National Theatre Live: Hamlet

Jan 22, 2026

3h 0m

★ 6.5

‘The play’s the thing’

Overview

Olivier Award-winner Hiran Abeysekera (Life of Pi) is Hamlet in this fearless, contemporary take on Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. Trapped between duty and doubt, surrounded by power and privilege, young Prince Hamlet dares to ask the ultimate question–you know the one. National Theatre Deputy Artistic Director, Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Operation Mincemeat) directs this sharp, stylish and darkly funny reimagining.

Genres

Drama

Production Companies

National Theatre

National Theatre Live: Hamlet Trailers

Cast

Hamlet

Hiran Abeysekera

Claudius

Alistair Petrie

Polonius

Geoffrey Streatfeild

Gertrude

Ayesha Dharker

Ophelia

Francesca Mills

Ghost/Player King/First Gravedigger

Ryan Ellsworth

Horatio

Tessa Wong

Laertes

Tom Glenister

Marcellus

Phil Cheadle

Fortinbras

Kiren Kebaili-Dwyer

After years in the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, James becomes a sponsor to newcomer Luka. The pair bond over black coffee, trade stories and build a fragile friendship out of their shared experiences. But as Luka approaches step five – the moment of confession – dangerous truths emerge, threatening the trust on which both of their recoveries depend.

10.0

National Theatre Live: Retrograde

Sep 9, 2025

Hollywood’s so-called Golden Age. Ten years before becoming the first Black man to win an Oscar, a young Sidney Poitier arrives to sign a life-changing contract that could make him a star. But there’s a catch. As he becomes entangled in events larger than he imagined, Sidney is forced to make an impossible choice – one that will reshape his future, the Civil Rights Movement, and the soul of a nation. From award-winning writer Ryan Calais Cameron (For Black Boys…), exploring integrity, betrayal, and the personal cost of success, Retrograde asks what would you sacrifice to achieve your dream? Backed by double Oscar and BAFTA nominee Colman Domingo as producer, Amit Sharma’s ‘perfectly pitched production’ (Independent) features Ivanno Jeremiah (Constellations), Stanley Townsend (Kaos) and Oliver Johnstone (Antigone).

7.8

National Theatre Live: Hamlet

Dec 9, 2010

A 2010 broadcast of Hamlet returns to cinemas as part of the NT's 50th anniversary celebrations. Following his celebrated performances at the National Theatre in Burnt by the Sun, The Revenger's Tragedy, Philistines and The Man of Mode, Rory Kinnear plays Hamlet in a dynamic new production of Shakespeare’s complex and profound play about the human condition, directed by Nicholas Hytner. He is joined by Clare Higgins (Gertrude), Patrick Malahide (Claudius), David Calder (Polonius), James Laurenson (Ghost/Player King) and Ruth Negga (Ophelia).

6.4

Titus

Dec 25, 1999

Titus Andronicus returns from the wars and sees his sons and daughters taken from him, one by one. Shakespeare's goriest and earliest tragedy.

0.0

Revue Starlight ―The STAGE Junior High― Remains

Jul 6, 2024

Having seen the Seisho, Siegfeld, and Seiran Play Exchange Program's "The Wartime of Farewells" through to success, Stella and the others have taken a big step forward as Stage Girls. Then, another exchange program begins. The name of their partner school is Romana Drama School. It is a newly established school that was founded five years ago. With the rumors of them snatching up excellent students from exchange programs, they possess a shady history. The play Romana has chosen is Oscar Wilde's "Salome", which was once banned due to its content being deemed radical and degenerate. To play Salome, one must steal others' brilliance and be a pure egoist with infinite desires. Appearing before the bewildered Stella is none other than Mikoto Aragami, her old rival from her time in Munich, Germany... "Stella Takachiho. I will steal everything from you, and play Salome."

8.0

＜ＢＳ松竹東急×浅草九劇＞スペシャルドラマ「君しか見えないよ」

Jul 9, 2023

No overview available.

0.0

Tenderness

Jul 2, 2023

Duda and Bia, two long-term friends, haven't seen each other in 12 years. They both have a disturbing memory of Duda's 15th birthday party. The party ended in heartbreak and alcohol abuse. Now, in their 30s, the two meet again, in the same house where the party took place, to review their lives, facing all the twists and surprises from all the transformations they went through during the years they were apart.

0.0

WillShake

Mar 17, 2015

WillShake is a boy with a trunk of theatrical tricks who likes to tell stories. He embarks on his first journey to share the story of Henry V.

0.0

Blue Little Sillies

May 9, 2025

BLUE LITTLE SILLIES follows a group of theatre kids at their friend's birthday party. Through conversation, dance, and performance, they lovingly celebrate life and art. Made out of resistance against melancholy and awkward birthdays, BLUE LITTLE SILLIES depicts the beauty of intimate gatherings and accepting light.

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 25 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. One of the first five episodes also released on terrestrial TV on a 2009 BBC TV series titled "National Theatre Live".

4.0

8

Mar 3, 2012

Live chronicle of the landmark federal trial of California's Prop. 8 using the actual court transcripts and first-hand interviews.

10.0

The Year of the Dragon

Jan 15, 1975

Frank Chin's edgy story breaks down the stereotypes of Asian Americans and centers on San Francisco Chinatown tour operator Fred Eng. Eng hides his contempt for the tourists while dealing with the uproar that occurs within his oddball family after his dying father reveals he's hiding a second wife.

5.5

Opening Night

Oct 14, 2023

A teenage boy navigates the final minutes before his first theater stage performance, which includes experiencing his first kiss. Despite his rising anxiety, he shares a romantic moment with a classmate.

0.0

Impossible Catherine

Oct 5, 1919

The head of the Kimberly household rules it with an iron fist. Unfortunately the head of the Kimberly household isn't Grant (J.H. Gilmore), the father and wealthy Wall Street magnate -- it's his spoiled, headstrong daughter Catherine (Virginia Pearson). She is so willful that she has earned the name "Impossible Catherine," and her whole focus in life is to prove women's superiority over the masculine gender.

8.0

Othello

May 30, 2020

Filmed version of the 2019 Stratford Festival production.

6.5

Romeo and Juliet, the worst forfeit of all time

Jan 31, 2019

After losing at YouTube Warriors, Cyprien and Squeezie (the two biggest French YouTubers) must publicly act the famous tragedy.

8.2

National Theatre Live: Coriolanus

Jan 29, 2014

When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But he has enemies at home too. Famine threatens the city, the citizens’ hunger swells to an appetite for change, and on returning from the field Coriolanus must confront the march of realpolitik and the voice of an angry people.

0.0

The Fabric of a Man

Apr 26, 2005

Fabric of a Man is about a boutique owner who dreams of being a designer, but her insecure man doesnt believe in her abilities so puts her down every chance he gets. she meets a young drycleaner named joshua who also wants to be designer and falls for him, now she struggles to choose between security with her man or take a chance and go for what she really wants.

0.0

Hamlet

Apr 23, 2016

A ghostly visitor with a shocking secret, a daughter devastated by loss, a deadly duel – and the most famous question in all of drama. Just some of the reasons why Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy will hold you spellbound.