Podcasts about london's national theatre

London's National Theatre, under the leadership of Rufus Norris, is striving for unprecedented diversity on stage and in the audience, and during the pandemic, we can now see their productions at home. Also, we visit some of Australia's top dancers training in isolation, and we continue our search for great theatre, opera, dance and comedy we can watch online.

This week, Galway's Druid Theatre company joined the likes of New York's Met and London's National Theatre in streaming their latest show (Tom Murphy's version of The Cherry Orchard) live to cinemas

Armando Iannucci has taken on Dickens' David Copperfield with Dev Patel in the lead role A new play by Lucy Kirkwood, Welkin, has opened at London's National Theatre. The Welkin is set in Norfolk in 1759, when a jury of matrons is called to try a female murder suspect who is 'pleading the belly' in order to avoid execution Motherwell is the memoir of journalist, the late Deborah Orr recounting her childhood and growing up in Scotland and trying to break from her family Portraying Pregnancy: From Holbein to Social Media is a new exhibition at London's Foundling Museum which looks at how artists have shown pregnant women over the centuries. Admission fee charged. The Windermere Children on BBC2 is the story of 300 Polish child survivors of concentration camps who were brought to the UK after the war and billetted in The Lake District Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Helen Lewis, Catherine Yass and Mark Billingham The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast Extra recommendations: Catherine: Steve McQueen Year 3 at Tate Britain & A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride & Yinka Shonibare's Farm in Nigeria Mark: Elvis Presley 68 Comeback Special & Long Bright River by Liz Moore Helen: House Of Glass by Hadley Freeman & In The Darkroom by Susan Faludi Tom: Daniel Finkelstein's tweet thread about his mother's escape from Germany & Miss Austen by Gill Hornby & Shook opening at the Trafalgar Studios in April.

Inua Ellams, writer of the hit play Barber Shop Chronicles, has transposed Chekhov's Three Sisters to 1960s Nigeria, on the brink of the Biafran Civil War. His new version of Three Sisters is at London's National Theatre. Two bananas taped to a wall with duct tape have just been sold for $120,000 each at the Art Basel fair in Miami. These works of art were created by Maurizio Cattelan, whose 18 carat gold toilet was stolen from Blenheim Palace recently. So has the artworld gone bananas? Art critic Louisa Buck gives her view. Marriage Story, which stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a divorcing couple, has just swept the board at the Gotham Awards and is a frontrunner for BAFTAs and Oscars. As it is released onto Netflix, Stig talks to writer-director Noah Baumbach. Presenter Stig Abell Producer Timothy Prosser

Argentinian film Rojo is set just before the 1975 military coup, looking at the simmering tensions and the complicity that made it happen and the way so many people turned a blind eye Hansard at London's National Theatre is a debut play. A junior Tory minister under Margaret Thatcher comes into deeply personal conflict with his politically-opposed wife over Clause 28 James Meek's novel 'To Calais In Ordinary Time' tells a story about 14th century Europe, written in a distinctive argot scattered with arcane language, following the lives of several characters dealing with - among other things - the approaching Black Death. A new display of items owned by The Rothschilds has opened at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. Items of immense value from ruby and emerald jewellery to Roman glassware and amber caskets, many of these items haven't been on public display before Defending The Guilty is a comedy series on BBC2 exploring the world of barristers Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Mark Billingham, Barb Jungr and Julia Raeside. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast Extra recommendations Julia: The Dublin Murders by Sarah Phelps + The Portland Brothers + Box Of Delights podcast Barb: Edna O'Brien -The Little Red Chairs + Jazzmeia Horn + Bob, Brel and Me Mark: Peaky Blinders + Nick Lowe Tom: Robert Harris - The Second Sleep + Mortimer and Whitehouse go Fishing

