An aged king decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, according to which of them is most eloquent in praising him. His favourite, Cordelia, says nothing. Simon Russell Beale, whose recent appearances at the National include Timon of Athens and Collaborators, takes the title role in Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Stratford Festival: Antony and Cleopatra (2015)
Reason and judgement prove no match for the tsunami of mutual passion engulfing Mark Antony, one of the three joint rulers of the Roman republic, and Cleopatra, the seductive queen of Egypt. Surrendering everything to their desires, they open the floodgates to a civil conflict that will shake the very foundations of their world.
Stratford Festival: King John (2015)
When the King of France demands that John relinquish his crown in favor of his nephew, the young Prince Arthur, war is the inevitable result. Excommunication, attempted atrocity, rebellion, and assassination all contribute to political turmoil and personal grief for a mother who has lost her son.
Secret Service (1977)
Set in Richmond, Virginia in October 1864, tells the story of a Union spy working to seize control of the telegraph office.
Passion (2005)
Passion is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. The story was adapted from Ettore Scola's film Passione d'Amore. Central themes include love, sex, obsession, illness, passion, beauty, power and manipulation. Set in 19th century Italy, the plot concerns a young soldier and the changes in him brought about by the obsessive love of Fosca, his Colonel's homely, ailing cousin.
Revue Starlight ―The STAGE Junior High― Rebellion (2023)
Seisho Music Academy, Siegfeld Institute of Music, and Seiran General Art Institute are to put on a play as part of an exchange program between the three schools. With Yachiyo supervising Siegfeld, she and the five middle schoolers meet with Claudine, Futaba, and Suzu. The play they will be performing is Seisho's popular program "The Wartime of Farewells". As it had been previously revived with Kaoruko and Maya in the lead roles, Claudine and Futaba participate with an extraordinary resolve; meanwhile, Suzu gains a keen interest in Siegfeld's newborn raw gems. Following Regalia, each of them has taken a step forward as a Stage Girl, but Shiro alone remains without a reason to stand on stage. Shiro has been a servant of the Siegfeld family since childhood, and has lived her life solely for Stella's sake, giving everything up for her. However, her reason of being is shaken up once a camaraderie between Stella and Ryoko starts to develop after their revue.
National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2013)
Performing from within the walls of a deconsecrated Manchester church, Kenneth Branagh takes the lead role in this ambitious production of William Shakespeare's tragic tale of ambition and treachery.
After Miss Julie (1995)
An updated version of Strindberg’s play examining class and social differences. Julie, the daughter of an MP, seduces her father's chauffeur, despite his being engaged to the maid.
Cabaret (1993)
Filmed live from the 1993 revival, Sam Mendes' directorial debut takes place at the Donmar Warehouse in London's West End. Jane Horrocks stars as cabaret girl Sally Bowles, Adam Godley as the bicurious Cliff, and Alan Cumming as the eccentric Emcee. Inside the Kit Kat Club of 1931 Berlin, starry-eyed singer Sally and the impish Emcee sound the clarion call to decadent fun, while outside, a notorious political party grows into a brutal force.
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale (2015)
A jealous king jeopardizes his family, friendships and succession.
National Theatre Live: Les Liaisons Dangereuses (2016)
Marquise de Merteuil, former lover of Vicomte de Valmont, incites him to corrupt the innocent Cécile de Volanges before her wedding night, but Valmont has targeted the peerlessly virtuous and beautiful Madame de Tourvel.
RiffTrax Live: RAD (2023)
Teens! Bikes! Feathered Hair! Love and revenge! Leotards and acid-washed denim! It’s all here in the legendary Eighties BMX-racing action-drama-romance RAD! Join Mike, Bill and Kevin as they spin, flip and slow-bike-dance their way into your hearts, LIVE in theaters nationwide on August 17th! Don’t miss it, if you want to be RAD!
National Theatre Live: This House (2013)
It's February 1974. Ted Heath's Conservative government has been ousted. But only just. In the hung Parliament, Labour manages to form a minority government by sending its whips out wheeling and dealing with the Liberals, Scottish Nationalists and Northern Irish politicians. But this fragile alliance lasts only until October, when another election is called. This time, Labour win with a tiny majority of just three. Now things get tougher as old cross-Party agreements break down and even sick and dying MPs are wheeled into the chamber to cast their votes! James Graham's acclaimed new play whisks us back to the days of the UK's previous hung Parliament, when politics got really dirty in the battle for power.
Macbeth (2024)
Blood will have blood. Unbridled ambition, supernatural forces, and murderous desires reign supreme in Shakespeare’s most poetic examination of evil. When three witches tell Macbeth that he will become King of Scotland, he plots with his wife to attain the title through an assassination; a bloody act that gives him his crown and sends him careening down the path of his own undoing.
National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (2011)
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.
National Theatre Live: The Audience (2013)
For sixty years, Elizabeth II has met each of her twelve Prime Ministers in a weekly audience at Buckingham Palace, a meeting like no other in British public life, it is private.
Revue Starlight ―The LIVE― #2 Transition (2019)
After the events of Revue Starlight ―The LIVE― #1 revival, Seiran General Arts Institute challenges Seisho Music Academy to a revue with the right to perform the play "Starlight" at stakes. Who will win this Cultural Exchange Program?
Revue Starlight ―The STAGE Junior High― Regalia (2022)
Siegfeld Institute of Music Junior High. An educational institution established for the purpose of training Rohedelstein, the future candidates for the roles of Edels. Two transfer students from Germany are due to enrol in the Junior High. One is Stella Takachiho, whose heritage is descended from Siegfeld's own prestigious family. The other is Shiro Ogami, Stella's exclusive maid. With the pair's transfer comes a drastic change in the fates of fellow Junior High students Ryoko Kobato, Minku Umibe, and Kuina Moriyasu. Liu Mei Fan works hard to meet the expectations of Akira Yukishiro and Michiru Otori, who are searching for a stage girl to carry Siegfeld on their backs. The ones who must entrust it, and the ones who must be entrusted with it—the symbol of the noble king, "Regalia", will end up...
Spirited Away: Live on Stage (2023)
A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family. The film version of the stage production was shot during the play’s 2022 run at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo.
National Theatre Live: Coriolanus (2014)
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.