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Verlagsinformation :: Publisher's information
Experience world-class productions and archival materials from the UK's National Theatre through this exciting collection, transforming the landscape of theatre and performance studies around the globe.
National Theatre Collection 1
Drawing on 10 years of National Theatre Live broadcasts as well as recordings never previously seen outside of the National Theatre's archive, the video content includes 30 video performances.
Selected Video Performances
National Theatre Collection features a wide range of works regularly studied in secondary and higher education. Unique in scope, the collection includes such performances as:
- Literary adaptations, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein adapted by Nick Dear and directed by Danny Boyle, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller
- Greek classics such as Medea by Euripides, in a contemporary adaptation by Ben Power, directed by Carrie Cracknell with Helen McCrory in the title role
- Vibrant modern stagings of Shakespeare, such as Twelfth Night, directed by Simon Godwin with Tamsin Greig in the role of Malvolia
- 20th-century classics such as Lorraine Hansberry's Les Blancs and the Young Vic's production of Lorca's Yerma, adapted and directed by Simon Stone with Billie Piper in the title role
- Comedies such as She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, directed by Jamie Lloyd with a cast including Cush Jumbo and Katherine Kelly, and One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean, directed by Nicholas Hytner and featuring James Corden's Tony Awardwinning performance
... and many more.
National Theatre Collection 2
This second National Theatre collection offers 20 more performances, ranging from Greek legend and Shakespeare to a wealth of contemporary plays including musical theatre.
Turn of the Century Plays for Contemporary Audiences
- Hedda Gabler: WhatsOnStage described this production, with Ruth Wilson in the title role, as 'A Hedda unlike any I have ever seen. Devastating.'
- Julie: Carrie Cracknell directs a cast including Vanessa Kirby and Eric Kofi Abrefa in this 'superlative production' (Time Out) set in contemporary London
- The Seagull: Chekhov's masterly meditation on how the old take revenge on the young is both comic and tragic, and marks the birth of the modern stage. 'Land-mark brilliant', The Independent
- Three Sisters: Chekhov's iconic characters are relocated to a 1960s Nigeria on the brink of the Biafran Civil War, in this bold adaptation by Inua Ellams. 'Brimming with Life. Enlightening and heart-breaking' Broadway World
20th Century Classics
- A View from the Bridge: Ivo van Hove directs this stunning production which The Times called 'One of the great theatrical productions of the decade.'
- All My Sons: From the Old Vic, Jeremy Herrin directs Sally Field and Bill Pullman in Arthur Miller's blistering drama
- Top Girls: Lyndsey Turner directs Caryl Churchill's wildly innovative play about a country divided by its own ambitions
Contemporary Plays
- After Life: If you could spend eternity with just one precious memory, what would it be? Adapted from Hirokazu Kore-eda's award-winning film
- Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches: In the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, six New Yorkers with interconnected lives grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell
- Angels in America Part Two: Perestroika: Prior, Joe, Belize, Louis, Harper and Roy continue their journeys through love, loss and loneliness to overcome abandonment and ultimately discover forgiveness
- Barber Shop Chronicles: Directed by Olivier award-winning director Bijan Sheibani. For generations, African men have gathered in barber shops to discuss the world. These are places where the banter can be barbed and the truth is always telling
- Chewing Gum Dreams: Written and performed by Michaela Coel, this award-winning, one-woman play recalls the last days of innocence before adulthood
- Home: Nadia Fall's vital verbatim play about people living on the margins of society features performances from Michaela Coel, Antonia Thomas and Kadiff Kirwan
- Rockets and Blue Lights: Directed by Miranda Cromwell, this fiercely political play by Winsome Pinnock won the 2018 Alfred Fagon Award
- This House: A timely, moving and funny insight into the workings of British politics. It's 1974 and to a backdrop of infighting and backstabbing the political parties battle to change the future of the nation
Shakespeare and Greek Classics
- Macbeth: Rufus Norris directs Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff in Shakespeare's most intense and terrifying tragedy
- Paradise: Kae Tempest's epic new take on Greek legend is directed by Ian Rickson and performed by an all-female company including Lesley Sharp as Philoctetes
- Romeo and Juliet (2020): Starring Jessie Buckley and Josh O'Connor and filmed using the backstage spaces of the National Theatre during the Coronavirus pandemic
Musical Theatre
- I Want My Hat Back: Based on Jon Klassen's children's picture book classic, this production will support courses in theatre for young audiences as well as musical theatre
- The Threepenny Opera: Rory Kinnear is Mack the Knife in a new version of this landmark twentieth-century musical from the Olivier stage of the National Theatre
National Theatre Collection 3
This third National Theatre collection offers 20 performances, from Greek tragedy, a medieval morality play, and Shakespeare, to plays about Generation Z.
Greek Tragedy to Shakespeare
- Phaedra: Writer-Director Simon Stone reimagines Seneca's famous tragedy
- Everyman: When Death comes calling, Everyman must abandon his hedonistic life and embark on a frantic search to find a friend that will speak in his defence. Chiwetel Ejiofor is Everyman, directed by Rufus Norris
- Antony and Cleopatra: Politics and passion are violently intertwined in Shakespeare's gripping tale of power. Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo star in the title roles
- As You Like It: Disguising herself as a boy, Rosalind embraces a different way of living and falls spectacularly in love with Orlando in Shakespeare’s glorious comedy of love and change.
- Much Ado About Nothing: Escape to the Italian Riviera in Simon Godwin's production with a cast including Katherine Parkinson and John Heffernan.