Mike Bartlett's play Snowflake is at The Old Fire Station in Oxford. It centres around a father who is awaiting the return of his daughter who walked out of his life 2 years before. Will she return? Why did she leave? Who is the young woman who arrives while he's waiting? It's a play for Christmas with warmth at its heart Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle is the latest version of The Jungle Book just released on Netflix. Directed by Andy Serkis and starring motion-capture animals with famous voice actors, what USP makes it different from the previous versions. Prize winning Mexican author Emiliano Monge's novel Among The Lost is a grim tale of 24 hours in the lives of 2 human traffickers in Latin America. How can an author breathe life into and make us care for two merciless criminals Rachel Maclean's show at London's National Gallery is The Lion and The Unicorn a video work based around the Scottish Independence referendum of 2014. If you are a fan of Bruce Springsteen, you will LOVE Springsteen on Broadway, a recording of his solo Broadway solo concert series which ran for 236 shows. If you're not, is it possible that you might be won over? Our reviewers were; find out why. Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Natalie Haynes, Linda Grant and Nikesh Shukla. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast Extra Natalie recommends Company at The Gielgud Theatre in London, Hadestown at London's National Theatre, Good Grief Charlie Brown at Somerset House and the TV series Community Nikesh recommends The Good Place and Go Ahead In The Rain by Hanif Abdurraqib Linda recommends Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Tom recommends going to see Monarch OF The Glen at London's National Gallery

The Coen Brothers take on the Western movie in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Made with money from Netflix, is it REALLY a cinema release? Hadestown is a musical that's stopping off at London's National Theatre on its way from Off-Broadway to Broadway. It sets the Greek myth of story of Orpheus and Eurydice in modern New Orleans (and the underworld of course!) and reimagines the sweeping ancient tale as a timeless allegory for today's world. Chris Kraus wrote the bestseller I Love Dick and now follows it with Social Practices, a particular mix of biography, autobiography, fiction, criticism, and conversations among friends. How does it hold together as a single book? There's an exhibition of work by French artist Fernand Leger just opened at Tate Liverpool charting his development throughout his life. BBC2's Death and Nightingales is an adaptation of Eugene McCabe’s novel set in Fermanagh in 1885, written by Alan (The Fall) Cubitt Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Kate Bassett, Kit Davis and Kevin Jackson. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast Extra Kate recommends Gainsborough's Family Album at The National Portrait Gallery in London Kit recommends the podcasts Reply All and 99% Invisible Kevin is beguiled by The Other Side Of The Wind on Netflix Tom is entranced by repair videos on YouTube

Apostasy is a British film about disfellowship in Jehovah's Witness congregations. How do families cope when their religious beliefs come into conflict with contemporary social mores. London's National Theatre is staging its first production of a play by Eugene Ionesco. Adapted and directed by Patrick Marber, Exit The King stars Rhys Ifans as a monarch who knows he will die before the end of the play. Olivia Laing's first novel Crudo was written in real time in 7 weeks during 2017, recording her thoughts on the news of the day, "to get an imprint of the moment while it is still wet". White Cube Gallery's newest exhibition marks its 25th anniversary. Memory Palace is on at their two London sites (as well as at their Hong Kong gallery, but we didn't go there!) looking at memory and how it shapes our identities. BBCTV has put the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (you know, the one where Colin Firth comes out of the lake clad in a clinging shirt) on iPlayer as a box set, we consider whether the fond memories of it match up to a re-watching 22 years on... Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Alex Preston, Kate Williams and Abigail Morris. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kayling star as deities who are millions of years old in the £108m mega-budget film: A Wrinkle In Time. It's a story which mixes physics, time travel, female empowerment, and bullying at school. Does the presence of Oprah et al make it divine or dreadful? The Great Wave is a new play by Japanese Ulsterman Francis Turnly about the kidnapping in the 1970s of Japanese citizens by the North Korean authorities. Some returned, others were (and maybe still are) held by their captors. It's running at The Dorfman at London's National Theatre, Philip Hensher's latest novel The Friendly Ones follows two contemporaneous storylines about 2 families; one British, the other Bangladeshi. Come Home on BBC1 is a new drama about a family break-up told from different sides of the story. It's written by Danny Brocklehurst and features Christopher Eccleston as the dad, Greg America's Cool Modernism at Oxford's Ashmolean looks at art from the US from O'Keeffe to Hopper; before the word 'cool' was synonymous with 'groovy' Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Mark Ravenhill, Deborah Orr and Amanda Craig . The producer is Oliver Jones.

