Royal National Theatre

AT THE NATIONAL, WE MAKE WORLD-CLASS THEATRE THAT IS ENTERTAINING, CHALLENGING AND INSPIRING. AND WE MAKE IT FOR EVERYONE.

RETURNING TO THE STAGE "AFTER LIFE", A NEW PLAY ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE BY AWARD-WINNING WRITER JACK THORNE, REOPENED THE DORFMAN THEATRE TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM, AFTER 15 MONTHS OF CLOSURE. ADAPTED FROM THE 1998 FILM OF THE SAME NAME BY JAPANESE FILMMAKER HIROKAZU KORE-EDA, THE PLAY TAKES PLACE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH AND ASKS THE PEOPLE PASSING THROUGH IT TO PICK ONE SPECIAL MEMORY THAT THEY WILL LIVE IN FOR ETERNITY. FOLLOWING THIS "ROCKETS AND BLUE LIGHTS" BY WINSOME PINNOCK, PLAYED IN THE DORFMAN THEATRE FROM AUGUST TO OCTOBER 2021. WINSOME DEVELOPED THE PLAY ON ATTACHMENT AT THE STUDIO, AND IT WAS FIRST STAGED AT THE ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE IN MANCHESTER; THE PLAY EXPLORES THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY IN BRITAIN THROUGH A PAINTING BY JMW TURNER. THE OLIVIER THEATRE WAS RECONFIGURED IN-THE-ROUND TO ENABLE SOCIALLY DISTANCED PERFORMANCES, "UNDER MILK WOOD" BY DYLAN THOMAS, A POETIC MASTERPIECE FEATURING MICHAEL SHEEN, KARL JOHNSON AND SIN PHILLIPS OPENED THE OLIVIER THEATRE AFTER 15 MONTHS OF CLOSURE. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY "PARADISE", A NEW VERSION OF "PHILOCTETES" BY SOPHOCLES, WRITTEN BY KAE TEMPEST, WHICH PLAYED IN THE OLIVIER THEATRE AFTER A YEAR OF DELAYS DUE TO THE PANDEMIC. IT WAS RECEIVED WONDERFULLY BY CRITICS AND AUDIENCES ALIKE; KAE TEMPEST THEMSELVES TOLD THE GUARDIAN THAT THEY HAVE LOVED WORKING ON THE PRODUCTION. THE FINAL PRODUCTION TO BE IN-THE-ROUND IN THE OLIVIER WAS "THE NORMAL HEART", LARRY KRAMER'S LARGELY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL PLAY ABOUT THE AIDS CRISIS IN 1980S NEW YORK. DOMINIC COOKE DIRECTED THIS GROUND-BREAKING PLAY, RESULTING IN 4 OLIVIER AWARD NOMINATIONS, INCLUDING BEST REVIVAL, BEST ACTOR AND BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE AND A WIN FOR LIZ CARR IN THE BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE CATEGORY. LYTTELTON FILM RELEASES AS PART OF OUR ADAPTION TO THE CHALLENGES OF THE PANDEMIC, THE LYTTELTON THEATRE WAS BROUGHT INTO OPERATION AS A FILMING SPACE FOR TWO NEW FILMS AND AN INTERVIEW SERIES, ALLOWING US TO CONTINUE TO PRODUCE WORK FOR OUR AUDIENCES REGARDLESS OF CHANGES IN THE CHOPPY OPENING ENVIRONMENT. THE LYTTELTON THEATRE WAS THE LAST OF OUR THEATRES TO REOPEN AND REMAINED IN USE AS A FILM STUDIO FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THIS FINANCIAL YEAR. PRESENTED BY SKY ARTS, PBS GREAT PERFORMANCES AND NO GUARANTEES, "ROMEO & JULIET" WAS PRODUCED BY THE NATIONAL THEATRE, IN ASSOCIATION WITH SABEL PRODUCTIONS AND CUBA PICTURES. "ROMEO & JULIET" WAS CAPTURED IN JUST 17 DAYS IN DECEMBER 2020 - AN EXTREMELY QUICK TURN-AROUND FOR THE AVERAGE FILM. THE FILM PREMIERED ON EASTER SUNDAY IN THE UK ON SKY ARTS AND 23 APRIL 