National Theatre announces Tony Kushner’s multi-award-winning Angels in America: Parts One and Two, is now available to stream worldwide as part of three new productions added to the National Theatre at Home platform
– Also launching today is Antigone, with Christopher Eccleston and Jodie Whittaker, and Behind the Beautiful Forevers with Meera Syal
Pictured: The cast of Angels in America
The National Theatre has today announced three new filmed productions have been added to its streaming service National Theatre at Home, including Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches and Angels in America Part Two: Perestroika, Marianne Elliott (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, War Horse)’s multi-award-winning production of Tony Kushner’s two-part masterpiece, with a cast including Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Denise Gough (Paula), Nathan Lane (American Crime Story), James McArdle (Ammonite), Susan Brown (It’s A Sin)and Russell Tovey (Years and Years).
The two-part play is set in America in the mid-1980s in the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, as New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell. Following a sold-out run in the Lyttelton theatre in 2017, the production transferred to Broadway for a sold-out 18 week run in 2018. The production won numerous awards including Best Revival at the Olivier and Tony Awards in 2018.
Also launching on the platform today is Polly Findlay’s 2012 thrilling contemporary staging of Antigone, with a cast including Christopher Eccleston (Thor, The A Word, Doctor Who) and Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who, Broadchurch), and National Theatre Director Rufus Norris’ 2014 production of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, written by David Hare and based on the book by Katherine Boo, with a cast including Meera Syal (The Split).
Rufus Norris, National Theatre Director, said: “Angels in America is one of those productions that stays with you always – a seminal piece of theatre that has a lasting impact. It’s a true honour to be able to bring Marianne Elliott’s remarkable, compelling production of Tony Kushner’s masterpiece to audiences around the world through National Theatre at Home. After sold-out runs at the NT and on Broadway, I’m delighted global audiences will finally get the chance to experience the astonishing performances of the original cast on the Lyttelton stage. I’m really pleased that this month also sees my 2014 production of David Hare’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers available on the platform, with the inimitable Meera Syal and a fantastic ensemble bringing to life Katherine Boo’s non-fiction story of a community in a Mumbai slum. And Jodie Whittaker and Christopher Eccleston in a modern-day Antigone – Polly Findlay’s electrifying 2012 production in the Olivier. In a continued period of isolation for so many people and while we’re unable to open our theatres, we hope National Theatre at Home can bring people together to collectively enjoy theatre from home.”
National Theatre at Home now has 16 productions to stream on the platform available at any time, including Medea with Helen McCrory and Michaela Coel, Mosquitoes with Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams, Phèdre with Helen Mirren and Dominic Cooper, the Young Vic’s Yerma with Billie Piper and Othello with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear.
All productions on National Theatre at Home are available with captions. Angels in America Parts One and Two will also be available with audio-description to support blind and partially sighted audiences worldwide from later this month. Seven other National Theatre at Home titles are currently available with audio-description: Othello, Donmar Warehouse’s Coriolanus, The Cherry Orchard, Amadeus, Julie, Phèdre and the Young Vic’s Yerma.
National Theatre at Home is available now at ntathome.com, with single titles available from £5.99 – £8.99, a monthly subscription for £9.99 or a yearly subscription for £99.99.
National Theatre at Home is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
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Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches and Angels in America Part Two: Perestroika
Filmed for National Theatre Live in the Lyttelton theatre in 2017, this multi-award-winning production of Tony Kushner’s two-part play is directed by Marianne Elliott (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, War Horse).
The cast includes Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Denise Gough (Paula), Nathan Lane (American Crime Story), James McArdle (Ammonite), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits), Susan Brown (It’s A Sin)and Russell Tovey (Years and Years).
America in the mid-1980s. In the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell.
Antigone
Filmed for the National Theatre’s Archive in the Olivier theatre in 2012, this is a new version of Sophocles’ Antigone by Don Taylor.
Creon is desperate to gain control over a city ravaged by civil war. He refuses to bury the body of Antigone’s rebellious brother. Outraged, she defies him, and Creon condemns Antigone to be buried alive.
Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) and Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who) feature in this thrilling contemporary staging of Antigone, directed by Polly Findlay (Beginning). The cast also includes Annabel Scholey (The Split), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Mary Poppins Returns), Luke Norris (Poldark), Luke Newberry (In the Flesh) and Jamie Ballard (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child).
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
The 2014 play by David Hare is based on the book by Katherine Boo, winner of the National Book Award for Non-Fiction, and directed by Rufus Norris, National Theatre Director.
In a makeshift slum beyond the luxury hotels surrounding Mumbai airport, dreams are threatened as one member of the community makes an accusation that will shatter the neighbourhood and lead to her own destruction.
Filmed for National Theatre Live in the Olivier theatre in 2014, the cast includes Meera Syal (Paddington 2), Anjli Mohindra (Bodyguard), Shane Zaza (Happy Valley), Anneika Rose (Line of Duty) and Anjana Vasan (Mogul Mowgli). Behind the Beautiful Forevers was produced in association with Scott Rudin.