SIZE OF COMPANY
Varies

SCALE OF VENUE
Middle- and large-scale

PERMANENT STAFF
Director
Nicholas Hytner

Executive Director
Nick Starr

Associate Producer
Pádraig Cusack

Associate Directors
Howard Davies
Marianne Elliott
Tom Morris

ARTISTIC POLICY
The National Theatre is central to the creative life of the country. In its three theatres on the South Bank in London, it presents an eclectic mix of new plays and classics, with seven or eight productions in repertory at any one time. It aims constantly to re-energise the great traditions of the British stage and to expand the horizons of audiences and artists alike. It aspires to reflect in its repertoire the diversity of UK culture. And through touring, the National shares its work with audiences in the UK and internationally.

REVIEW EXTRACTS
'Theatre and video come together so seamlessly and complement each other so exquisitely it is as if Mitchell, her actors and video artist Leo Warner have created an entirely new art form.' The Guardian (Waves)

'A knockout production of Happy Days. Brilliantly acted by Shaw, it is a staging that superbly captures that combination of wild laughter and existential terror that is the hallmark of all Beckett's greatest work.' The Daily Telegraph

‘A 60-minute masterpiece, a computer-age Lord of the Flies… Taut, vivid, cool, scary and often funny.’ The Times (Chatroom)

CURRENT PRODUCTIONS
Waves A work devised by Katie Mitchell and the company from the text of Virginia Woolf's novel, The Waves. A fragmented and dreamlike tale of friendship, loss, identity and love in a multi-media production based on Virginia Woolf's ground-breaking experiment in literary form. (140 mins including 15 min interval, 8 on stage.)

The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion's award-winning autobiographical examination of grief with Vanessa Redgrave portraying the writer in Didion's stage adaptation of her exhilarating memoir, directed by playwright David Hare. Redgrave re-lives the unimaginable night when, as Didion's only child lay in a coma, her husband of 40 years, writer John Gregory Dunne, died of a massive coronary as they sat down to dinner in their New York apartment. (90 mins, 1 on stage, 13 on the road.)

Happy Days By Samuel Beckett. A new production directed by Deborah Warner. Blazing light, scorched grass. Buried to above her waist and woken by a piercing bell, Winnie (Fiona Shaw) chatters away as she rummages in a bag, brushes her teeth, pulls out and kisses a revolver. Her husband, Willie, responds now and then, reads from an old paper, and studies a pornographic postcard. A second bell signals the end of another happy day. (100 mins including 20 min interval.)

Oedipus By Sophocles in a new version by Douglas Dunn. Leading theatre director Jonathan Kent directs a new version of the Greek classic, with award-winning actor Ralph Fiennes in the title role. (160 mins, 30 on stage, 45 on the road.)

Citizenship by Mark Ravenhill & Chatroom by Enda Walsh. Two short, sharp and provocative plays where the drama of young people’s lives takes centre stage. Citizenship – a bittersweet comedy about growing up, following a boy’s frank and messy search to discover his sexual identity. Chatroom – in cyberspace six 15-year-olds type and chat. A chilling and powerful tale of manipulation and the ultimate act of teenage rebellion. (120 mins, 13 on stage for Citizenship, 8 for Chatroom, 24 on the road.)

WRAP-AROUND
The National Theatre provides talks on its international tours.

RECENT INTERNATIONAL WORK
2007 France, Greece (Happy Days), Ireland (The History Boys), Spain, USA (Happy Days)
2006 Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, USA (The History Boys)
2005 Ireland (The Pillowman), South Africa, USA (Primo)

TOURING AVAILABILITY
Citizenship and Chatroom from spring 2008
Happy Days from summer 2008
The Year of Magical Thinking from late summer/autumn 2008
Waves and Oedipus from autumn 2008