Welcome – Secondary Drama

Welcome to the National Theatre Collection.

Here you can find the best of British theatre available for you and your students to watch whenever you like. Our unique collection presents high-quality recordings of 30 world-class productions, giving you the best seats in the house from the comfort of your classroom.

We hope that the Collection will allow you to be bold in your choices and expand your students’ theatrical experience and vocabulary, supporting them to explore a broad range of theatre. In turn, we hope that they will be inspired by what they see and take that inspiration into their own theatre-making.

You’ll find an incredible selection of productions, with something suitable for all students from Key Stage 3, through to Key Stage 5. Key Stage 3 and above

• Introduce Shakespeare with • Watch how a novel comes to life onstage, looking across the design elements in productions specially adapted for a Danny Boyle’s production of Frankenstein. younger audience, including Romeo and Juliet and The Winter’s Tale. • Introduce Commedia dell’arte with hilarious comedy One Man, Two Guvnors. • Explore storytelling on stage with adaptations of well-known novels such as Treasure Island. Key Stage 5 • Introduce and explore theatre-making • Watch exciting contemporary productions of skills and crafts, from puppetry and modern classics such as Yerma, A costume design to lighting and sound in Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot productions including Peter Pan and Tin Roof. wonder.land. • Experience innovative staging of a Key Stage 4 and above Shakespeare play with Nicholas Hytner’s promenade production of Julius Caesar. • Examine devising processes through Sally • Explore the work of key contemporary Cookson’s fantastic adaptations of Jane Eyre and Peter Pan. theatre practitioners including Josie Rourke, Rufus Norris, Rae Smith, Paule Constable, • Explore contemporary teenage life and the Nadia Fall, Sally Cookson, Justin Audibert, influence of social media and gaming in the Nicholas Hytner and Polly Findlay. musical wonder.land. • Study exquisite costume design in • Study the experiences of the Windrush productions including She Stoops to generation and post-war Britain in Small Conquer, Dara and Twelfth Night. Island. • Analyse how contemporary theatre makers • Analyse Greek drama with vibrant bring sound, lighting and video design contemporary productions of Antigone and together to create a world onstage in Medea. wonder.land and Small Island.

You can use this quick reference guide to see which productions are available, when they were recorded, what genre they fit into and which Key Stage they are best suited to:

Production Date Suggested Director Writer Genre Running Key Stage Time Suitability

Antigone 4th July, KS4+ Polly Findlay Sophocles/ Greek Drama 1hr 2012 Don Taylor 31mins Cat on the Hot 22nd Feb, KS4+ Benedict Tennessee Twentieth 2hrs Tin Roof 2018 Andrews Williams Century 31mins Drama The Cherry 30th June, KS4+ Howard Anton Twentieth 2hrs Orchard 2011 Davies Chekov Century 33 mins Drama Consent 9th May, KS4+ Roger Michell Nina Raine New Writing 2hrs 2017 6 mins Coriolanus 30th Jan, KS4+ Josie Rourke William Shakespeare 2hrs 2014 Shakespeare 27mins Dara 17th Mar, KS4+ Nadia Fall Tanya Ronder/ New Writing 2hrs 2015 Shahid Nadeem 10 mins

2 Production Date Suggested Director Writer Genre Running Key Stage Time Suitability

The Deep 1st Sept, KS4+ Carrie Terence Rattigan Twentieth 1hr Blue Sea 2016 Cracknell Century 57mins Drama Frankenstein 17th Mar, KS4+ Danny Boyle Adapted Literary 1hr 2011/ 24th from Mary Adaptation 55 mins Mar, 2011 Shelley’s novel by Nick Dear

Hamlet 24th Mar, KS4+ Nicholas William Shakespeare 3hrs 2011 Hytner Shakespeare 16 mins Jane Eyre 8th Dec, KS3+ Sally Adapted from Literary 2hrs 2015 Cookson Emily Bronte’s Adaptation 52 mins novel by Sally Cookson and Company

