Skip to main content

Shakespeare video collection

A production shot of Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear in 'Othello', National Theatre 2013

Shakespeare is the one of the most performed playwrights in the world whose works still hold great relevance for us today.

This collection features short films about classic Shakespeare productions staged at the National Theatre, featuring the people who made them.

Want to learn more about Shakespeare at the National Theatre? Visit our online exhibition.

Explore the Shakespeare online exhibition

A production image from 'Othello' at the National Theatre in 2013, featuring Adrian Lester as Othello with his hand in the hair and Olivia Vinall as Desdemona with her hand on his chest
Play Video

Othello: Behind the lines

This film looks at the military setting of the the National Theatre’s 2013 production of Othello and the role of Major-General Jonathan Shaw who helped to create this authentic environment on the Olivier stage.

Featured in this video: Nicholas Hytner (Director), Rory Kinnear (Actor), Adrian Lester (Actor), Major-General Jonathan Shaw (Military advisor) and Kate Waters (Fight director).

A production image from 'Hamlet' at the National Theatre in 2010 featuring Rory Kinnear in the title role holding a skull
Play Video

Hamlet: A character study

Actor Rory Kinnear, who played Hamlet in director Nicholas Hytner’s 2010 production at the National Theatre, explains some of the key aspects of Hamlet’s character.

A production image of Simon Russell Beale as King Lear in the National Theatre production in 2014
Play Video

Shakespeare and old age: Simon Russell Beale

Actor Simon Russell Beale, who played the title role in King Lear in 2014 at the National Theatre, and Simon Lovestone, Professor of Translational Neuroscience and Dementia Research at the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry, join Genista McIntosh.

Together, they look at how memory and ageing are explored in Shakespeare’s play, King Lear, and discuss how the situations experienced by the characters might be mirrored today.

A production image of 'The Comedy of Errors' at the National Theatre in 2011, featuring Lenny Henry dressed in a suit and carrying a suitcase
Play Video

Shakespeare and migration: Lenny Henry

Lenny Henry, who played the role of Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors in 2011 at the National Theatre, and George Alagiah, BBC journalist, author of A Home From Home and Friend of the Migration Museum Project, join Genista McIntosh.

They look at how migration and exile are explored in Shakespeare’s play, The Comedy or Errors. 

More to explore

Our funders

The Mohn Westlake Foundation supports nationwide Learning programmes for young people.

Nationwide learning is supported by Buffini Chao Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Clore Duffield Foundation, Tim and Sarah Bunting, Behrens Foundation, Cleopatra Trust and Milton Grundy Foundation.

Find out more about supporting our work