Acting

Watch a video diary from One Man, Two Guvnors to see improvisation within the rehearsal room.

What is a devised media production?

Director Howard Davies and actors Charity Wakefield, Mark Bonnar and Zoe Wanamaker talk about method and processes of acting for Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.

Improvisation is a useful tool in the rehearsal room. Daniel Rigby takes us into the rehearsal room for One Man Two Gunvors.

In one of Katie Mitchell's multimedia productions, one actor may find itself representing the voice of one character, the head of a second and the arm of a third. Meanwhile, a fourth actor might be manipulating lights and a video camera to relay the image to projection screens.

Each script is unique, like an Elizabethan cue script

Voice work on Ophelia’s speech.

Deconstructing the Friar’s speech in Much Ado About Nothing

Embodying prose from Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan

Voice coach Jeannette Nelson works on Hamlet speech with actor Ferdinand Kingsley.

Rory Kinnear is interviewed by Matt Wolf. They discuss Kinnear's approach to playing the historic part.

What does an actor do before the curtain goes up?

Director Nicholas Hytner and actor Lesley Manville talk about the job of the stage actor.

Simon Russell Beale, Lesley Manville and Roger Allam talk describe performing on the Olivier stage.

Simon Russell Beale, Lesley Manville and Roger Allam talk about acting on the Lyttelton stage - a traditional proscenium arch theatre.

Simon Russell Beale and Roger Allam talk about acting on the Cottesloe stage - small intimate theatre.

Simon Russell Beale talks about why actors rehearse for the length of time that they do and what happens during that process.

Simon Russell Beale talks about the benefits of working as part of a company.

How do you keep a role fresh?

Lesley Manville talks about the dressing rooms at the National.