National Theatre Live: King Lear

Sep 27, 2018

3h 47m

★ 8.1

Overview

Considered by many to be the greatest tragedy ever written, King Lear sees two ageing fathers – one a King, one his courtier – reject the children who truly love them. Their blindness unleashes a tornado of pitiless ambition and treachery, as family and state are plunged into a violent power struggle with bitter ends.

Genres

Drama

Production Companies

National Theatre

Chichester Festival Theatre

National Theatre Live: King Lear Trailers

Cast

King Lear

Ian McKellen

Kent

Sinéad Cusack

Gloucester

Danny Webb

Regan

Kirsty Bushell

Edmund

James Corrigan

Fool

Lloyd Hutchinson

Goneril

Claire Price

Edgar

Luke Thompson

Cordelia

Anita-Joy Uwajeh

Gentleman Informer / Old Man

Richard Clews

Curan / Doctor

John Hastings

Burgundy / Lear's Knight

Jake Mann

101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.

8.0

Requiem for a Dream

Oct 6, 2000

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.

8.1

All About Eve

Nov 9, 1950

From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.

7.4

Mass

Oct 8, 2021

Two couples meet for a painful and raw conversation in the aftermath of a violent tragedy.

0.0

The Fourposter

Jan 1, 1955

The story takes place entirely in a bedroom dominated by a couple's four-poster bed, taking them through fifty years of marriage, through happiness and sorrow, through good times and bad, through childbirth, parenthood, and the eventual sadness from the absence of their children. In the end, they face the future together, while remembering their past.

7.1

A Tale of Two Sisters

Jun 13, 2003

Two sisters return home after a stay in a mental institution, only to face disturbing events and a strained relationship with their stepmother. As eerie occurrences unfold, dark family secrets begin to surface, blurring the line between reality and nightmare.

0.0

Sensei

Jun 30, 2023

The Karate Man honors his recently deceased Sensei through a tribute video he created dedicated to his Sensei's legacy.

9.0

Suddenly, Love

Dec 4, 1978

Young lovers — she's a child of the ghetto, determined to escape her alcoholic, bickering parents; he's a socially prominent attorney with a long-standing health problem — attempt to defy every obstacle to their romance and ultimate marriage.

0.0

Soft-Boiled Boots

Oct 31, 1978

The film is based on the stories Anton Chekhov. It is a tribute to the actor Boris Andreyev. He plays a major role that keeps up for the duration of the film. Lively and intelligent Valery Spout largely mitigates underline the drama of the protagonist, while Michael Sveta's role, though small, is bright and memorable.

6.1

National Theatre Live: Romeo and Juliet

Sep 28, 2021

An adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy set in modern-day Italy where two young lovers strive to transcend a violent world where Catholic and secular values clash.

6.1

The Bolshoi

Dec 21, 2016

Young and extremely talented dancer Yulya Olshanskaya from a small mining town draws a “happy ticket”: she is noticed by a former ballet dancer Pototsky and he promises her a future of great ballerina, worthy of the main stage of the country. However, in order to become a diamond, anyone, even the most outstanding brilliant, needs to be cut, and the way to the legendary stage of The Bolshoi Theatre for Yulya lies through the walls of the ballet school, where the more capricious teacher Galina Mikhailovna Beletskaya takes custody of the rebellious provincial. Turning into a prima will require incredible self-denial, and Yulya herself will have to make sure that the big ballet is not only the whiteness of the packs, the gold of the boxes and the slip of silk ribbons. But no obstacles will stop the one who has the big dream.

5.0

New Year's Day

Jan 1, 2000

Two 17-year-old boys mark the new year by doing twelve dangerous but exciting tasks set for them by their friends.

5.8

Wonderful and Loved by All

Aug 24, 2007

Isabella Eklöf is an unemployed actress in her early thirties. Her friends all enjoy stable relationships, children and successful careers. In order to jump-start her life she decides to lie a bit on her next job application with unexpected consequences.

4.9

I Am Not What I Am - The Tragedy of Othello by W. Shakespeare

Nov 14, 2024

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6.9

Untamed Heart

Feb 12, 1993

Caroline, a young waitress who seems to have bad taste in men, is on her way home one night when thugs attempt to rape her. Adam, the mysterious busboy who works at the same diner, helps fight off the assailants, and she begins a relationship with him -- but not all their fellow Minnesotans are happy for them. Meanwhile, the couple face their own difficulties when Caroline finds about Adam's past, including his unique health condition.

0.0

National Theatre Live: The Fifth Step

Nov 27, 2025

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.

0.0

Elisabeth: The Musical Live

Oct 16, 2024

Based on the tragic fate of legendary Austrian Empress Elisabeth – the mythical and celebrated "Sisi" – and told from the mouth of her convicted murderer, Elisabeth recounts the enthralling tale of her fatal, lifelong love affair with death, heralding the decline of the Habsburg Empire.

6.5

Broken Wings 2: Olivia

May 8, 2025

A bomb explodes in a cafe, at the same time as Leong is released from prison. Sadikin orders Pandu to investigate Leong's trail. Pandu's time is increasingly taken up with Olivia, his daughter who needs the presence of a father after her mother died of illness. Luckily there is Suri, Olivia's teacher, who tries to fill the void by approaching Olivia. Because of Olivia, Pandu and Suri's relationship becomes closer. But the situation becomes more dangerous for Pandu because his face is seen when the ambush and revenge action are about to be carried out.

7.4

RSC Live: Richard II

Nov 13, 2013

A monarch ordained by God to lead his people. But he is also a man of very human weakness. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last 100 years.

6.4

Cradle Will Rock

Dec 10, 1999

A true story of politics and art in the 1930s USA, centered around a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.