Arena: The National Theatre

The National Theatre was 50 in October 2013 and gave the BBC unprecedented access to make a two-part Arena documentary for BBC Four.

The films ask why it took until 1963 to create a National Theatre, and Dame Joan Plowright talks frankly to director Adam Low about the appointment of her husband, Laurence Olivier, the greatest actor of his generation, as the National’s first Artistic Director. The films uncover the life of the Theatre’s golden period at the Old Vic under the towering presence of Olivier, the construction of the controversial and now iconic Denys Lasdun building on the South Bank, and the turbulent succession of Peter Hall at the end of Olivier’s reign.

Through the personal anecdotes of those who wrote, directed and performed on the National’s many stages the films reveal the stories behind the greatest hit productions, from Olivier’s Othello to War Horse, under Artistic Directors Peter Hall, Richard Eyre, Trevor Nunn, and up to and including the latest great successes under Nicholas Hytner. Other contributors will include: Maggie Smith, Derek Jacobi, Alan Bennett, Judi Dench, Francis De la Tour, David Hare, Alan Ayckbourn, Adrian Lester and many others.

Director ADAM LOW

Check out The National Theatre at 50

 

Frankenstein: A Modern Myth

From Boris Karloff to Mel Brooks, Frankenstein has fired the imagination of generations of artists who have created their own interpretation of this Gothic masterpiece. Written by 19 year-old Mary Shelley nearly 200 years ago, this was the first and greatest myth of the modern scientific age.

Frankenstein: A Modern Myth looks at some of these depictions, including Danny Boyle’s sell-out hit at the National Theatre, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. The film throws a startlingly contemporary light on Mary Shelley’s story of alienation and scientific hubris, and its enduring appeal for admirers like cult film director John Waters.

A co-production with the National Theatre for Channel 4
Directed by Adam Low

 

The Dreams of William Golding

The film reveals, for the first time, the extraordinary life of one of the greatest english writers of the twentieth century. With unprecedented access to the unpublished diaries in which Golding recorded his dreams, the film penetrates deep into his private obsessions and insecurities. His daughter Judy and son David, both speak frankly about their father's demons, and the film follows Golding from the impoverished schoolmaster whose first novel, Lord of the Flies, was published when he was forty-three years old, to his winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1983.

Directed by Adam Low

A BBC Arena Film

 

Alan Bennett and The Habit of Art

Alan Bennett's hit play for the National Theatre is built around an imagined encounter between the poet W.H. Auden and the composer Benjamin Britten in Oxford in 1972. This documentary feature looks at the extraordinary relationship between England's finest poet and one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. Alan Bennett and director Nicholas Hytner talk for the first time about their own collaboration and reveal how The Habit of Art changed from a simple two-hander into a many-layered play-within-a-play.

Produced in association with the National Theatre, Arts Council England and More 4.
2010 RTS Programme Awards Winner for Arts

 

Arena: Harold Pinter – A Celebration

In June 2009, a group of Britain's leading actors gathered for one night only to perform a celebration of the work of Harold Pinter at the National Theatre. Arena: Harold Pinter – A Celebration is an extraordinary record of this unprecedented theatrical event.

Premiered in January 2010 at the BFI South Bank.

 

Produced in associtation with Judy Daish Associates and BBC Arena.

 

 

THE HUNT FOR MOBY-DICK
Taking Moby-Dick as his starting point, writer Philip Hoare goes in search
of the whale and the men who hunted it, from North Yorkshire to New England
and the Azores. In the process, he seeks the truth behind our
fascination with the whale - and perhaps discover the reality behind the
world's largest and yet most mysterious animals

The Strange Luck of V.S. Naipaul
Nobel Prize winning author, V.S. Naipaul gave us a rare opportunity to document his life and work.
A BBC Arena Film

Cab Driver and BBC4 Cab Night
Cab Driver goes far deeper than the average ten minute journey to reveal the soul of the London cab driver, along with five cabbies spans 70 years of life spent on the unforgiving streets of the capital.
A BBC Arena Film

Underground and BBC4 Tube Night
A celebration of life under London on the world's oldest subway system and an evening of Tube related programmes and films presented by Robert Elms.
A BBC Arena Film

I, Samurai
Andrew Graham-Dixon journeys into the art and soul of the Samurai.

For BBC4 and BBC2

 

Little Platform Big Stage and BBC4 Bus Night
A celebration of the British bus conductor and an evening of programmes to mark the end of the London Routemaster.
A BBC Arena Film

 

Dylan in the Madhouse
The story of Bob Dylan's first visit to London in 1962, during one of the coldest British winters on record, to appear in a BBC Play For Today.
Part of the Dylan Season at the BBC
A BBC Arena Film

Bob Dylan's Legends
Three short films about people who inspired songs by Dylan: Hurricane Carter, Woody Guthrie, Lenny Bruce.
Part of the Dylan Season at the BBC
A BBC Arena Film

Painting The Clouds: A Portrait Of Dennis Potter
An intimate look at the great television playwright with exclusive contributions from his sister and children. Christmas Day 2003, BBC 2
A BBC Arena Film

 

Potter On Television and Potter On Music
Documentary essays on Dennis Potter’s writings about television and his relationship to the medium and on Potter’s use of popular song in his work. Christmas Week 2003. BBC 4
A BBC Arena Film

Pinter At The BBC
These productions were broadcast in October 2002 as part of the Arena: Pinter at the BBC Season on BBC Four and BBC Radio. They included:

Arena: Harold Pinter, Part 1: The Room, Part 2: Celebration - Life and work of the playwright. 2002

One for the Road - A filmed version of the stage play written by and starring Harold Pinter in The Gate, Dublin production of his play.

The Room and Celebration - Pinter's first and most recent plays, directed at the LIncoln Center, New York by the author. 2002

Pinter and Politics - English PEN's 70th Birthday Tribute to Pinter with a platform performance of The Dumb Waiter featuring the author.