National Theatre Live: Much Ado About Nothing

A screenwriter gets conned out of selling a script to a Hollywood producer by his brother, who pitches his own idea for a movie. The damaged relationship between two estranged brothers striving for success is deconstructed in this comedic and tension-filled production at the Tricycle Theatre, London, captured for screen by Digital Theatre.

Tricicle presents the last of their shows, the culmination of decades of work and inexhaustible humor: the best of the best of the best.

A teenage girl living in Baltimore in the early 1960s dreams of appearing on a popular TV dance show.

National Theatre Live’s 2010 broadcast of Alan Bennett’s acclaimed play The Habit of Art, with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour, returns to cinemas as part of the National Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations. Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. Alan Bennett’s play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.

A humble and long-suffering New York waiter finally turns the tables on a regular, insufferable customer who delights in pestering him about the service. Based on the playwright’s personal experiences as a waiter at a resort in the Catskill Mountains.

Set in modern upper-crust Manhattan, an exploration of love and commitment as seen through the eyes of a charming perpetual bachelor questioning his single state and his enthusiastically married, slightly envious friends.

Annie, the beloved seven-time Tony Award-winning Broadway sensation, comes to life like never before in a live musical event starring Harry Connick, Jr., Nicole Scherzinger, Tituss Burgess, Megan Hilty and Taraji P. Henson, with newcomer Celina Smith in the title role of Annie. The iconic musical follows smart and spirited little orphan Annie, whose whole life changes when larger-than-life billionaire Daddy Warbucks takes her away from an orphanage run by the mean Miss Hannigan. One of Broadway's all-time biggest hits, the stage production features such popular songs as "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life," which are adored by generations of audiences around the world.

Oliver Goldsmith's classic comedy of manners tells of the clever schemes and comic ruses that unfold one night at a country house. An ambitious step-mother, impassioned sweethearts, a pragmatic father and a pair of star-crossed suitors are sent spinning through a hilarous comedy of errors by one of the great characters of the stage, Tony Lumpkin. The National Theatre and Out Of Joint co-production of Goldsmith's comedy, recorded live on stage in Bath, after it's premiere at the Lyttelton theatre in London.

Two young progressive people live together in the early 1960s. Their lives revolve around political activities, anti-nuclear actions, love, travel, music, drugs and poetry. And other issues of importance. That they believe in. But in spite of all these motions and movements they drift apart. And their story ends badly. One of the two, Eik Skaløe, the first beat poet singer in Danish, committed suicide in India 1968. The other, Iben Nagel Rasmussen, an Odin Teatret actress since 1966, reflects on her life today and, through the characters of her shows, compares it with visions and the events of that time.

Recorded at London's Royal Court Theatre before an audience of faithful fans, various cast members from different productions of The Rocky Horror Show come together in a one-off concert extravaganza paying tribute to the phenomenon.

Jamie is 16 and lives on a council estate in Sheffield. Jamie doesn't quite fit in. Jamie is terrified about the future. Jamie is going to be a sensation. Supported by his brilliant loving mum and surrounded by his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness, into the spotlight. Sixteen: the edge of possibility. Time to make your dreams come true.

In his small pub in the northern English town of Oldham, Harry is something of a local celebrity. But what's the second-best hangman in England to do on the day they've abolished hanging? Amongst the cub reporters and pub regulars dying to hear Harry's reaction to the news, his old assistant Syd and the peculiar Mooney lurk with very different motives for their visit.

Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancée’s dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who’s been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Holed up at The Cricketers’ Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.

A screenwriter gets conned out of selling a script to a Hollywood producer by his brother, who pitches his own idea for a movie. This video recording of the 1982 Steppenwolf Theatre Company production was later broadcast by PBS.

Elyot Chase and Amanda Prynne are glamorous, rich, reckless…and divorced. Five years later, their love for one another is unexpectedly rekindled when they take adjoining suites of a French hotel while honeymooning with their new spouses. This chance encounter instantly reignites their passion, and they fling themselves headlong into a whirlwind of love and lust once more, without a thought for partners present or turbulences past. This Chichester Festival Theatre production of Noël Coward’s Privates Lives was filmed live at London's Gielgud Theatre.

Amalia and Georg work together at a modest Hungarian perfumerie, and have disliked each other from the very beginning. He thinks she's stuck up, and she thinks he's arrogant and mean. But each rapturously writes to a lonely hearts pen pal when the workday is done, and it doesn't take long for the audience to see that they're in love without realizing it. Originally live-streamed by BroadwayHD, then broadcast as an episode of the PBS series "Great Performances" (season 45, episode 3).

Sweethearts Brad and Janet, stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a gender ambiguous scientist. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker and a creepy butler. Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils her latest creation: a muscular man named 'Rocky'.

Oscar

For generations, African men have gathered in barber shops to discuss the world. These are places where the banter can be barbed and the truth is always telling. Follow along as we leap from a barber shop in Peckham to Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Accra over the course of a single day.

Shrek The Musical is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. It is based on the 2001 DreamWorks Animation's film Shrek and William Steig's 1990 book Shrek! It was nominated for 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical.