The Fabric of a Man

A ghostly visitor with a shocking secret, a daughter devastated by loss, a deadly duel – and the most famous question in all of drama. Just some of the reasons why Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy will hold you spellbound.

Two families, related by friendship and love, face up to the consequences of greed and avarice in the post-war years. Love and death play equal roles in determining the outcome of events.

A 2010 broadcast of Hamlet returns to cinemas as part of the NT's 50th anniversary celebrations. Following his celebrated performances at the National Theatre in Burnt by the Sun, The Revenger's Tragedy, Philistines and The Man of Mode, Rory Kinnear plays Hamlet in a dynamic new production of Shakespeare’s complex and profound play about the human condition, directed by Nicholas Hytner. He is joined by Clare Higgins (Gertrude), Patrick Malahide (Claudius), David Calder (Polonius), James Laurenson (Ghost/Player King) and Ruth Negga (Ophelia).

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.

Duda and Bia, two long-term friends, haven't seen each other in 12 years. They both have a disturbing memory of Duda's 15th birthday party. The party ended in heartbreak and alcohol abuse. Now, in their 30s, the two meet again, in the same house where the party took place, to review their lives, facing all the twists and surprises from all the transformations they went through during the years they were apart.

Frank Chin's edgy story breaks down the stereotypes of Asian Americans and centers on San Francisco Chinatown tour operator Fred Eng. Eng hides his contempt for the tourists while dealing with the uproar that occurs within his oddball family after his dying father reveals he's hiding a second wife.

Having seen the Seisho, Siegfeld, and Seiran Play Exchange Program's "The Wartime of Farewells" through to success, Stella and the others have taken a big step forward as Stage Girls. Then, another exchange program begins. The name of their partner school is Romana Drama School. It is a newly established school that was founded five years ago. With the rumors of them snatching up excellent students from exchange programs, they possess a shady history. The play Romana has chosen is Oscar Wilde's "Salome", which was once banned due to its content being deemed radical and degenerate. To play Salome, one must steal others' brilliance and be a pure egoist with infinite desires. Appearing before the bewildered Stella is none other than Mikoto Aragami, her old rival from her time in Munich, Germany... "Stella Takachiho. I will steal everything from you, and play Salome."

What if Konstantin Gavrilovich, from Anton Chekkov's famous play, did not commit suicide and was murdered instead? And who did it? Boris Akunin's take on The Seagull unfolds as a comedic murder mystery.

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.

When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But he has enemies at home too. Famine threatens the city, the citizens’ hunger swells to an appetite for change, and on returning from the field Coriolanus must confront the march of realpolitik and the voice of an angry people.