National Theatre Live: London Assurance

Jun 24, 2010

2h 40m

★ 7.0

Overview

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.

Genres

Comedy

Production Companies

National Theatre

National Theatre Live: London Assurance Trailers

Cast

Charles Courtly

Paul Ready

Sir Harcourt Courtly

Simon Russell Beale

Grace Harkaway

Michelle Terry

Squire Max Harkaway

Mark Addy

Lady Gay Spanker

Fiona Shaw

Richard Dazzle

Matt Cross

Mr. Adolphus Spanker

Richard Briers

Mr. Solomon Isaacs

Junix Inocian

Servant

Prasanna Puwanarajah

Cool

Nick Sampson

Martin

Richard Frame

Pert

Maggie Service

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.

7.9

Kinky Boots: The Musical

Jun 25, 2019

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!

4.2

Friend of the World

Aug 15, 2020

After a catastrophic global war, a young filmmaker awakens in the carnage and seeks refuge in the only other survivor: an eccentric, ideologically opposed figure of the United States military. Together, they brave the toxic landscape in search of safety... and answers.

7.6

National Theatre Live: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Jun 3, 2019

A feuding fairy King and Queen of the forest cross paths with four runaway lovers and a troupe of actors trying to rehearse a play. As their dispute grows, the magical royal couple meddle with mortal lives leading to love triangles, mistaken identities and transformations… with hilarious, but dark consequences.

8.4

National Theatre Live: Present Laughter

Nov 28, 2019

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.

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.

10.0

Private Lives

Dec 11, 2013

Elyot Chase and Amanda Prynne are glamorous, rich, reckless…and divorced. Five years later, their love for one another is unexpectedly rekindled when they take adjoining suites of a French hotel while honeymooning with their new spouses. This chance encounter instantly reignites their passion, and they fling themselves headlong into a whirlwind of love and lust once more, without a thought for partners present or turbulences past. This Chichester Festival Theatre production of Noël Coward’s Privates Lives was filmed live at London's Gielgud Theatre.

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.

6.0

Geliebte Hochstaplerin

Dec 16, 1961

Roberto Bolle smuggles himself as a stowaway on an ocean liner that of Hamburg gen New York sets sail. On board is also his lover Barbara Shadwell, whom he wants to marry, but who, at the request of her mother, the syrup millionaire Ceila Shadwell, should marry the oatmeal millionaire David.

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.

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.

0.0

Le Fusible

Jun 6, 2017

Paul, a 45-year-old businessman, is about to radically change his life ... He organized everything down to the smallest detail the lucrative sale of his website to a Russian company, his divorce and his departure on a paradise island with his mistress .... The sole confidant of his stratagem and his plans for the next day: his friend Michel, a naive and blundering computer genius who follows Paul like a beacon ... But on the eve of this fateful day , everything changes: a short circuit causes the oven to explode just when Paul is in the kitchen. He came out unscathed, but against all odds, completely lost his memory ... Recorded at Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens

0.0

National Theatre: My Fair Lady

Aug 11, 2005

Eliza Doolittle is a young flower seller with an unmistakable Cockney accent which keeps her in the lower rungs of Edwardian society. When Professor Henry Higgins tries to teach her how to speak like a proper lady, an unlikely friendship begins to flourish.

7.8

Kiss Me, Kate

Feb 26, 2003

A pair of divorced actors are brought together to participate in a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. Of course, the couple seem to act a great deal like the characters they play, and they must work together when mistaken identities get them mixed up with the mafia.

7.4

Company: A Musical Comedy

Feb 20, 2008

6.9

Oh, Hello on Broadway

Jun 13, 2017

Two delusional geriatrics reveal curious pasts, share a love of tuna and welcome a surprise guest in this filming of the popular Broadway comedy show.

0.0

Svend, Knud og Valdemar

Oct 3, 1970

No overview available.

7.0

The Star Wagon

Oct 20, 1966

The Star Wagon is a play in black and white starring Dustin Hoffman.