- Othello: Clint Dyer directs an extraordinary new vision for one of Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedies, with a cast that includes Giles Terera, Rosy McEwen and Paul Hilton.
Adaptations of 19th and 20th Century Novels
- The Book of Dust: Eighteen years after his groundbreaking production of His Dark Materials, Nicholas Hytner returns to Pullman's parallel universe to direct a spellbinding adaptation by Bryony Lavery.
- Hamlet: Hamlet’s dad is dead. His uncle has taken over the kingdom and married Hamlet’s mum. The whole world feels like it’s turned upside down. This energetic and engaging schools production retells Shakespeare’s tragedy.
- Hex: Rufus Norris directs this vividly original musical retelling of the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ fairy tale with music by Jim Fortune, and choreography by Jade Hackett.
- Romeo and Julie: Romeo is a single dad hanging on tight. Julie is fighting to follow her dream of studying at Cambridge. Two Welsh teens raised a few streets apart – but from entirely different worlds – crash into first love and are knocked off their feet.
- The Wife of Willesden: Critically acclaimed, multi-award winning, best-selling author Zadie Smith‘s rambunctious play transports Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath to 21st Century Northwest London.
- Wuthering Heights: Shot through with music and dance, Emma Rice transforms Emily Brontë's masterpiece into a passionate, powerful and uniquely theatrical experience.
20th and 21st Century Plays
- The Crucible: Olivier Award-winner Lyndsey Turner directs this electrifying new production with designs by Es Devlin in a restaging of Arthur Miller's masterpiece
- Dixon and Daughters: Mary has just been released from prison. Over a tumultuous two days, her family is forced to confront not just their past but themselves in this powerful story of family and forgiveness.
- The Great Wave: On a Japanese beach, teenager Hanako is lost to the sea. Their mother, however, can’t shake the feeling her missing daughter is still alive, and soon family tragedy takes on a global political dimension.
- Jack Absolute Flies Again: Richard Bean and Oliver Chris's play is based on Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals, and stars Caroline Quentin, Laurie Davidson, Natalie Simpson and Kelvin Fletcher
- Trouble in Mind: In 1950s America, protests for racial equality erupt in the face of voter suppression. On Broadway, Wiletta Mayer, a talented Black actress, begins rehearsals for a new play about racism – written and directed by two white men.
- Under Milk Wood: The retired sea captain yearning for his lost love. The landlady living in terror of her guests. A father who can no longer access his memories. Michael Sheen stars in Dylan Thomas’ poetic masterpiece.
Plays about Generation Z
- Our Generation: Created from five years of interviews with 12 young people from across the UK, this captivating coming-of-age play is for anyone who is – or has ever been – a teenager
- Shut Up, I'm Dreaming: The PappyShow's love letter to a new generation, directed by Kane Husbands and based on the views, ideas and experiences of teenagers
National Theatre Collection 4
September 2025 will see National Theatre Collection 4 launch exclusively on Drama Online, offering six new performances. Watch plays featuring Sharon D. Clarke, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Sheen, Hugh Skinner, Giles Terera, Samira Wiley and many more.
This collection includes:
- The Importance of Being Earnest: Max Webster directs a joyful and flamboyant reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated comedy. Olivier Award-winner Sharon D. Clarke is joined by Ncuti Gatwa and Hugh Skinner in this hilarious story of identity, impersonation and romance.
- Blues for an Alabama Sky: New York, 1930. Following a decade of creative explosion, the Harlem Renaissance is starting to feel the bite of the Great Depression. In the face of hardship and dwindling opportunity, Angel and her friends battle to keep their artistic dreams alive.
- The Boy with Two Hearts: After speaking out against the Taliban, a young family are forced to flee their country. Embarking on a long and terrifying journey they seek final refuge in the UK. But, as their eldest son’s life-threatening heart condition worsens, their escape becomes a race against time.
- Ballet Shoes: In a crumbling house full of dinosaur bones and fossils, three adopted sisters – Pauline, Petrova and Posy – are learning who they are and what they want to be. Noel Streatfeild’s beloved novel is brought back to the Olivier Stage in this new version by Kendall Feaver.
- Kin: This powerful piece by acclaimed physical theatre company Gecko is a provocative story of desperation, compassion and acceptance, inspired by the migration stories of Gecko’s international performers and the extraordinary voyage Leah undertook as a young child.
- Nye: Michael Sheen plays Nye Bevan, often referred to as the politician with greatest influence on the UK without ever having been Prime Minister. Nye’s deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey through his life, from childhood to mining, to Parliament and fights with Churchill, in an epic Welsh fantasia.
About National Theatre
The National Theatre’s mission is to make world class theatre that’s entertaining, challenging and inspiring – and to make it for everyone. It aims to reach the widest possible audience and to be as inclusive, diverse and national as possible with a broad range of productions that play in London, on tour around the UK, on Broadway and across the globe. The National Theatre’s extensive UK-wide learning and participation program supports young people’s creative education through performance and writing programs like Connections, New Views and Let’s Play. Its major new initiative Public Acts creates extraordinary acts of theatre and community; the first Public Acts production was 2018’s Pericles. The National Theatre extends its reach through digital programs including NT Live, which broadcasts some of the best of British theatre to over 2,500 venues in 65 countries. The National Theatre invests in the future of theatre by developing talent, creating bold new work and building audiences, partnering with a range of UK theatres and theatre companies.
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