
Penny Layden
2021National Theatre Live: Everyman
Rufus Norris
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Stephen Aintree
Everyman is successful, popular and riding high when Death comes calling. He is forced to abandon the life he has built and embark on a last, frantic search to recruit a friend, anyone, to speak in his defence. But Death is close behind, and time is running out. One of the great primal, spiritual myths, Everyman asks whether it is only in death that we can understand our lives. A cornerstone of English drama since the 15th century, it now explodes onto the stage in a startling production with words by Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate, and movement by Javier De Frutos.
National Theatre Live: Everyman
National Theatre Live: Macbeth
Rufus Norris
Rory Kinnear, Anne-Marie Duff
The ruined aftermath of a bloody civil war. Ruthlessly fighting to survive, the Macbeths are propelled towards the crown by forces of elemental darkness. Shakespeare’s most intense and terrifying tragedy, directed by Rufus Norris, sees Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff return to the National Theatre to play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
National Theatre Live: Macbeth
Poppy Shakespeare
Benjamin Ross
Naomie Harris, Anna Maxwell Martin
N has been a day patient at north London's Dorothy Fish day hospital for 13 years - her ambition is never to leave. Then she meets glamourous new patient Poppy Shakespeare, an ad agency receptionist convinced she's not mad.
Poppy Shakespeare
Sisters
Tanya Ronder, Hector Norris
Hermione Norris, Anastasia Hille
It’s the height of lockdown, and Beth has asked her older sisters for a video call. She’s expecting a functional chat about how to split mum’s shopping bill, but the conversation takes a darker turn. A hyperrealistic family drama devised remotely through improvisation.
Sisters
Jolly Girl
John Horabin
Gilly Daniels, Penny Layden
In a small English town, the winds blow cold, and the old streets are looking down at heel. Lost in memories of long ago, Barbara watches the world from her living room window, as it keeps moving and changing.
Jolly Girl
My Country: a Work In Progress
Rufus Norris
Penny Layden, Cavan Clarke
A powerful play by Carol Ann Duffy, using the words of people from across a divide Britain. Originally presented at the National Theatre and now reworked for the screen, Britannia convenes a meeting to listen to her people and consider whether there can ever be a 'United Kingdom'.
My Country: a Work In Progress