2021 ON PBS IN THE USA, BEFORE MOVING TO CATCH UP AND NOW TV SERVICES. IN THE MONTHS SINCE, THE FILM HAS BEEN RELEASED IN UK CINEMAS, AND SUBSEQUENTLY ON OUR STREAMING PLATFORM, NATIONAL THEATRE AT HOME. ROMEO & JULIET HAS NOW BEEN SEEN BY OVER 300,000 PEOPLE AND WON THE STAGE AWARD FOR BEST DIGITAL PROJECT. "THE LIFE IN STAGES" INTERVIEW SERIES FEATURED INTERVIEWS BETWEEN TWO OR THREE ACTORS/CREATIVES, SPEAKING CANDIDLY ABOUT THEIR THEATRICAL CAREERS. THESE LONG-FORM CONVERSATIONS WERE MADE FOR YOUTUBE AND COVERED A RANGE OF TOPICS INCLUDING MEMORABLE CAREER MOMENTS AND ADVICE FOR PEOPLE ENTERING THE INDUSTRY. THERE WERE 6.6M VIEWS OF CLIPS ACROSS THE NT'S SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS, AND 500,000 FULL EPISODE VIEWS. THE SERIES HAS ALSO SUBSEQUENTLY BEEN ADDED TO THE NATIONAL THEATRE AT HOME STREAMING PLATFORM. THE FILM OF "DEATH OF ENGLAND: FACE TO FACE" FILMED THROUGHOUT SPRING 2021, PREMIERED AT AN EXCLUSIVE SCREENING ON 26 OCTOBER IN LONDON AND WAS BROADCAST ON SKY ARTS ON 25 NOVEMBER. FOLLOWING ITS BROADCAST, THE FILM HAS ENJOYED GREAT CRITICAL ACCLAIM. IT RECEIVED FOUR AND FIVE-STAR REVIEWS IN MAJOR BRITISH NEWSPAPERS SUCH AS THE GUARDIAN, THE TELEGRAPH AND THE I AND WAS SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 VISIONARY HONOURS THEATRE PLAY OF THE YEAR AND A BAFTA NOMINATION. THE VISIONARY HONOURS AWARDS CELEBRATE CULTURE, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT THAT HAVE INSPIRED SOCIAL CHANGE AND DEBATE - FROM INCLUSION, DIVERSITY, EQUALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND POLITICAL INJUSTICES AROUND THE WORLD. BACK IN FULL OPERATION ALL THREE THEATRES AT OUR SOUTH BANK HOME WERE OPEN, IN THEIR REGULAR CONFIGURATIONS, AS OF OCTOBER 2021. SINCE THEN, PRODUCTIONS HAVE INCLUDED: . "EAST IS EAST", AYUB KHAN DIN'S MUCH-LOVED COMEDY DRAMA, ADAPTED INTO A BAFTA AWARD-WINNING FILM, REOPENED THE LYTTELTON THEATRE AS PART OF A 25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR, DIRECTED BY IQBAL KHAN. . "WUTHERING HEIGHTS," A CO-PRODUCTION WITH WISE CHILDREN, BRISTOL OLD VIC AND YORK THEATRE ROYAL, ADAPTED BY EMMA RICE WHO TRANSFORMS EMILY BRONT'S MASTERPIECE INTO A PASSIONATE, POWERFUL AND UNIQUELY THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE. . "TROUBLE IN MIND," ALICE CHILDRESS' EXPLORATION OF THE FIGHT FOR RACIAL EQUALITY IN 1950S AMERICA PLAYED OUT IN REHEARSALS FOR A NEW BROADWAY PLAY. . "MANOR" BY MOIRA BUFFINI, FEATURING NANCY CARROLL AND SHAUN EVANS IS A DARKLY COMIC NEW PLAY. . "SMALL ISLAND," THE ACCLAIMED, FIVE-STAR PRODUCTION OF ANDREA LEVY'S PRIZE-WINNING NOVEL, SMALL ISLAND, RETURNED. SMALL ISLAND FOLLOWS THE INTERCONNECTED STORIES OF BRITISH AND JAMAICAN CHARACTERS THROUGH THE SECOND WORLD WAR UNTIL THE ARRIVAL OF HMT EMPIRE WINDRUSH AT TILBURY, WHERE HOPES FOR THE FUTURE SOON MEET THE STUBBORN REALITY OF POST-WAR BRITAIN. ADAPTED BY HELEN EDMUNDSON AND DIRECTED BY RUFUS NORRIS. . UNFORTUNATELY, OUR NEW MUSICAL, "HEX", BY TANYA RONDER, JIM FORTUNE AND