National Theatre Collection

National Theatre Collection I & II present contemporary productions from award-winning actors and directors which re-imagine the classics in a way that reflects modern sensibilities and diversity. Recent productions re-imagine classic plays and literary works, updating them to broaden student perspectives through contemporary settings, diverse casts, and modern applications of social issues touching upon political, race, and class dynamics. Digitized archival materials such as photographs, scripts and costume designs and provide behind-the-scenes background and contextual information.

The video content includes 50 video performances, including:

• Literary adaptations, such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
• Greek classics such as a contemporary adaption of Medea by Euripides and Paradise, a new take on Greek legend Philoctetes performed by an all-female company
• Modern stagings of Shakespeare, such as Twelfth Night and Romeo & Juliet
• 20th-century classics such as Lorraine Hansberry’s Les Blancs and the Young Vic’s production of Lorca’s Yerma
• Comedies such as She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith and One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean
• Modern productions of classics such as All My Sons starring Sally Field and Bill Pullman, August Strindberg’s Miss Julie, The Threepenny Opera with a score by Kurt Weill, and Three Sisters set in 1960s Nigeria
• Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches and Part Two: Perestroika with Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane in Tony Kushner’s fantastical drama examining the AIDS crisis under a conservative Reagan administration

Coverage: productions range from 2010 to 2021