National Theatre Live: Frankenstein

National Theatre Live: Frankenstein 2011

8.00

Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the friendless Creature, increasingly desperate and vengeful, determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal. Urgent concerns of scientific responsibility, parental neglect, cognitive development and the nature of good and evil are embedded within this thrilling and deeply disturbing tale.

2011

National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire

National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire 2014

7.50

As Blanche’s fragile world crumbles, she turns to her sister Stella for solace – but her downward spiral brings her face to face with the brutal, unforgiving Stanley Kowalski.

2014

National Theatre Live: Vanya

National Theatre Live: Vanya 2024

8.30

Andrew Scott brings multiple characters to life in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, filmed live in West End, London. Hopes, dreams, and regrets are thrust into sharp focus in this one-man adaptation which explores the complexities of human emotions.

2024

Othello

Othello 1965

6.40

General Othello's marriage is destroyed when vengeful Ensign Iago convinces him that his new wife has been unfaithful.

1965

National Theatre Live: The Motive and the Cue

National Theatre Live: The Motive and the Cue 2024

7.50

In 1964, Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new Broadway production of Hamlet under Sir John Gielgud’s exacting direction. But as rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide and the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel.

2024

National Theatre Live: Twelfth Night

National Theatre Live: Twelfth Night 2017

8.70

A ship is wrecked on the rocks. Viola is washed ashore but her twin brother Sebastian is lost. Determined to survive on her own, she steps out to explore a new land. So begins a whirlwind of mistaken identity and unrequited love. The nearby households of Olivia and Orsino are overrun with passion. Even Olivia's upright housekeeper Malvolia is swept up in the madness. Where music is the food of love, and nobody is quite what they seem, anything proves possible.

2017

Death of England: Face to Face

Death of England: Face to Face 2021

8.00

Britain is locked down. Michael and Delroy are dealing with issues closer to home. During an explosive afternoon in Delroy's flat, they are forced to confront their relationship with their country – and with each other.

2021

National Theatre Live: Coriolanus

National Theatre Live: Coriolanus 2014

8.40

When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But he has enemies at home too. Famine threatens the city, the citizens’ hunger swells to an appetite for change, and on returning from the field Coriolanus must confront the march of realpolitik and the voice of an angry people.

2014

LOVE

LOVE 2018

5.00

In the communal area of a block of temporary accommodation, the residents go about their day-to-day routines in the run-up to Christmas. The bonds of love that keep people together are put to the test.

2018

National Theatre Live: Julius Caesar

National Theatre Live: Julius Caesar 2018

7.60

Caesar returns in triumph to Rome and the people pour out of their homes to celebrate. Alarmed by the autocrat’s popularity, the educated élite conspire to bring him down. After his assassination, civil war erupts on the streets of the capital. Nicholas Hytner’s production will thrust the audience into the street party that greets Caesar’s return, the congress that witnesses his murder, the rally that assembles for his funeral and the chaos that explodes in its wake.

2018

National Theatre Live: Phaedra

National Theatre Live: Phaedra 2023

8.00

After years of fierce focus on her political career, a politician turns her attention to her personal life. The reappearance of a figure from her past shakes the foundations of her house and the beliefs that have underpinned her power. As buried lust and loneliness surge to the surface, her actions threaten to destroy everything she has built.

2023

National Theatre Live: Antony & Cleopatra

National Theatre Live: Antony & Cleopatra 2018

7.40

Caesar and his assassins are dead. General Mark Antony now rules alongside his fellow defenders of Rome. But at the fringes of a war-torn empire the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony have fallen fiercely in love. In a tragic fight between devotion and duty, obsession becomes a catalyst for war.

2018

National Theatre Collection: Romeo and Juliet

National Theatre Collection: Romeo and Juliet 2017

1

A new version for younger audiences by Bijan Sheibani and Ben Power. Originally staged as part of the National Theatre’s Shakespeare for younger audiences programme. This archival recording was captured in 2017. This contemporary production sees a company of eight tell the most famous love story of all time, set against a vivid urban backdrop bursting with excitement, colour, dance and song. A swift, contemporary celebration of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Bijan Sheibani’s thrilling production brings Romeo and Juliet to life for a new generation.

2017

National Theatre Live: Nye

National Theatre Live: Nye 2024

6.00

Confronted with death, National Health Service founder Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan’s deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament and fights with Winston Churchill.

2024

National Theatre Live: Dixon and Daughters

National Theatre Live: Dixon and Daughters 2023

1

Mary has just been released from prison. She wants to come home and forget all about it but Briana has other ideas. Over a tumultuous two days a family is forced to confront not just their past but themselves. Because even if you refuse to hear the truth, the truth doesn’t go away. Róisín McBrinn returns to Clean Break (Favour) to direct this powerful story of family and forgiveness by Deborah Bruce (The House They Grew Up In). A co-production from National Theatre and Clean Break.

2023

National Theatre Live: Dear England

National Theatre Live: Dear England 2024

1

The country that gave the world football has since delivered a painful pattern of loss. Why can’t England’s men win at their own game? With the worst track record for penalties in the world, Gareth Southgate knows he needs to open his mind and face up to the years of hurt, to take team and country back to the promised land.

2024

National Theatre Live: Medea

National Theatre Live: Medea 2014

7.57

Medea is a wife and a mother. For the sake of her husband, Jason, she’s left her home and borne two sons in exile. But when he abandons his family for a new life, Medea faces banishment and separation from her children. Cornered, she begs for one day’s grace. It’s time enough. She exacts an appalling revenge and destroys everything she holds dear.

2014

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing 1967

5.00

Dame Maggie Smith stars in the 1967 screen version of Franco Zeffirelli's exuberant National Theatre production of Shakespeare's romantic comedy, in which young lovers Hero and Claudio conspire to make sharp-tongued rivals Beatrice and Benedick fall in love with each other.

1967

National Theatre Live: Jane Eyre

National Theatre Live: Jane Eyre 2015

7.00

After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess. As she lives happily in her new position at Thornfield Hall, she meet the dark, cold, and abrupt master of the house, Mr. Rochester. Jane and her employer grow close in friendship and she soon finds herself falling in love with him. Happiness seems to have found Jane at last, but could Mr. Rochester's terrible secret be about to destroy it forever?

2015

National Theatre Live: Good

National Theatre Live: Good 2023

8.50

As the world faces its Second World War, John Halder, a good, intelligent German professor, finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences.

2023