Peter Carey's novel A Long Way From Home tells the story of a husband and wife taking part in a round-Australia endurance race in the 1950s. The Hayward Gallery in London reopens after a multi-million pound refit with an exhibition of work by the photographer Andreas Gursky. Giant photographs on brutalist walls. Richard Linklater's film Last Flag Flying is about three Vietnam veterans who come together to bury a son who has died in the conflict in Iraq. It stars Laurence Fishburne, Brian Cranston and Steve Carell. John is the name of a new play by Annie Baker at The Dorfman at London's National Theatre. Nearly three and a half hours long it's set in a B+B in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Altered Carbon is a dystopian sci-fi series starting on Netflix. Is it possible to look to the future without mining the tropes of Bladerunner? Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Katie Puckrik, Liz Jobey and Ekow Eshun. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Inua Ellam's play Barbershop Chronicles has opened at London's National Theatre. It's about the intimate and almost-sacred masculine world of black barber shops around the world. French film Slack Bay is a comedy about a series of mysterious seaside murders. Starring Juliette Binoche, it mixes professional actors with complete novices and slapstick comedy with cannibalism and gender-fluid relationships Amanda Craig's latest novel The Lie Of the Land tells the story of a London couple who move to the country under straitened circumstances and uncover a grisly murder in their new home Birmingham's Ikon Gallery is staging an exhibition of a series of Sidney Nolan portraits, as part of the commemoration marking the centenary of his birth. He was an Australian who moved to the UK at the age of 32 but whose work never reflected his new home. GLOW is a new Netflix series from the makers of Orange Is The New Black, set in the world of women's TV wrestling in the 1980s. It's all big hair, power ballads, coke snorting and grappling. Emma Dabiri's guests are Catherine O'Flynn, Liz Jensen and Sarfraz Manzoor. The producer is Oliver Jones.

A revival of Tony Kushner's epic play about the US AIDS epidemic Angels In America is being staged at London's National Theatre. It's nearly 8 hours long (in two parts); is it still pertinent and is it worth sitting through? Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem was an enormous theatrical success and his latest The Ferryman has just opened at London's Royal Court Theatre. Set during The Troubles in Northern Ireland it deals with one family's unavoidable and unwilling involvement The family at the heart of Japanese film Harmonium seem to have a functioning but unemotional stability. And then a stranger comes into their lives and slowly things change. For the better or for the worse? Laurent Binet's new novel The Seventh Function of Language is about the death (or was it an assassination?!) of Roland Barthes - the death of the author of "The Death Of The Author" Eric Gill was one of the finest sculptors of the 20th Century. And also a paedophile. A new exhibition in his home village of Ditchling, tries to see if it's possible to appreciate his art as entirely separate from his biography Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Damian Barr, Maria Delgado and Gillian Slovo. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Nina Raine's new play Consent at London's National Theatre explores the tricky intertwining of modern relationships and legal niceties The life of American poet Emily Dickinson is dramatised in Terence Davies' new film A Quiet Passion. Does enough happen to make it dramatically interesting? Jon McGregor's newest novel Reservoir 13 looks at a community exploring the loss of one family, as life goes on for everyone else Tate St Ives is reopening after many months of closure for development. The first exhibition is The Studio and The Sea We look at a couple of car-based TV comedies; Peter Kaye in Car Share + Miriam Margolyes in Bucket And in the podcast, our guests reveal what they enjoy in the world of arts when they're not reviewing it for us Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Katie Puckrik, Alex Clark and Kevin Jackson. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Ruth Wilson plays the lead in Ivo van Hove's production of Hedda Gabler at London's National Theatre, Son of Joseph (a French film with religious overtones) takes on the overwhelming might of the latest Star Wars Rogue One. Blockbuster vs indie might not be an equal fight but thank goodness there's something else out this week! How good is it? Nadeem Aslam's latest novel The Golden Harvest is set in modern Pakistan, with the resilience of the human spirit fighting corruption and international interference Roger Hiorns was brought up in Birmingham and his latest exhibition at the city's IKON Gallery looks at his career-long fascinations with human corporeality and its meeting with the mechanical and he proposes a new pathway into how artists can continue to make and behave And we cionsider a couple of the big crime dramas on TV over Christmas - ITV's Maigret (starring Rowan Atkinson) and Agatha Christie's Witness For The Prosecution on the BBC Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Alex Preston, Stephanie Merritt and Jamila Gavin. The producer is Oliver Jones.

