National Theatre

Articles

Read more about the books that influence people working at the National Theatre

Books in rehearsal: Pains of Youth

An insight into books used for research and during rehearsal on Pains of Youth with staff director Caroline Leslie

 

David Edgar on the art of the Playwright

David Edgar discusses how his new book on playwriting - How Plays Work - arose out of the first course in playwriting at a British university.

Oliver Ford Davies on Shakespeare

Oliver Ford Davies has played numerous Shakespearean roles including Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing, Polonius in Hamlet and the title role in King Lear. He has also written about the practicalities in acting Shakespeare. Here he talks about the problem plays, working his way through the old men and the enigma of the Bard.

Matt Charman: My favourite books

Playwright Matt Charman talks about the inspiration of Miller, Dickens and Hemingway and preparing to write his latest play about the observation of the first democratic election in a West African country.

Jenny Jules: My favourite books

Jenny Jules has recently appeared in Theodore Ward's Big White Fog and The Homecoming at the Almeida. She has also appeared in several plays at the Tricycle including Fabulation, Gem of the Ocean and The Colour of Justice.

Here she talks about being terrified by Hans Christian Anderson, the brilliance of Barack Obama and the genius of JK Rowling.

Rory Kinnear: Lost in a Good Book

Rory Kinnear appeared in Burnt by the Sun in the Lyttelton. Set during The Great Terror of 1936 Russia the play focuses on an idyllic summer in the country. Here he talks about Roald Dahl, reading by the fire in his rocking chair and making Ulysses accessible for toddlers.

The Pitmen Painters' Ian Kelly on the life of an actor & writer

Ian Kelly, currently appearing in the return of The Pitmen Painters, is also a writer and historical biographer. His most recent work, a major revisionist and theatrical  take on the famous 18th century libertine Giacomo Casanova, is The Sunday Times Biography of the Year. It was written during the rehearsals and devising of The Pitmen Painters in Newcastle in 2007. Ian Kelly reflects on the connections between biography, acting...and Casanova.

Lost in a good book with Tamsin Greig

Tamsin Greig is known for her roles on TV in Love Soup, Green Wing and Black Books. Her voice is familiar to listeners of The Archers in which she plays Debbie. She won an Olivier Award for her performance as Beatrice in the RSC's Much Ado About Nothing and recently appeared in the West End in Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage.

War Horse: One Year Later

Puppeteer and performer Mervyn Millar first wrote about the process of creating War Horse a year ago in The Horse's Mouth. Here he talks about the rehearsal process for the revival of last year's sell-out success.

Jeannette Nelson: My favourite voice books

Jeannette Nelson, Head of Voice at the National, chooses her favourite books on voice from the Bookshop.

Lost in a good book with Hattie Morahan

Following Sense and Sensibility on television and Martin Crimp's The City at the Royal Court, Hattie Morahan returned to the National in ...some trace of her, inspired by Dostoevsky's The Idiot. Here she talks about her favourite books...

Lost in a good book with Simon Russell Beale

Simon Russell Beale talks about his first encounter with Shakespeare, the lumpiness of Shaw, and the moment he gave up on Proust.