RUFUS NORRIS LOST THREE WEEKS OF PERFORMANCES DUE TO AN OUTBREAK OF THE NEW COVID OMICRON VARIANT THROUGHOUT DECEMBER 2021 AND INTO JANUARY 2022. WE HAVE DECIDED TO REMOUNT HEX LATER THIS YEAR, TO GIVE IT THE CHANCE TO HAVE A FULL RUN, AND SO WILL HAVE A PRESS NIGHT THEN. . "OUR GENERATION," THE NEW PLAY FROM WRITER OF LONDON ROAD, ALECKY BLYTHE, OPENED IN THE DORFMAN THEATRE IN FEBRUARY 2022. "OUR GENERATION" IS A VERBATIM PLAY THAT TELLS THE STORIES OF A GENERATION. CREATED FROM FIVE YEARS OF INTERVIEWS WITH 12 YOUNG PEOPLE FROM ACROSS THE UK, OUR GENERATION IS A CAPTIVATING PORTRAIT OF THEIR JOURNEY INTO ADULTHOOD. CAPTIVATING PORTRAIT OF THEIR JOURNEY INTO ADULTHOOD. EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANY OF OUR PRODUCTIONS ARE NOW RAPIDLY AVAILABLE ON NATIONAL THEATRE AT HOME AFTER THEIR RUNS. THIS SIGNIFICANT SHIFT INTO ONLINE DISTRIBUTION HAS MEANT THAT THE TITLES WE CAPTURE HAVE FAR GREATER DIVERSITY AND VARIETY THAN WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO CAPTURE FOR DISTRIBUTION VIA NT LIVE. ATTRACTING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SUBSCRIBERS IN THE FIRST YEAR, WITH 52 TITLES (ALL CAPTIONED, 23 AUDIO-DESCRIBED, 1 BSL), WE RETURNED OVER 1M TO THEATRE-MAKERS IN FEES & ROYALTIES. ALL OUR STAGED SOUTH BANK PRODUCTIONS HAVE ALSO BEEN PART OF THE SCOPE OF OUR FIRST YEAR WORKING WITH THE THEATRE GREEN BOOK - A NEW GUIDELINE FOR MAKING SUSTAINABLE THEATRE - AND WORKING TOWARDS ACHIEVING THE BASELINE STANDARD. REUSING AND RECYCLING ARE AT THE HEART OF THIS COMMITMENT, WITH 50% OF MATERIALS NEEDING TO HAVE HAD A PREVIOUS LIFE, AND 65% NEEDING TO BE REPURPOSED OR RECYCLED AT THE END. WE'RE CALCULATING THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF EVERY NEW ITEM OR MATERIAL, INCLUDING DELIVERIES, AND REDUCING THE USE OF HARMFUL CHEMICALS. THIS AMBITIOUS WORK REQUIRES SUSTAINABLE THINKING TO BE WOVEN INTO THE CONCEPTUALISATION OF PRODUCTIONS FROM THE START. THE NATIONAL THEATRE'S IMMERSIVE STORYTELLING STUDIO EXPLORES HOW VIRTUAL REALITY, 360 ? FILM, AUGMENTED REALITY AND OTHER CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE USED TO PIONEER DRAMATIC STORYTELLING. "ALL KINDS OF LIMBO" IS AN IMMERSIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE THAT WAS DEVELOPED IN THE STUDIO ALONGSIDE OUR 2019 PRODUCTION OF ANDREA LEVY'S AWARD WINNING NOVEL "SMALL ISLAND." WRITTEN BY NUBIYA BRANDON, "ALL KINDS OF LIMBO" WAS INSPIRED BY THE INFLUENCE OF CARIBBEAN CULTURE ON THE UK'S MUSIC SCENE AND SEES NUBIYA TELL HER OWN STORY OF A LIFE IN LIMBO ACROSS THE GENRES OF REGGAE, GRIME, CLASSICAL AND CALYPSO. IN JANUARY 2022, FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, AUDIENCES WERE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE A PERFORMANCE OF THIS GROUND-BREAKING WORK WHEREVER THEY WERE IN THE WORLD. AUDIENCES COULD WATCH A PERFORMANCE IN A VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSET, ON THEIR PHONE OR TABLET AS AUGMENTED REALITY, OR IN VIDEO GAME MODE ON A COMPUTER.