There's a revival of Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus at London's National Theatre. It's the story of Mozart's supposed rivalry with fellow composer Salieri and it has a live orchestra on stage accompanying and acting in the play Werner Herzog's latest film Lo and Behold considers the history and future, the successes and failures of the world wide web Israeli author David Grossman's novel A Horse Walks Into A Bar is a story about an edgy stand-up comedian who's playing strange confessional games with his audience Tate Britain has an exhibition of the work of Paul Nash, from his times as a war artist in both world wars and his surrealist paintings to his less well known assemblages The BBC's new period drama has been in the planning stages for a long time; The Moonstone is based on Wilkie Collins' novel, acknowledged as the first and greatest of English Detective novels. Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Abigail Morris, Rajan Datar and Maev Kennedy. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman and Aaron Paul star in Eye in the Sky, a contemporary thriller set in the world of counter intelligence and drone warfare - is the life of a 9 year old girl acceptable collateral damage? Rick Moody's new novel Hotels of North America has an unusual narrative voice. It takes the form of a series of hotel reviews, as written by Reginald Edward Morse, one of the top reviewers on RateYourLodging.com, where his many reviews reveal more than just details of hotels -they tell his life story. Playwright Suhayla El-Bushra takes Nikolai Erdman's Soviet classic The Suicide and sets it in contemporary urban London at London's National Theatre, starring Javone Prince from E4's Phone Shop. A new comedy drama on Channel 4, Flowers, stars Olivia Colman and Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh) and features an eccentric family struggling to hold themselves together in a crumbling old house. Conceptual Art in Britain 1964-1979 at Tate Britain shows how artists working in Britain transformed the nature of art, bringing together 70 works by 21 artists.

www.Wonder.land is Damon Albarn's re-imagining of Lewis Carol's tales of Alice, the White rabbit et al, transferred from The Manchester International Festival to London's National Theatre. Lily Tomlin plays the feisty Grandma who has to help her granddaughter find the money needed for an abortion Nureyev - Dance to Freedom, is a BBC4 drama-documentary which tells the story of the famous dancer's dramatic defection to The West in 1961 Adam Roberts' novel The Thing Itself deals with Emmanuel Kant, the search for extra-terrestrial life, time-hopping and so much more London's V+A Museum has reopened refurbished European Galleries. With an embarrassment of riches from which to choose, how have they updated the display? Tom Sutcliffe's guests are John Tusa, Louise Doughty and Lynn Nead. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Gaspar Noe's film Love is so sexually explicit that it has been labelled as pornography by many reviewers. It is eye-poppingly graphic, but is there substance beneath the lengthy sex scenes? The subject of Andy Martin's new book is author Lee Child. He shadowed Child as he wrote his most recent Jack Reacher novel. It's a meta book about a writer and his craft. Banned by the censors in 1907, Harley Granville Barker's play Waste is being staged at London's National Theatre. It exposes a cut-throat, cynical world of sex, sleaze and death BBCTV has adapted John Lanchester's novel Capital -about the crazy housing market in London - into a series starring Toby Jones Tate Liverpool imagines the world in 2053 when all art has vanished and museum visitors have to evoke the works themselves.

