On the 2nd of November 2013 National Theatre celebrated it's 50th birthday with a very special performance called 50 Years on Stage.
The National Theatre first opened its doors in 1963 at the Old Vic under Laurence Olivier, work on the site where the National Theatre resides now (South Bank) started on 3 November 1969, The Queen officially opened the building on 25 October 1976. More then eight hundred productions later National Theatre marked it's fifth decade by remembering the best plays and amazing actors that graced it's stage.
50 Years on Stage is a true gem it consists of recreations of the most memorable scenes from the great plays that were staged by National Theatre, mixed with interviews with actors and some archive footage from the original performances.
Among the cast you have young actors whose stars are on the rise including: Benedict Cumberbatch, Dominic Cooper, Andrew Scott and Rory Kinnear and true legends of stage like: Derek Jacobi, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Joan Plowright, Deborah Findlay, Ralph Fiennes and Simon Russell Beale (who is going to play King Lear in forthcoming adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/king-lear).
Each segment is a treat, wonderfully directed and superbly acted which makes it really difficult to choose the best, I particularly enjoyed hilarious Ralph Fiennes in Pravda and brilliant and equally funny Sir Derek Jacobi in No Man's Land, the other favourite of mine was mesmerizing Helen Mirren as unfaithful and murderous wife in Mourning Becomes Electra.
I also absolutely loved the fragment from1964 production of Hay Fever starring Maggie Smith, I'm really desperate to watch the whole play if I can get my hands on it.
To find more information about 50 Years on Stage visit the official website
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/discover-more/welcome-to-the-national-theatre/50th-anniversary-website
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