National Theatre Live: 50 Years On Stage

Last updated

National Theatre Live:
50 Years On Stage
National Theatre Live 50 Years On Stage Poster.jpg
Directed by Nicholas Hytner
Produced by
    Starring Michael Gambon
    Maggie Smith
    Judi Dench
    Helen Mirren
    Ralph Fiennes
    Benedict Cumberbatch
    Derek Jacobi
    Penelope Wilton
    Simon Russell Beale
    Andrew Scott
    Frances de la Tour
    Distributed by PBS / BBC 2
    Release date
    • November 2, 2013 (2013-11-02)
    Running time
    2 hours 31 minutes
    CountryUnited Kingdom

    National Theatre Live: 50 Years On Stage is a 2013 live staged event film directed by Nicholas Hytner. Shown in theatres and on PBS and National Theatre Live. [1] The program is presented by The Royal National Theatre which celebrates 50 years of theatre, with some extracts of the best productions from the last five decades including Alan Bennett, Noël Coward, David Hare, Tony Kushner, Eugene O'Neill, Harold Pinter, William Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Tom Stoppard, and Tennessee Williams performed by the countries best performers including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, Penelope Wilton, Simon Russell Beale, Frances de la Tour, Ian Holm, Derek Jacobi, and Joan Plowright. [2] [3]

    Contents

    Summary

    Live performances

    The program features a variety of live performances from productions by the Royal National Theatre from the past five decades: [4]

    The final curtain call includes all the actors from each decade of the national theare.

    Clips from original staged productions include:

    Production

    The production was a part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Royal National Theatre started by Laurence Olivier. The presentation included live performances, interspersed with documentary footage, and archival footage of live performances of original productions from the National Theatre. The night also featured a short film about Olivier, which included recent footage of Plowright reprising her role of St Joan shot at the Old Vic.

    Release

    The program was released in theaters for a limited time in the United States and in the United Kingdom. In the United States it was shown on PBS. In the United Kingdom it ran on BBC 2.

    Reception

    Michael Billington of The Guardian wrote, "We got a brilliant, kaleidoscopic entertainment that evoked the National's past and opened up possibilities for the future...Obviously it was moving to see legendary actors, either through archival footage or live performance, repeating past successes." [5] Dalya Alberge of The Observer wrote, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Derek Jacobi, Michael Gambon, Simon Russell Beale ... the cast was a dream for any director. But the audience was also filled with titans of British theatre, with a guest list that seated playwrights Tom Stoppard, Peter Shaffer and David Hare alongside directors Richard Eyre and Peter Hall and actresses Prunella Scales and Juliet Stevenson. Also present was Joan Plowright, widow of Laurence Olivier – the National's first director and one of the last century's greatest actors." [6]

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggie Smith</span> English actress (born 1934)

    Dame Margaret Natalie Smith is an English actress. With an extensive career in the theatre, on film, and in television over seven decades, she is one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses. She is particularly noted for her wit in comedic roles.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Judi Dench</span> English actress (born 1934)

    Dame Judith Olivia Dench is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage. Dench has garnered various accolades throughout a career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards and seven Olivier Awards.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Gambon</span> British actor (1940–2023)

    Sir Michael John Gambon was an Irish-born British actor. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six-decade-long career, he received three Olivier Awards and four BAFTA TV Awards. In 1998, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal National Theatre</span> Theatre in London, England

    The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (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.

    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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gielgud Theatre</span> Theatre in Londons West End since 1906

    The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 986 seats on three levels.

    Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre is an English film, theatre, television and opera director.

    The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the Evening Standard newspaper. They are the West End's equivalent to Broadway's Drama Desk Awards.

    <i>Othello</i> (1965 British film) 1965 film by Stuart Burge

    Othello is a 1965 film based on the National Theatre Company's staging of Shakespeare's Othello (1964-1966) staged by John Dexter. Directed by Stuart Burge, the film stars Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Joyce Redman, and Frank Finlay, who all received Oscar nominations, and provided film debuts for both Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyndham's Theatre</span> Theatre in London

    Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham. Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916. It was designed to seat 759 patrons on three levels; later refurbishment increased this to four seating levels. The theatre was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in September 1960.

    The Renaissance Theatre Company was a theatre company founded in 1987 by Kenneth Branagh and David Parfitt. It was disbanded in 1992.

    The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is an umbrella organisation for West End theatre in London. Founded in 1908, as Society of West End Theatre Managers, then Society of West End Theatre in 1975, changing to its current name in 1994, the (SOLT) is a not-for-profit organisation which provides a collective voice for the theatre owners, producers and managers of all the major commercial and grant-aided theatres across London. As well as protecting the interests of all its member theatres, SOLT promotes theatregoing through activities including the Laurence Olivier Awards, the TKTS ticket booth, Theatre Tokens, the Official London Theatre fortnightly printed listings guide and the associated OfficialLondonTheatre website. The organisation administers the audience development initiatives Kids Week and Official London Theatre's New Year Sale, and runs events including the 'behind-the-scenes' career fair, TheatreCraft, and West End LIVE, alongside Westminster City Council. SOLT also supports a number of theatrical charities including Stage One and Mousetrap Theatre Projects.

    John Peter Sichel was a British director of film, stage and television, and, later in life, a film, television, and theatre trainer.

    Robert Michael John Fox is an English theatre and film producer, whose work includes the 2002 film The Hours.

    Each year since 1988 The Critics' Circle has presented an award for Distinguished Service to the Arts, voted for by all members of the Circle, embracing Dance, Drama, Film, Music, Visual Arts and Architecture. This performing arts Award takes the form of an engraved crystal rose bowl, presented at a celebratory luncheon.

    Nobby Clark is an English photographer of theatre, opera, dance and live classical and contemporary music performance.

    Allelujah! is a play by British playwright Alan Bennett.

    The Triple Crown or the Grand Slam are terms used in the entertainment industry to describe individuals who have won the three highest accolades recognised in British film, television, and theatre: a British Academy Film Award, a British Academy Television Award, and a Laurence Olivier Award respectively.

    References

    1. "National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage". pbs.org. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
    2. "National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage". WNET. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
    3. "NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: NATIONAL THEATRE 50 YEARS ON STAGE (TV)". Paley Center . Retrieved June 9, 2021.
    4. "Live from the National Theatre - 50 Years on Stage". Youtube. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
    5. "National theatre's 50th birthday: what were your highlights?". The Guardian . Retrieved June 9, 2021.
    6. "National Theatre: Night of the stars celebrates 50 years". The Observer . Retrieved June 9, 2021.