National Theatre Live: Medea

O hradu Zásadce a turecké vojně

December 1971 •Czech

Sty of the Blind Pig

May 1974 •English

After moving to Chicago from the South just as the civil rights movement takes hold, the members of an African American family led by steely matriarch Weedy Warren have different reactions to the social upheaval surrounding them.

Two Lines in Small Font

April 1981 •Russian

While studying the history of the revolutionary movement in Russia, a historian decides to restore the good name of one of the revolutionaries, who was accused of betrayal by his comrades-in-arms and committed suicide.

The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family, Play Two: What Did You Expect?

March 2017 •English

Back in the kitchen of the Gabriel family, the country is now in the midst of the general election for President. In the course of one evening in the house they grew up in, history (both theirs and our country's), money, politics, family, art, and culture are chopped up and mixed together, while a meal is made around the kitchen table.

Prasátka se vlka nebojí

January 1971 •Czech

Sliding Doors

April 1998 •English

London publicist Helen, effortlessly slides between parallel storylines that show what happens when she does or does not catch a train back to her apartment. Love. Romantic entanglements. Deception. Trust. Friendship. Comedy. All come into focus as the two stories shift back and forth, overlap and surprisingly converge.

Happiness Comes at Nine o'Clock

July 1961 •

One day, Happiness and Sorrow come to town. Happiness leaves her magical cloak in the local inn, saying that it fulfills every wish to those who wear it. However, Sorrow knows that Happiness doesn't come alone, but brings worries with herself, too. The magical cloak changes its owner and fulfills the most unusual wishes of timid professor of violin, old night guard, naive student and blonde girl. When all their wishes are fulfilled, they find out that they did not achieve happiness.

The Piano Teacher

September 2001 •French

Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.

A Chorus Line

December 1985 •English

A group of dancers congregate on the stage of a Broadway theatre to audition for a new musical production directed by Zach. After the initial eliminations, seventeen hopefuls remain, among them Cassie, who once had a tempestuous romantic relationship with Zach. She is desperate enough for work to humble herself and audition for him; whether he's willing to let professionalism overcome his personal feelings about their past remains to be seen.

Golden Door

September 2006 •Italian

The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.

Ajin Senshi

November 1990 •Japanese

In the year 2200 an interstellar war is held where the weapons most frequently used are the psychic capacities. The hero, Zero, son of an earthling and an extraterrestrial, the prince and last survivor of a clan of magicians. He will fight against the army of the Manjidara empire, whose forces are such as its head ambition to control the whole universe.

The Ewok Adventure

December 1984 •English

Wicket the Ewok and his friends agree to help two shipwrecked human children, Mace and Cindel, on a quest to find their parents.

Salvador (Puig Antich)

May 2006 •Catalan

The story of Salvador Puig Antich, one of the last political prisoners to be executed under Franco's Fascist State in 1974.

National Theatre Live: The Seagull

November 2022 •English

Emilia Clarke makes her West End debut as Nina in Anya Reiss’ unique 21st century modernisation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, with direction by Jamie Lloyd.

National Theatre Archive: Death of England

February 2020 •English

After the death of his dad, Michael is powerless and angry. In a state of heartbreak, he confronts the difficult truths about his father’s legacy and the country that shaped him. At the funeral, unannounced and unprepared, Michael decides it is time to speak.

National Theatre Live: 'Master Harold’… and the boys

November 2019 •English

St George's Park Tea Room, Port Elizabeth, 1950. On a long rainy afternoon, employees Sam and Willie practise their steps for the finals of the ballroom dancing championship. Hally arrives from school to hide out in his parents’ tea room. These two men have been unlikely best friends to Hally his whole life. But it is apartheid era South Africa: he’s Master Harold, and they are the boys. Tony Award-winning playwright Athol Fugard’s semi-autobiographical and blistering masterwork explores the nature of friendship, and the ways people are capable of hurting even those they love.

Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald

November 1993 •English

The story of the widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of shooting President Kennedy. Via flashbacks, the story traces the woman's life from her days in Russia, the turmoil following the assassination, raising her family, and coming to grips with the fact that she too may have been a pawn in a grand conspiracy.

National Theatre Live: After Life

November 2021 •English

A group of strangers grapple with this impossible question as they find themselves in a bureaucratic waiting room between life and death. Encouraged by enigmatic officials, they must sift through their past lives to choose their forever. Adapted from Hirokazu Kore-eda's award-winning film, After Life is a surreal and powerfully human look at the way we view our lives, and a haunting meditation on what it is to live - and to die.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

November 2007 •English

Molly Mahoney is the awkward and insecure manager of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium—the strangest, most fantastic and most wonderful toy store in the world. After Mr. Magorium bequeaths the store to her, a dark and ominous change begins to take over the once-remarkable Emporium.

The Gin Game

April 1981 •English

Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey, two elderly residents at a nursing home for senior citizens, strike up an acquaintance. Neither seems to have any other friends, and they start to enjoy each other's company. Weller offers to teach Fonsia how to play gin rummy, and they begin playing a series of games that Fonsia always wins. Weller's inability to win a single hand becomes increasingly frustrating to him, while Fonsia becomes increasingly confident. While playing their games of gin, they engage in lengthy conversations about their families and their lives in the outside world. Gradually, each conversation becomes a battle, much like the ongoing gin games, as each player tries to expose the other's weaknesses, to belittle the other's life, and to humiliate the other thoroughly.