14 September 2016

Celebrate Shakespeare at the National Theatre with a free app for iPad and iPhone – now available to download

Released to mark the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare’s death, National Theatre Shakespeare draws together a wealth of incredible archive material from the 55 main-house Shakespeare productions the NT has staged to date, from Peter O’Toole as Hamlet in 1963 and the 1964 all-male production of As You Like It, to the critically acclaimed 2013 Othello and Sam Mendes’ production of King Lear in 2014.

Packed with videos, production photographs, costume and set designs, annotated scripts and more, it gives a unique glimpse behind the scenes of the NT, and demonstrates Shakespeare’s continuing relevance to the modern stage.

Featuring: • Exclusive video interviews including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Derek Jacobi; • An interactive timeline of production posters; • Hundreds of production and rehearsal photographs, costume illustrations, set designs, technical images, annotated scripts and other content from a selection of NT productions; • An introduction to each production from journalist and critic Benedict Nightingale; • Cast and production lists

The history of the creation of the NT is inextricably linked with William Shakespeare. Effingham Wilson’s proposal for a national theatre was partly inspired by the purchase of Shakespeare’s Birthplace for the nation in 1847. In Wilson’s 1848 Proposition for a National Theatre he set out a claim that a theatre – ‘a house for Shakespeare’ – would be an important complement to the preservation of Shakespeare’s home.

The inaugural production of the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic was Hamlet in 1963, directed by Laurence Olivier and featuring Peter O’Toole. When the NT moved to its new building on the South Bank in 1976, the first production was Hamlet directed by Peter Hall, with Albert Finney in the title role. This year, therefore, also marks the 40th anniversary of Shakespeare productions at the NT on the South Bank.

Including those staged at the Old Vic, there have been 55 main-house productions of Shakespeare’s plays at the NT, the most recent being As You Like It, directed by Polly Findlay. Twelfth Night, directed by Simon Godwin and featuring Tamsin Greig, will open in early 2017.

The National Theatre Shakespeare app is supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. The NT is part of the Shakespeare400 partnership coordinated by King’s College London (http://www.shakespeare400.org/)

Ends

Press contact: Mary Parker on [email protected] / 020 7452 3234

Notes to editors

1. To download the app from the iTunes Store, please visit https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/national-theatre-shakespeare/id1149838715?mt=8 2. For audio-visual content related to any Shakespeare production at the NT, please contact Mary Parker. 3. For more information relating to Shakespeare at the NT, visit http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/backstage/shakespeare 4. For more information about the Shakespeare400 partnership, visit http://www.shakespeare400.org 5. For interviews, features, or further press information, contact Mary Parker. 6. In total, there are 55 Shakespeare productions at the NT featured in this app:

1963. Hamlet 1964. Othello 1965. Much Ado About Nothing 1967. As You Like It 1968. Love's Labour's Lost 1970. The Merchant of Venice 1971. Coriolanus 1972. Richard II 1972. Macbeth 1974. The Tempest 1975. Hamlet 1977. Julius Caesar 1978. Macbeth 1979. As You Like It 1979. Richard III 1980. Othello 1981. Measure for Measure 1981. Much Ado About Nothing 1982. A Midsummer Night's Dream 1984. Coriolanus 1986. King Lear 1987. Antony and Cleopatra 1988. Cymbeline (Late Plays) 1988. The Tempest (Late Plays) 1988. The Winter's Tale (Late Plays) 1989. Hamlet 1990. Richard III 1990. King Lear 1992. A Midsummer Night's Dream 1993. Macbeth 1994. Pericles 1995. The Merry Wives of Windsor 1995. Richard II 1995. Titus Andronicus 1997. King Lear 1997. Othello 1998. Antony and Cleopatra 1999. The Merchant of Venice 1999. Troilus and Cressida 2000. Hamlet 2000. Romeo and Juliet 2001. The Winter's Tale 2003. Henry V 2003. Love's Labour's Lost 2004. Measure for Measure 2005. Henry IV – Parts 1 & 2 2007. Much Ado About Nothing 2009. All's Well That Ends Well 2010. Hamlet 2011. Twelfth Night 2011. The Comedy of Errors 2012. Timon of Athens 2013. Othello 2014. King Lear 2015. As You Like It

The National Theatre is dedicated to making the very best theatre and sharing it with as many people as possible. We produce productions on the South Bank in London each year, ranging from re-imagined classics to modern masterpieces and new work by contemporary writers and theatre-makers. The National’s work is seen on tour throughout the UK, in London’s West End, internationally (including on Broadway) and in collaborations and co- productions with theatres across the country.

Across 2015-2016, the NT staged 34 productions and gave 3,057 performances in the UK and internationally. We reached audiences of over 787,000 on the South Bank, and over 3.7 million worldwide. Via the NT Live programme, which broadcasts live performances to cinema screens internationally, we reached 1.5 million people around the world.

The Clore Learning Centre at the NT is committed to providing programmes for schools, young people, families, community groups and adult learners, including the nationwide youth theatre festival Connections and playwriting competition New Views. Last year, we engaged with over 189,000 participants through the NT Learning events programme. Further, over 2,200 secondary schools have signed up to the free streaming service, On Demand in Schools since its launch in September 2015. nationaltheatre.org.uk

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