognition of the original name of the adjacent theatre.
The dressing rooms for all actors are arranged around an internal light-well and air-shaft and so their windows each face each other. This arrangement has led to a tradition whereby, on the opening night (known as "Press Night") and closing night of any individual play, when called to go to "beginners" (opening positions), the actors will go to the window and drum on the glass with the palms of their hands.[29]
Backstage tours run throughout the day and the Sherling High Level Walkway, open daily until 7.30pm, offers visitors views into the backstage production workshops for set construction and assembly, scenic painting and prop-making.
NT Future
2013 saw the commencement of the "NT Future" project; a redevelopment of the National Theatre complex which it was estimated would cost about £80m.[30]
National Theatre Studio
The Studio building across the road from the Old Vic on The Cut in Waterloo. The Studio used to house the NT's workshops, but became the National's research and development wing in 1984. The Studio building houses the New Work Department, the Archive, and the NT's Immersive Storytelling Studio.
The Studio is a Grade II listed building designed by architects Lyons Israel Ellis.[31] Completed in 1958, the building was refurbished by architects Haworth Tompkins and reopened in autumn 2007.
The National Theatre Studio was founded in 1985 under the directorship of Peter Gill, who ran it until 1990.[32] Laura Collier became Head of the Studio in November 2011, replacing Purni Morrell who headed the Studio from 2006.[33] Following the merge of the Studio and the Literary Department under the leadership of Rufus Norris, Emily McLaughlin became the Head of New Work in 2015.
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National Theatre Live is an initiative which broadcasts performances of their productions (and from other theatres) to cinemas and arts centres around the world. It began in June 2009 with Helen Mirren in Jean Racine's Phedre, directed by Nicholas Hytner, in the Lyttelton Theatre.
One Man, Two Guvnors returned to cinema screens in the United States, Canada and Australia for a limited season in Spring 2012. Danny Boyle's Frankenstein also returned to cinema screens worldwide for a limited season in June and July 2012.
National Theatre Connections is the annual nationwide youth theatre festival run by the National Theatre. The festival was founded in 1995, and features ten new plays for young people written by leading playwrights. Productions are staged by schools and youth groups at their schools and community centres, and at local professional theatre hubs. One of the productions of each play is invited to perform in a final festival at the National Theatre, usually in the Olivier Theatre and Dorfman Theatre.
National Theatre Collection
The National Theatre Collection (formerly called On Demand. In Schools) is the National Theatre's free production streaming service for educational establishments worldwide, which is free to UK state schools. The service is designed for use by teachers and educators in the classroom, and features recordings of curriculum-linked productions filmed in high definition in front of a live audience.[35]
The service was launched initially to UK secondary schools in 2015 with productions for Key Stage 3 pupils and above. In November 2016, the National Theatre launched to service to UK primary schools, adding a number of new titles for Key Stage 2.[36] Productions currently offered by the service include Frankenstein (directed by Danny Boyle, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller), Othello (directed by Nicholas Hytner, starting Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear), Antigone (directed by Polly Findlay, starring Christopher Eccleston and Jodie Whittaker), and Jane Eyre (directed by Sally Cookson).
In 2018, the National Theatre reported that over half of UK state secondary schools have registered to use the service. On Demand. In Schools won the 2018 Bett Award for Free Digital Content or Open Educational Resources.[37]
In March 2020, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the National Theatre Collection was made available for pupils and teachers to access at home to aid blended learning programmes.[38] In April 2020, six new titles were added to the service to bring the total up to 30 productions. These include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (directed by Benedict Andrews for the Young Vic, starring Sienna Miller and Jack O'Connell) and Small Island (directed by Rufus Norris for the National Theatre).[39]
Public Acts
Public Acts is a community participation programme from the National Theatre working with theatres and community organisations across the UK to create large-scale new work. The first Public Acts production was Pericles in August 2018, at the National Theatre, in the Olivier Theatre. The Guardian described this as 'a richly sung version with brilliant performances from a cast of hundreds.'[40] The second production was As You Like It performed in August 2019 at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch.[41][42]
Since 2019, Public Acts has been working on a third production in Doncaster in partnership with Cast and six local community partners.[43] The new adaptation of The Caucasian Chalk Circle was originally planned for 2020 but has been postponed, due to COVID-19.[44]
In December 2020, in partnership with The Guardian, Public Acts released an online musical called We Begin Again by James Graham (Quiz) as a music video and a standalone track released by Broadway Records.[45][46]
Outdoor festivals
River Stage
River Stage is the National Theatre's free outdoor summer festival that place over five weekends outside the National Theatre in its north-east cornersquare. It is accompanied by a number of additional street food stalls and bars run by the NT.
The event features programmes developed by various companies for the first four weekends, with the National Theatre itself programming the fifth weekend. Participating organisations have included The Glory, HOME Manchester, Sadler's Wells, nonclassical, WOMAD, Latitude Festival, Bristol's Mayfest and Rambert. The festival launched in 2015 and is produced by Fran Miller.
Watch This Space
The annual "Watch This Space" festival was a free summer-long celebration of outdoor theatre, circus and dance, which was replaced in 2015 by the River Stage festival.
"Watch This Space" featured events for all ages, including workshops and classes for children and adults. "Watch This Space" had a strong national and international relationships with leading and emerging companies working in many different aspects of the outdoor arts sector. Significant collaborators and regular visitors included Teatr Biuro Podrozy, The Whalley Range All Stars, Home Live Art, Addictive TV, Men in Coats, Upswing, Circus Space, Les Grooms, StopGAP Dance Theatre, metro-boulot-dodo, Avanti Display, The Gandinis, Abigail Collins, The World-famous, Ida Barr (Christopher Green), Motionhouse, Mat Ricardo, The Insect Circus, Bängditos Theater, Mimbre, Company FZ, WildWorks, Bash Street Theatre, Markeline, The Chipolatas, The Caravan Gallery, Sienta la Cabeza, Theatre Tuig, Producciones Imperdibles and Mario Queen of the Circus.[47]
The festival was set up by its first producer Jonathan Holloway, who was succeeded in 2005 by Angus MacKechnie.
