The Effect

The Effect

When Rufus Norris recently announced he was stepping down as director of the National Theatre, some struggled to summarise his legacy. 

Phaedra

Phaedra

You don’t need to know the story of Phaedra to recognise its origins as Greek mythology. 

Othello

Othello

Do you need to know a play before you see a play?The question came to mind at the opening of what we’re told is a “landmark production” of Othello, now playing at the Nationa… 

Blues for an Alabama Sky

Blues for an Alabama Sky

Are dreams supposed to be ambitions we strive to realise? Or simply ideals meant to be unattainable, existing to help us get through our mundane everyday lives?This seems to be the… 

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing

Shakespeare’s much loved comedy of new beginnings. 

'Master Harold'... and the boys

'Master Harold'... and the boys

1950. 

Rutherford and Son

Rutherford and Son

A brief language lesson: According to the “part-banter, part-racist” English idiom, the North, is somewhere it is said to be Grim Up. 

Top Girls

Top Girls

Now hiring: top girls wanted for prestige positions. 

Julie

Julie

August Strindberg's Miss Julie finds a new home in contemporary London, as Carrie Cracknell (The Deep Blue Sea) directs a cast including Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) and Eric Kofi… 

Absolute Hell

Absolute Hell

An intoxicating plunge into post-war Soho. 

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre

The year for the National Theatre so far has been beset by the dramas over the dramas on its programme – depending on your viewpoint, it either doesn’t contain enough classics o… 

Angels in America Part 1 & 2

Angels in America Part 1 & 2

There’s no doubt that when Tony Kushner’s “Gay Fantasia on National Themes” first came to the stage in the early nineties, it was like little that had been seen before – both i… 

Ugly Lies the Bone

Ugly Lies the Bone

It’s great to see new writing being performed at one of the National’s bigger spaces and there are big themes at play here in writer Lindsey Ferrentino’s National Theatre and UK …