Ian McKellan takes on the legendary role of Detective Sherlock Holmes in Mr Holmes, alongside a stellar cast including Laura Linney, Frances de La Tour and Roger Allam. A cantankerous 93 year old who has retired to the Sussex countryside with only his housekeeper and her ten year old son for company, Holmes becomes obsessed with his last unsolved case. How will McKellan's elderly Holmes appeal to cinema audiences so familiar with one of British literature's most iconic characters? The Mother...With The Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis opens at London's National Theatre and tells the story of Jackie, out of jail and staying clean thanks to his sponsor. He might even have found a job. And of course there's Veronica, who he's loved since 8th grade. Nothing could come between them - except a hat. The Mother...With The Hat received six Tony nominations on Broadway - how will it appeal to British audiences? The Household Spirit is the follow up novel from American writer Todd Wodicka. Like his debut "All Shall be Well; And All Shall Be Well:And All Manner Things Shall Be Well," this book uses dark humour to provide insight into the human condition. Another dark comedy in a new HBO tv series "The Brink," that focuses on a geopolitical crisis and its effect on three disparate and desperate men: Walter Larson (Tim Robbins), the U.S. Secretary of State; Alex Talbott (Jack Black), a Foreign Service officer stationed in Islamabad; and Zeke "Z-Pak" Tilson (Pablo Schreiber), a Navy fighter pilot with a side business dealing prescription drugs. And Fighting History at Tate Britain in London explores 250 years of British history painting including work by artists as various as Winifred Knights and Stanley Spencer, and Rita Donagh and Jeremey Deller. Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Tiffany Jenkins, Kevin Jackson and Jamila Gavin. The producer is Hilary Dunn.

Carol Ann Duffy has adapted the 16th century morality play Everyman for London's National Theatre, with Chiwetel Ejiofor in the title role There's a new film version of Far From The Madding Crowd, this time with Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene - is it fair to compare it with the 1969 version? Empire is a TV phenomenon in the US; a tale of power and intrigue at a hip hop record label - like a black Dynasty crossed with King Lear - it has drawn unprecedented audiences and now it's come to the UK Anne Enright''s novel The Green Road tells the individual stories of a geographically-dispersed Irish family who are brought back together for a family gathering with all the pressure that unavoidably ensues A retrospective exhibition of Christopher Williams photography at The Whitechapel Gallery in London looks at the unexpected beauty and cultural resonance of commercial, industrial and instructional photography.

London's Wellcome Institute has a new exhibition entitled The Institute of Sexology which it describes as "a candid exploration of the most publicly discussed of private acts". How will our reviewers tiptoe gently around the explicit nature of what's on show? What We Do In The Shadows is a New Zealand vampire comedy film about a group of bloodsucking flatmates (a 'dracumentary' if you will) - who does the washing-up in the house of the undead? Behind The Beautiful Forevers is David Hare's new play at London's National Theatre, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Pulitzer Prize winning author Katherine Boo. It deals with life death and hope in a Mumbai undercity Robert Edric is an acclaimed British novelist whose latest book explores the life of Branwell Bronte - brother of the more famous sisters - whose life couldn't match theirs. Legacy is a new Danish TV police programme. What is it about the Scandi Noir genre that keeps on gripping UK audiences? Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Helen Lewis Pat Kane and Amanda Craig. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Helen McCrory is playing Medea in a new production at London's National Theatre - it's a new take on the Greek tragedy; how can one make a play written 1700 years ago resonate today? Nicolas Cage's new film Joe is a gritty blue collar tale of poverty and misery in rural Mississippi. It shows his gentle side rather than a raving onslaught; might this be a chance for viewers to reassess the way his acting has been heading? The BBC's commemoration of the centenary of WW1 continues with a series Our World War, which imagines what our view of it would be like if the soldiers had modern recording technology like headcams. DBC Pierre's novel Breakfast With The Borgias is the story of a man isolated in a rather shabby guesthouse desperately trying to contact his girlfriend, who vividly discovers the truth behind Sartre's maxim that "Hell is other people". The Imperial War Museum in London has just reopened after a multi-million pound refit - making major structural changes and opening a new WW1 gallery. Has it been money well spent? Tom Sutcliffe's guests this week are James Walton, Susan Jeffreys and Kit Davies. The producer is Oliver Jones.

