Royal National Theatre

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The Royal National Theatre from Waterloo Bridge

The Royal National Theatre of Great Britain is a building and theatre company on London's South Bank. Housing three separate auditoria - the Olivier Theatre (named for the theatre's first artistic director, Sir Laurence Olivier), the Lyttelton Theatre (after Oliver Lyttelton, the first chairman of the Theatre), and the Cottesloe Theatre (for Lord Cottesloe, chairman of the South Bank Theatre Board) - it was designed by architect Sir Denys Lasdun and opened in 1976.

The largest space, the Olivier Theatre, is the main auditorium and was modelled on the ancient Greek theatre at Epidaurus; it has an open stage and a fan-shaped audience seating area for about 1150 people. The Lyttleton Theatre is a proscenium arch design holding up to 890 people. The Cottesloe Theatre is a small adaptable studio space holding up to 300 people.

The National Theatre presents a highly varied programme including Shakespeare and other classics, new plays by leading contemporary playwrights, and revivals of classic musicals.

The Brutalist style of the National Theatre has always been an obstacle preventing the general public from embracing the building.

Artistic Directors

• Laurence Olivier (1963-1973)
• Peter Hall (1973-1988)
• Richard Eyre (1988-1997)
• Trevor Nunn (1997-2003)
• Nicholas Hytner (2003- )

Notable productions

• Jumpers and Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
• The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Equus, and Amadeus by Peter Shaffer
• Hamlet with Albert Finney, one of the opening productions in the Lyttelton
• Ken Campbell's The Illuminatus! Trilogy, which opened the Cottesloe
• Lark Rise and The Mysteries, both Promenade Productions in the Cottesloe
• Betrayal by Harold Pinter
• Plenty and Pravda by David Hare
• Jerry Springer - The Opera
• An Inspector Calls, 1992 (still touring 2005)
• His Dark Materials, 2004
• The Madness of George III and The History Boys by Alan Bennett

External Link

Official website (http://www.nt-online.org/)

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