National Theatre

Shakespeare and the National

The history of the creation of the National Theatre is inextricably linked with William Shakespeare. Effingham Wilson's proposal for a national theatre was partly inspired by the purchase of Shakespeare's Birthplace for the nation in 1847. In his 1848 Proposition for a National Theatre he set out a claim that a theatre, 'a house for Shakespeare', would be an important complement to the preservation of Shakespeare's house.

There has been has a long history of Shakespeare productions at the National. Apart from our own productions, we have hosted many visiting Shakespeare productions. The National's Education Department has also produced many Shakespeare plays. For details of all National Theatre and visiting productions of Shakespeare visit the links at the right of this page.

Paintings
Our collection of theatrical paintings, bequeathed to the Trustees of the National Theatre in 1948 by Somerset Maugham, is exhibited in the Theatre Museum, Covent Garden. Images of paintings from the Maugham Collection of Shakespearean characters can be found in the Somerset Maugham collection of theatrical paintings section of the Archive.

Video Recordings
The Archive also holds video recordings of all NT productions of Shakespeare since 1995; records of our touring productions; published material relating to NT Shakespeare productions; the records of the Shakespeare Memorial National Theatre Trust (1908).

Platforms
Archive also holds audio recordings of Platform discussions on things Shakepearean, including: The annual quiz contest between the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company; Shakespeare: The Truth, a performance by Patrick Barlow as Desmond Olivier Dingle; Michael Pennington on the English Shakespeare Company; a discussion on the rebuilding of the Globe Theatre; Kenneth McLeish's concise guide to Shakespeare's complete works; Granville Barker's Prefaces to Shakespeare; Michael Pennington's Hamlet: A User's Guide.

The Shakespeare Memorial Medal
These medals were struck in 1916 to honour those who had contributed to the Shakespeare Memorial Committee Fund to commemorate the tercentenary of William Shakespeare's death; these medals form part of the Shakespeare Memorial National Theatre (SMNT) collection held at the NT Archive documenting the movement to found a National Theatre.

Education
The NT's Education Department's Shakespeare Unplugged productions are designed to give young people a participatory experience of Shakespeare, including workshops prior to performances. Mobile productions take Shakespeare's plays, edit them and present them in a contemporary style that engages young people. Henry V, directed by Nicholas Hytner, features on the Education Department's new Stagework site at www.stagework.org.uk.

Research links for Shakespeare studies:

Touchstone Shakespeare Project
www.touchstone.bham.ac.uk
Co-operation and partnership between UK Shakespeare collections. A resource for Shakespeare studies hosted by the British Library.

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
www.shakespeare.org.uk
Includes the Archive of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Shakespeare's Globe
www.shakespeares-globe.org
The website for Shakespeare's Globe, a unique international resource dedicated to the exploration of Shakespeare's work, and the playhouse for which he wrote, through the connected means of education and performance.

General links on Shakespeare
http://shakespeare.cc.emory.edu/
Combines two sites, 'Shakespeare Illustrated' which explores nineteenth-century paintings, criticism and productions of Shakespeare's plays and their influences on one another; and 'Shakespeare and the Players' which is a survey through postcards of the many now unfamiliar English and American actors who played Shakespeare's characters for late Victorian and Edwardian audiences.

www.is.bham.ac.uk/Shakespeare
Shakespeare Institute Library, University of Birmingham

http://web.mit.edu/ensemble/www/links.html
The Shakespeare Ensemble at MIT presents the Complete Works of William Shakespeare