Whilst the Theatre Square space was occupied by the Temporary Theatre during the NT Future redevelopment, the "Watch This Space" festival was suspended.[48] but held a small number of events in nearby local spaces. In 2013 the National announced that there would be a small summer festival entitled "August Outdoors" in Theatre Square. Playing Fridays and Saturdays only, the programme included The Sneakers and The Streetlights by Half Human Theatre, The Thinker by Stuff & Things, H2H by Joli Vyann, Screeving by Urban Canvas, Pigeon Poo People by The Natural Theatre Company, Capses by Laitrum, Bang On!, Caravania! by The Bone Ensemble, The Hot Potato Syncopators, Total Eclipse of the Head by Ella Good and Nicki Kent, The Caravan Gallery, Curious Curios by Kazzum Theatre and The Preeners by Canopy.[49]
Laurence Olivier became the first artistic director of the 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, not least as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. In 1969 the National Theatre Company received a Special Tony Award which was accepted by Olivier at the 23rd Tony Awards. He became a life peer in 1970, for his services to theatre, and stepped down in 1973.
Peter Hall took over to manage the move to the South Bank. His career included running the Arts Theatre between 1956 and 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 the permanent Royal Shakespeare Company, in 1960, also establishing a new RSC base at the Aldwych Theatre for transfers to the West End. He was artistic director at the National Theatre between 1973 and 1988. During this time he directed major productions for the Theatre, and also some opera at Glyndebourne and the Royal Opera House. After leaving, he ran his own company at The Old Vic and summer seasons at the Theatre Royal, Bath also returning to guest direct Tantalus for the RSC in 2000 and Bacchai in the National Theatre's Olivier and Twelfth Night in the Dorfman some years later. In 2008, he opened a new theatre, The Rose, and remained its Director Emeritus until his death in 2017.
One of the National's associate directors under Peter Hall, 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, directing My Fair Lady, Oklahoma! and South Pacific.
In April 2003, Nicholas Hytner took over as artistic director. 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. In April 2013 Hytner announced he would step down as artistic director at the end of March 2015.[50][51]
Amongst Hytner's innovations were NT Future, the National Theatre Live initiative of simulcasting live productions, and the Entry Pass scheme, allowing young people under the age of 26 to purchase tickets for £7.50 to any production at the theatre.
Rufus Norris took over as artistic director in March 2015. He is the first person since Laurence Olivier to hold the post without being a University of Cambridge graduate.
Facing east; towards the City of London, from Waterloo Bridge. Showing St. Paul's, and other major City buildings – to the right, the illuminated National Theatre.
Notable productions
1963–1973
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. The National Theatre Board was established in February 1963, formally gaining the Royal prefix in 1990.
A Pacifist's Guide to the War on Cancer, a Complicite Associates co-production with the National Theatre, in association with HOME Manchester, book by Bryony Kimmings and Brian Lobel, with lyrics by Kimmings and music by Tom Parkinson (2016)
↑ Rykwert, Joseph (12 January 2001). "Sir Denys Lasdun obituary". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
↑ Denys Lasdun: Architecture, City, Landscape by William J R Curtis Phaidon Press 1994
Bob Crowley is a theatre designer, and theatre director. He lives between London, New York and West Cork in the south west of Ireland.
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Sir Trevor Robert Nunn is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas for the stage, like Macbeth, as well as opera and musicals, such as Cats (1981) and Les Misérables (1985).
Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall CBE was an English theatre, opera and film director. His obituary in The Times declared him "the most important figure in British theatre for half a century" and on his death, a Royal National Theatre statement declared that Hall's "influence on the artistic life of Britain in the 20th century was unparalleled". In 2018, the Laurence Olivier Awards, recognizing achievements in London theatre, changed the award for Best Director to the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director.
Alex Michael Jennings is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for Too Clever by Half (1988), Peer Gynt (1996), and My Fair Lady (2003). He is the only performer to have won Olivier awards in the drama, musical, and comedy categories.
The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Victoria Palace. It was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 and formally named the Royal Victoria Hall, although by that time it was already known as the "Old Vic". In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian Baylis, assumed management and began a series of Shakespeare productions in 1914. The building was damaged in 1940 during air raids and it became a Grade II* listed building in 1951 after it reopened.
Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include Miss Saigon, The History Boys and One Man, Two Guvnors. He has also known for directing films such as The Madness of King George (1994), The Crucible (1996), The History Boys (2006), and The Lady in the Van (2015). Hytner was knighted in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to drama by Queen Elizabeth II.
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John Wood was an English actor, known for his performances in Shakespeare and his lasting association with Tom Stoppard. In 1976, he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Stoppard's Travesties. He was nominated for two other Tony Awards for his roles in Sherlock Holmes (1975) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1968). In 2007, Wood was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Wood also appeared in WarGames, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Orlando, Shadowlands, The Madness of King George, Richard III, Sabrina, and Chocolat.
Sir Simon Russell Beale is an English actor. He is known for his performances in film, television and theatre. He's received numerous accolades including two BAFTA Awards, three Olivier Awards, and a Tony Award. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019. Beale has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation".
John Newport Caird is an English stage director and writer of plays, musicals and operas. He is an honorary associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, was for many years a regular director with the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain and is the principal guest director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm (Dramaten).
Thelma Holt is a British theatre producer and former actress.
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The Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.
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