National Theatre Live: Much Ado About Nothing

Sep 8, 2022

3h 0m

★ 6.0

Overview

Since the 1930s, the legendary family-run Hotel Messina has been visited by artists, celebrities and royalty.  When the current owner’s daughter falls for a dashing young soldier, the hallways are ringing with the sound of wedding bells.  However, not all the guests are in the mood for love, and a string of deceptions soon surround not only the young couple, but also the steadfastly single Beatrice and Benedick.

Genres

Comedy

Production Companies

National Theatre

National Theatre Live: Much Ado About Nothing Trailers

Cast

Beatrice

Katherine Parkinson

Hero

Ioanna Kimbook

Benedick

John Heffernan

Dogberry

David Fynn

Claudio

Eben Figueiredo

Don John

David Judge

Antonia

Wendy Kweh

Leonato

Rufus Wright

Don Pedro

Ashley Zhangazha

Val Kilmer, master of reinvention, becomes Mark Twain, in a funny, moving, contemporary and reflective performance, based on the life of the man who was Samuel Clemens and on his writings as Mark Twain: his thoughts on politics, his family, his faith and God… Twain shows the greatness of his incomparable wit.

8.0

Newsies

Feb 16, 2017

A week in the life of the exploited, child newspaper sellers in turn-of-the-century New York. When their publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, tries to squeeze a little more profit out of their labours, they organize a strike, only to be confronted with the Pulitzer's hard-ball tactics.

7.4

Company: A Musical Comedy

Feb 20, 2008

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.

0.0

National Theatre Live: Travelling Light

Feb 9, 2012

In a remote village in Eastern Europe, around 1900, the young Motl Mendl is entranced by the flickering silent images on his father's cinematograph.

10.0

National Theatre Live: The Comedy of Errors

Mar 1, 2012

Separated at birth, two sets of twins collide in the same city for one crazy day, as multiple mistaken identities lead to confusion on a grand scale.

7.7

National Theatre Live: Fleabag

Sep 12, 2019

Fleabag may seem oversexed, emotionally unfiltered and self-obsessed, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. With family and friendships under strain and a guinea pig café struggling to keep afloat, Fleabag suddenly finds herself with nothing to lose.

0.0

The Met: Live in HD – Die Zauberflöte

Jun 3, 2023

The Queen of the Night enlists a handsome prince named Tamino to rescue her beautiful kidnapped daughter, Princess Pamina. Aided by the lovelorn bird hunter Papageno and a magical flute that holds the power to change the hearts of men, young Tamino embarks on a quest for true love, leading to the evil Sarastro's temple where Pamina is held captive.

6.4

Company

Dec 10, 1996

8.7

National Theatre Live: Twelfth Night

Apr 6, 2017

A ship is wrecked on the rocks. Viola is washed ashore but her twin brother Sebastian is lost. Determined to survive on her own, she steps out to explore a new land. So begins a whirlwind of mistaken identity and unrequited love. The nearby households of Olivia and Orsino are overrun with passion. Even Olivia's upright housekeeper Malvolia is swept up in the madness. Where music is the food of love, and nobody is quite what they seem, anything proves possible.

6.1

National Theatre Live: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Apr 20, 2017

Against the backdrop of Hamlet, two hapless minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, take centre stage. As the young double act stumble their way in and out of the action of Shakespeare’s iconic drama, they become increasingly out of their depth as their version of the story unfolds.

0.0

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John Hodge's Collaborators centers on an imaginary encounter between Joseph Stalin and the playwright Mikhail Bulgakov.

0.0

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The Kitchen, Arnold Wesker’s "extraordinary black comedy," is directed by Bijan Sheibani and features an ensemble cast of 29 actors. The production is set in a restaurant in 1950s London.

0.0

National Theatre Live: A Disappearing Number

Oct 14, 2010

The innovative interweaving of romance and math was conceived. The 2008 Olivier Award winner for Best New Play, it has toured the world and was recently performed in New York as part of the Lincoln Center Festival.

7.0

National Theatre Live: London Assurance

Jun 24, 2010

Grace has agreed to marry Sir Harcourt in return for his financial support of her family. At a house party in her father's place, Harcourt's son Charles also falls in love with Grace. When his father appears on the scene, he has to convince him that there is a case of mistaken identity and he is somebody else. Then Lady Gay Spanker, a married woman also visiting at the house, is persuaded by Charles to seduce his father and thus divert his attention from Grace. Much confusion and scheming ensues.

7.0

RSC Live: The Taming of the Shrew

Jun 5, 2019

Live from Stratford-upon-Avon. The Royal Shakespeare Company presents The Taming of the Shrew. Turning Shakespeare’s fierce, energetic comedy of gender and materialism on its head to offer a fresh perspective on its portrayal of hierarchy and power.

0.0

National Theatre Live: The Wife of Willesden

Dec 14, 2022

A proper local legend. Married five times. Mother. Lover. Aunt. Friend. Alvita will tell her life story to anyone in the pub – there’s no shame in her game. The question is: are you ready to hear it? Because this woman’s got the gift of the gab: she can rewrite mistakes into triumphs, turn pain into parables, and her love life’s an epic poem. They call her The Wife of Willesden... A play that celebrates the human knack for telling elaborate tales, especially about our own lives. Zadie Smith transports Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath to 21st Century North West London, directed by Kiln Theatre Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingh. A production from Kiln Theatre

7.9

Kinky Boots: The Musical

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Charlie is a factory owner struggling to save his family business, and Lola is a fabulous entertainer with a wildly exciting idea. With a little compassion and a lot of understanding, this unexpected pair learn to embrace their differences and create a line of sturdy stilettos unlike any the world has ever seen!

8.0

National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art

Apr 22, 2010

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.

8.4

National Theatre Live: Present Laughter

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As he prepares to embark on an overseas tour, star actor Garry Essendine’s colourful life is in danger of spiralling out of control. Engulfed by an escalating identity crisis as his many and various relationships compete for his attention, Garry’s few remaining days at home are a chaotic whirlwind of love, sex, panic and soul-searching.

0.0

National Theatre Archive: I Want My Hat Back

Dec 31, 2015

Bear's hat is gone. He loves his hat. He wants it back. He asks all the animals in the forest, but no one has seen it. WAIT. He has seen it somewhere.