Julius Caesar 22nd Mar, KS3+ Nicholas William Shakespeare 2hrs 2018 Hytner Shakespeare 2 mins King Lear 3rd Feb, KS3+ Michael William Shakespeare 2hrs 2011 Grandage Shakespeare 36 mins Les Blancs 10th May, KS4+ Yaël Farber Lorraine Twentieth 2hrs 2016 Hansbury Century 23 mins Drama London 28th June, KS3+ Nicholas Dion Comedy 2hrs Assurance 2010 Hytner Boucicault 9 mins Macbeth 20th Feb, KS3+ Justin William Shakespeare 1hr 2017 Audibert Shakespeare 23 mins Madea 4th Sept, KS4+ Carrie Euripides/ Greek Drama 1hr 2014 Cracknell Ben Power 24 mins One Man, 15th Sept, KS3+ Nicholas Richard Bean Comedy 2hrs Two Guvnors 2011 Hytner 53 mins

Othello 26th Sept, KS3+ Nicholas William Shakespeare 2hrs 2013 Hytner Shakespeare 57 mins Peter Pan 10th June, KS2+ Sally Adapted from JM Literary 2hrs 2017 Cookson Barrie’s novel by Adaptation 15 mins Sally Cookson and Company

Romeo & Juliet 21st Feb, KS2+ Bijan William Shakespeare 1hr 2017 Sheibani Shakespeare 6 mins She Stoops 29th Mar, KS3+ Jamie Lloyd Oliver Goldsmith Comedy 2hrs to Conquer 2012 28 mins Small Island 30th May, KS4+ Rufus Adapted from Literary 2hrs 2019 Norris Andrea Levy’s Adaptation 49 mins novel by Helen Edmundson

A Streetcar 16th Sept, KS4+ Benedict Tennessee Twentieth 2hrs Named Desire 2014 Andrews Williams Century 47 mins Drama

3 Production Date Suggested Director Writer Genre Running Key Stage Time Suitability

Translations 31st July, KS4+ Ian Rickson Brian Friel Twentieth 2hrs 2018 Century 6 mins Drama Treasure Island 22nd Jan, KS2+ Polly Findlay Bryony Lavery Literary 1hr 2015 Adaptation 41 mins Twelfth Night 6th Apr, KS3+ Simon William Shakespeare 3hrs 2017 Godwin Shakespeare 2mins The 26th Feb, KS2+ Justin William Shakespeare 1hr Winter’s Tale 2018 Audibert Shakespeare 8 mins wonder.land 9th May, KS3+ Rufus Norris Damon Albarn, New Writing/ 1hr 2017 Moira Buffini and Musical/ 58 mins Rufus Norris Literary Adaptation

Yerma 31st Aug, KS4+ Simon Stone Simon Stone Twentieth 1hr 2017 after Federico Century 36 mins García Lorca Drama

You can watch a trailer for each of the productions here, if you would like to get a sense of them before watching the full-length piece.

4 Additional Resources

We are constantly expanding the selection of resources to support each of the productions.

If you scroll down the page for each production, you’ll find a link to teaching resources. If you click on this link, you’ll be taken to a page which lists resources by production.

You’ll find a Learning Pack for each production, which includes:

• Details of the cast and creative team.

• A plot synopsis for each production, with timecodes for significant scenes and particular dramatic incidents or moments.

• Suggestions for other productions to watch and links to artists and practitioners who have worked across a series of productions.

For some productions you’ll also find:

• Rehearsal Insights, written by the production’s Staff Director, detailing how the production was brought to the stage.

• Learning Guides, which, as well as the information in Learning Packs, contains additional material that can be given directly to students to support them as they watch a production. These are particularly useful for students writing a live theatre review.

• Short films and audio recordings including contextual information for the productions and interviews with actors and creatives.

Links to short film resources can be found directly under the production recording. We will continue to expand this bank of resources and welcome ideas and suggestions from teachers about what additional resources might support your teaching.

We hope that you and your students enjoy using the NT Collection and that the productions they see inspire them to become the next generation of theatre-makers and audience members. We also hope that they will feel inspired to find out about and visit their local theatre.

If you have any questions or feedback on our resources please contact us at [email protected]

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