All Platforms start at 6pm, run for 45 minsutes and cost £3·50/£2·50
unless otherwise stated.
Les Dawson's Secret Notebooks
6th November
Lyttelton
Les Dawson was one of Britain's finest comedians. His widow Tracy
Dawson is joined by his friends and admirers to reminisce about this
much-loved man.
Booksigning
Peter Gill with Nicholas Wright
7th November
Lyttelton
Playwright, director and founder of the NT Studio, Peter Gill and
fellow playwright Nicholas Wright discuss Actors Speaking,
a newly-published collection of conversations with twelve remarkable
actors, and Gill's own attitude to modern verse-speaking.
Booksigning
First World War Poetry
9th November
Olivier
To complement War Horse's depiction of WWI, members of the
company read some of the beautiful and moving poetry inspired by the
conflict.
The Letters of Noël Coward
13th November
Lyttelton
Coward scholar Barry Day introduces a selection of readings from the
Master's insightful, witty and often surprisingly moving letters to
Shaw, Woolf, Churchill, Garbo and the Queen Mother amongst others.
Booksigning
Michael Billington and Nicholas Hytner
19th November
Olivier
Britain's longest-serving theatre critic, Michael Billington, comes
face-to face with Nicholas Hytner to talk about postwar Britain from
a theatrical perspective, as featured in Billington's new book, State
of the Nation.
Booksigning
Animals in War
22nd November
Olivier
The extraordinary contribution that animals have made to the war effort
is celebrated by Mike Baker of the equine charity The Brooke, Terry
Charman of the Imperial War Museum, and historian and writer Juliet
Gardiner.
Miriam Karlin: Some Sort of a Life
23rd November
Cottesloe
A pillar of the British acting establishment, lifelong socialist,
humanist and thoroughgoing maverick, Miriam Karlin talks to Richard
Digby Day about her fascinating life.
Booksigning
Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris on War Horse
26th November
Olivier
The National's Associate Directors talk about their first collaboration
together on the gripping tale of loyalty and bravery, War Horse.
Kwame Kwei-Armah and Jeremy Herrin on Statement of Regret
30th November
Cottesloe
Kwame Kwei-Armah, author of Elmina's Kitchen and Fix-Up,
discusses his new play with its director, Jeremy Herrin.
An Evening with Private Eye
4th December
Lyttelton
Ian Hislop, editor of the country's top satirical magazine Private
Eye, makes his annual appearance at the National with special
guests to look back on the events of 2007.
Booksigning
Katie Mitchell on Women of Troy
10th December
Lyttelton
Director Katie Mitchell talks about her new production of a seminal
anti-war play.
Julian Crouch: The Designer as Creator
13th December
Cottesloe
Marking the Linbury Biennial Prize, Julian Crouch - designer, writer,
puppet maker and co-director of Improbable - discusses with Pamela
Howard how designers can be the creators of a project, illustrated
with film excerpts.
Germaine Greer: Shakespeare's Wife
14th December
Lyttelton
Germaine Greer talks about the wife of the world's most celebrated
playwright, in her polemical, ground-breaking study of Elizabethan
England that reclaims Ann Hathaway's rightful place in history.
Booksigning
Daniel Rosenthal: 100 Shakespeare Films
17th December
Cottesloe
Daniel Rosenthal uses film clips to explore unorthodox screen Shakespeare
- from a gangster Macbeth and a sci-fi Tempest to a
high-school Shrew and a newsroom Much Ado.
Booksigning
Christopher Fry Centenary
18th December
Cottesloe
Fry was celebrated and performed in post-war Britain by Olivier, Gielgud,
Scofield, Edith Evans and Tyrone Power, until the 1950s pushed him
into relative obscurity. On what would have been his 100th birthday,
a look back at one of our last great verse playwrights.
Theatre Quiz
21st December
Lyttelton
Emma Freud takes charge of another quick-fire battle of theatrical
knowledge between two rival National Theatre companies. Hands on buzzers
please…
Oliver Taplin: Pots and Plays
11th January
Lyttelton
In his new book Pots and Plays, Oliver Taplin examines the
surprising relationship between Greek vase paintings and Greek tragedy,
offering fresh insights into why people striving to find meaning in
human suffering turn to poetry, theatre and art. Booksigning
New Views - Student-curated Platforms
26 November & 7 December 9.15pm (45 mins)
Cottesloe
Lively discussions following Chatroom/Citizenship to
explore and debate the issues raised by the plays. These post-show
Platforms will be curated by students aged 16-18, participating in
the New Views education programme supported by JPMorgan. They will
select the panel, the chairperson and the questions. Free to audience
members or £3.50/£2.50.
