Platforms
An eclectic programme of pre-performance events celebrates all aspects of the arts, offering the chance to learn about the National's work and discover more about theatre in general. Platforms usually start at 6pm, lasting for 45 minutes - there are occasional afternoon events, usually starting at 2.30pm. Tickets: £3.50 (£2.50 concessions) unless otherwise specified.
Book online or call 020 7 452 3000.
Transcripts of a selection of past Platforms are available online or to buy. See Transcripts for details.
Platforms:
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Nicholas Hytner on Phèdre
The director talks about his production of Racine’s verse masterpiece.
Jul 02 -
Shakespeare’s Soul: Jonathan Bate
A new biography of Shakespeare, Soul of the Age, explores the Elizabethan beliefs and obsessions, private passions and political intrigues that shaped and informed Shakespeare’s mind.
Jul 03 -
New Connections Writers’ Forum
As the annual season of new plays for young people ends its run at the National, the writers look back on their experiences of the programme.
Jul 07 -
Maria Aitken: Acting in High Comedy
The Acting Series... revisited. Twenty years on from the 1980s BBC series of acting masterclasses, the ‘masters’ revisit their topics and look back to see how their work and approach have changed – or not.
Jul 08 -
Janet Suzman: Acting in Shakespearean Comedy
The Acting Series... revisited. Twenty years on from the 1980s BBC series of acting masterclasses, the ‘masters’ revisit their topics and look back to see how their work and approach have changed – or not.
Jul 10 -
Joan Bakewell
Joan Bakewell's first novel tells a stirring tale of living life to the full and the virtue of integrity and patriotism in a wartime Manchester girls’ school.
Jul 14 -
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren reflects on her hugely diverse career and returning to the National.
Jul 20 -
An Experiment with Time… and the Conways
Physicist Jeff Forshaw and writer Anthony Peake discuss time theories and those that influenced J B Priestley's play.
Jul 24 -
In Conversation with Margaret Tyzack
Margaret Tyzack talks about her current role and her career.
Jul 27 -
Andrew Motion and Claire Tomalin on Keats
Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate and biographer of Keats, joins Claire Tomalin to discuss and read from her selection of Keats’ work.
Jul 29 -
Hanif Kureishi & Jatinder Verma
The writer and director discuss the production of The Black Album
Aug 10 -
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In Conversation with Conleth Hill
One of a series of informal conversations with company members chatting about their work and answering your questions.
Sep 02 -
David Edgar
The founder of Britain’s first university playwriting course 20 years ago, playwright David Edgar analyses how plays function.
Sep 03 -
Richard Eyre
Richard Eyre offers a unique insight into the working lives of 41 major theatre practitioners.
Sep 10 -
Griff Rhys Jones
The comedian, actor, presenter and writer, Griff Rhys Jones, returns to the National, to talk about his new book, Rivers.
Sep 15 -
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Bijan Sheibani on Our Class
The director discusses his production of the new play by Tadeusz Slobodzianek.
Oct 02 -
Roald Dahl Day with Quentin Blake and friends
To celebrate the fourth annual Roald Dahl Day, his principal illustrator Quentin Blake once again draws live on stage, and is joined by actors reading from Dahl’s wonderful work.
Oct 03 -
Michael Palin
In the second volume of his diaries, Michael Palin, looks back on the decade that took him from the end of the Pythons, to the beginnings of Around the World in 80 Days.
Oct 06 -
Fiona Shaw and Deborah Warner on Mother Courage
As they take on Brecht in the Olivier, Fiona Shaw and Deborah Warner discuss their latest collaboration.
Oct 08 -
Gregory Doran
Compiled by RSC associate director Gregory Doran, The Shakespeare Almanac is a cornucopia of the family occasions, changing seasons, local customs and global events that made up Shakespeare’s world, illustrated with quotations from his plays and
Oct 09 -
Felix Barrett and Tom Morris
Directors Felix Barrett and Tom Morris talk about their production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Jan 25
