Paul T Davies has been revisiting some of his favourite National Theatre productions thanks to National Theatre at Home. Here are his favourites.
One of the main advantages of the National Theatre at Home is the access to their superb archive of productions. Here’s my top five of those I had seen live and reviewed, and it’s been a pleasure to rewatch these plays once more- and they’re just a fraction of what’s on offer!
Andrew Garfield (Prior) in Angels In America ANGELS IN AMERICA PARTS ONE AND TWO.
My favourite play, I was thrilled when the National announced they were reviving it as I had seen their original staging’s in the 1990s when I was studying for my PhD. Marianne Elliot’s production did not disappoint, and an outstanding central performance by Andrew Garfield was matched by a terrific ensemble, including Nathan Lane and Russell Tovey. Together, the play is seven and half hours long, but you now have time to saviour it!
REVIEW: Angels In America Part One, National Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭ (britishtheatre.com) REVIEW: Angels In America Part Two, National Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭ (britishtheatre.com)
Michael Sheen in Under Milk Wood. Photo: Johan Persson UNDER MILK WOOD
In what will become to be cited as a seminal revival of Dylan Thomas’s masterpiece, the residential home setting allows an extraordinary cast of older Welsh talent to thrive in telling the life of a day in Wales. Michael Sheen gives a powerful performance as the narrator figure, and my Welsh heart was filed with emotions as Thomas’s words seduced the auditorium.
REVIEW: Under Milk Wood, National Theatre London ✭✭✭✭ (britishtheatre.com)
Ruth Wilson and Rafe Spall in Hedda Gabler. HEDDA GABLER.
With Ruth Wilson and director Ivo Van Hove about to collaborate once more on The Human Heart, (opening at the Harold Pinter Theatre in March), it’s a good time to view their previous creation. In Hedda Gabler, at the National Theatre, I thought Wilson gave an extraordinary, multi-layered performance, in Hove’s stripped-back version, which left the actors nowhere to hide the unpleasant aspects of their characters.
REVIEW: Hedda Gabler, National Theatre ✭✭✭✭ (britishtheatre.com)
The company of Salome. Photo: Johan Persson SALOME
A beautiful feast both aurally and visually, the production felt a little cool in its approach, almost alienating the audience in its enclosed world. Well worth a watch though.
REVIEW: Salome, National Theatre ✭✭✭✭ (britishtheatre.com)
The company of Rockets and Blue Lights. Photo: Brinkhoff Mogenburg ROCKETS AND BLUE LIGHTS.
I loved Winsome Pinnock’s latest play, brilliantly using Turner’s masterpiece and a lost painting of his, The Slave Ship, to create an urgent look at slavery and the devastating scars it has left. Despite the subject matter, there was also moments of comedy and joy and put the poignancy into sharp perspective.
REVIEW: Rockets and Blue Lights, The Dorfman National Theatre ✭✭✭✭ (britishtheatre.com)
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Paul is a playwright, director, actor, academic, (he has a PhD from the University of East Anglia), teacher and theatre reviewer! His plays include Living with Luke, (UK tour 2016), Play Something, (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Drayton Arms Theatre, London 2018), , (2019), and now The Miner’s Crow, which won the inaugural Artist’s Pick of the Fringe Award at the first ever Colchester Fringe Festival 2021. In lockdown 2020 he created the audio series Isolation Alan, available on Youtube, and performed online in the Voice Box Festival. He is the founder member of Stage Write, a Colchester based theatre company, and his acting roles include Rupert in How We Love by Annette Brook, first performed at the Vaults Festival 2020 and revived at the Arcola and at Theatre Peckham in 2021. Follow: @stagewrite_
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