Kirsty Lang talks to conductor and violinist Bernard Haitink as he looks back over his career as he celebrates his 85th birthday. Catherine Bray reviews buddy cop movie sequel 22 Jump Street, starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. Róisín Murphy, the lead singer of Moloko, is back with a solo EP all in Italian, covering some classic Italian torchsongs. She tells Kirsty why she's decided to make life difficult for herself by singing in a language she can't speak fluently. And the directors of a new free-running theatre show The Roof, which takes place in a converted outdoor car park next to London's National Theatre, discuss the challenges of parkour on rooftops and why the audience are handed out headphones as they enter the arena.

Sean heads to London's National Theatre and chats with actor Anthony Welsh who was appearing in a play called NUT which was on in The Shed - the NT's temporary space. Anthony chats about keeping a level head in the acting game, filming a crazy commercial in South Africa, and what it was like to get hit in the face by a professional boxer whilst training in preparation for the play SUCKER PUNCH.

This first episode of DRC has Sean at London's National Theatre where he chats to Irish actor Rory Keenan - star of the play LIOLA directed by Richard Eyre, feature film THE GUARD (co-starring Brendan Gleason) and television adaptation of the bestselling book BIRDSONG. They chat about how Rory got into acting, his "process" and what it's like to work at one of the world's leading theaters.

Laurie Metcalf talks about her role in Sharr White's play "The Other Place" at MCC Theater, and the challenge of playing someone whose mental faculties are diminishing in a non-linear play, requiring her to constantly leap between varying states of mind. She also talks about her embrace of theatre during her college years at Illinois State University, where she first studied German, then anthropology, before settling on theatre; being one of the original company members of the acclaimed Steppenwolf Theatre and her satisfaction with her day job during those early years; her Chicago breakout role in "The Glass Menagerie" and how that production fit with the company's reputation for "rock and roll theatre"; her participation in both the Chicago and New York productions of Lanford Wilson's "Balm in Gilead", and how she is still approached on the street by people recalling that show 25 years later; her regular returns to the Steppenwolf stage throughout her television run on "Roseanne" and other TV and film work; her opportunities to play Kate Keller in "All My Sons" twice -- both at London's National Theatre and Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse; how The New Group's production of "A Lie of the Mind" "saved" her after the brief run of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and the failure of its companion piece, "Broadway Bound", to open; her affinity for the play "Voice Lessons", which she'll be returning to for a third time; and the appeal of Steppenwolf's "Detroit", scheduled for Broadway in the fall. Original air date - April 27, 2011.

Laurie Metcalf talks about her role in Sharr White's play "The Other Place" at MCC Theater, and the challenge of playing someone whose mental faculties are diminishing in a non-linear play, requiring her to constantly leap between varying states of mind. She also talks about her embrace of theatre during her college years at Illinois State University, where she first studied German, then anthropology, before settling on theatre; being one of the original company members of the acclaimed Steppenwolf Theatre and her satisfaction with her day job during those early years; her Chicago breakout role in "The Glass Menagerie" and how that production fit with the company's reputation for "rock and roll theatre"; her participation in both the Chicago and New York productions of Lanford Wilson's "Balm in Gilead", and how she is still approached on the street by people recalling that show 25 years later; her regular returns to the Steppenwolf stage throughout her television run on "Roseanne" and other TV and film work; her opportunities to play Kate Keller in "All My Sons" twice -- both at London's National Theatre and Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse; how The New Group's production of "A Lie of the Mind" "saved" her after the brief run of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and the failure of its companion piece, "Broadway Bound", to open; her affinity for the play "Voice Lessons", which she'll be returning to for a third time; and the appeal of Steppenwolf's "Detroit", scheduled for Broadway in the fall. Original air date - April 27, 2011.