National Theatre

Articles

Read more about the books that influence people working at the National Theatre

Oliver Ford Davies on Shakespeare

Oliver Ford Davies has played numerous Shakespearean roles including Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing, Polonius in Hamlet and the title role in King Lear. He has also written about the practicalities in acting Shakespeare. He is currently playing the King of France in All's Well That Ends Well. Here he talks about the problem plays, working his way through the old men and the enigma of the Bard.

Matt Charman: My favourite books

Playwright Matt Charman talks about the inspiration of Miller, Dickens and Hemingway and preparing to write his latest play about the observation of the first democratic election in a West African country.

Jenny Jules: My favourite books

Jenny Jules has recently appeared in Theodore Ward's Big White Fog and The Homecoming at the Almeida. She has also appeared in several plays at the Tricycle including Fabulation, Gem of the Ocean and The Colour of Justice. She is currently in rehearsal for the first major London staging of Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman at the National.

 

Here she talks about being terrified by Hans Christian Anderson, the brilliance of Barack Obama and the genius of JK Rowling.

 

Dido Queen of Carthage: Books in Rehearsal

Staff Director Caroline Steinbeis reveals the books that the cast and creative team have been using in rehearsal to create this new production of Marlowe's rarely performed play.

Rory Kinnear: Lost in a Good Book

Rory Kinnear is currently appearing in Burnt by the Sun in the Lyttelton. Set during The Great Terror of 1936 Russia the play focuses on an idyllic summer in the country. Here he talks about Roald Dahl, reading by the fire in his rocking chair and making Ulysses accessible for toddlers.

The Pitmen Painters' Ian Kelly on the life of an actor & writer

Ian Kelly, currently appearing in the return of The Pitmen Painters, is also a writer and historical biographer. His most recent work, a major revisionist and theatrical  take on the famous 18th century libertine Giacomo Casanova, is The Sunday Times Biography of the Year. It was written during the rehearsals and devising of The Pitmen Painters in Newcastle in 2007. Ian Kelly reflects on the connections between biography, acting...and Casanova.

 

Jeff Perry on Steppenwolf

Jeff Perry is a co-founder of the reknowned Chicago theatre company Steppenwolf. Here he talks about the 'goth' in their choice of early plays, memorable prouctions in their history and his first impressions of August: Osage County.

Books in Rehearsal: Mrs Affleck

Elly Green, Staff Director on Mrs Affleck, describes the books used in the rehearsal room of Samuel Adamson's new play taken from Ibsen's Little Eyolf.

All I want for Christmas...

Stuck for ideas for Christmas? NT staff pick the book they would like for Christmas from the NT Bookshop.

Lost in a good book with Tamsin Greig

"I've done tapas literature."

War Horse: One Year Later

Puppeteer and performer Mervyn Millar first wrote about the process of creating War Horse a year ago in The Horse's Mouth. Here he talks about the rehearsal process for the revival of last year's sell-out success.

Jeannette Nelson: My favourite voice books

Jeannette Nelson, Head of Voice at the National, chooses her favourite books on voice from the Bookshop.

Lost in a good book with Hattie Morahan

"I love it when you get so into a book that you want to read it standing up, walking along, at the bus stop, wherever you are."

Books in rehearsal: Afterlife

Jenny Eastop, Staff Director on Michael Frayn's Afterlife, gives background to the play and talks about the books that the company used during rehearsal.

Lost in a good book with Simon Russell Beale

Simon Russell Beale talks about his first encounter with Shakespeare, the lumpiness of Shaw, and the moment he gave up on Proust.

Rebecca Lenkiewicz on Her Naked Skin

I used to work at the National Film Theatre as an usherette and on my breaks I’d often go out to the river with a cup of tea and scour the bookstalls under Waterloo Bridge.