National Theatre Celebrates 50th Anniversary Today

Today, October 22, 2013, marks the official 50th anniversary of The National Theatre of Great Britain. The National Theatre first opened its doors in 1963 at the Old Vic, under Laurence Olivier. 800 productions later, they are marking their half-century with a short season celebrating the remarkable people and plays that have made the NT one of the most cherished and creative of great British institutions.

The 50th anniversary celebration "LIVE FROM The National Theatre: 50 YEARS ON STAGE," directed by Nicholas Hytner, will be broadcast by National Theatre Live to cinemas internationally on Saturday, November 2, 2013 (with many encore dates in U.S. cities). >From Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to The History Boys, from Antony and Cleopatra to Angels in America, from Guys and Dolls to London Road, this will be a thrilling evening of live performance and rare glimpses from the archive, featuring many of the most celebrated actors who have performed on their stages over the past five decades.

To mark its 50th anniversary, The National Theatre has released an extensive collection of content from a selection of fifty seminal productions in a new iPad app "50 YEARS OF The National Theatre" available for free download in the app store. Featuring exclusive content from The National Theatre's archive, the app charts the history of The National Theatre through its stage productions from The Recruiting Officer in 1963 through to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Effect in 2012.

More on "LIVE FROM The National Theatre: 50 YEARS ON STAGE" Broadcast on November 2

From Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to The History Boys, from Antony and Cleopatra to Angels in America, from Guys and Dolls to London Road - join us for a thrilling evening of live performance and rare glimpses from the archive, featuring many of the most celebrated actors who have performed on our stages over the past five decades and directed by Nicholas Hytner.

This once-in-a-lifetime performance features cast of 100 performing live on stage, including Olivier Award winner Roger Allam, Olivier Award winner Simon Russell Beale, Tony Award winner James Corden, Olivier Award winner Benedict Cumberbatch, Tony and Olivier Award winner Frances de la Tour, Tony and Academy Award winner Judi Dench, International Emmy Award winner Christopher Eccleston, Tony Award winner and Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes, Olivier Award winner Michael Gambon, Tony and Olivier Award winner Derek Jacobi, Olivier Award winner Alex Jennings, Olivier Award winner Rory Kinnear, Olivier Award winner Adrian Lester, BAFTA award winner Anna Maxwell Martin, Academy, Emmy, Golden Globe & Olivier Award winner Helen Mirren, Olivier Award winner AnDrew Scott, Tony & Olivier Award winner Maggie Smith and Olivier Award nominee Penelope Wilton, with more to be announced soon.

More on "50 YEARS OF The National Theatre" iPad app, Now Available for Free Download:

The app features:

· An interactive timeline of production posters;

· Hundreds of production and rehearsal photographs, costume illustrations, set designs, technical images, annotated scripts and other content from a selection of National Theatre productions;

· Exclusive video interviews with Philip Pullman, Mark Haddon, Simon Stephens, Bunny Christie, and more;

· An overall introduction and an introduction to each production from the playwright Nicholas Wright;

· Exclusive archive recordings from the stage adaptation of His Dark Materials;

· Cast and Creative lists from all 50 productions

The productions featured in the app include The Recruiting Officer (1963), Uncle Vanya (1963), Othello (1964), The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1967), The Dance of Death (1967), The National Health (1969), Long Day's Journey Into Night (1971), The Front Page (1972), No Man's Land (1975), Bedroom Farce (1977), Betrayal (1978), Plenty (1978), Amadeus (1979), The Life of Galileo (1980), The Romans in Britain (1980), The Oresteia (1981), Guys and Dolls (1982), Glengarry Glen Ross (1983), Tales from Hollywood (1983), The Mysteries (1985), Pravda (1985), Antony and Cleopatra (1987), The Shaughraun (1988), Fuente Ovejuna (1989), Racing Demon (1990), Richard III (1990), The Wind in the Willows (1990), The Madness of George III (1991), An Inspector Calls (1992), Angels in America (1992), Arcadia (1993), Richard II (1995), Stanley (1996), Closer (1997), King Lear (1997), Copenhagen (1998), Oklahoma! (1998), blue/orange (2000), Hamlet (2000), Elmina's Kitchen (2003), His Dark Materials (2003), Jerry Springer - The Opera (2003), Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (2004), Stuff Happens (2004), The History Boys (2004), Waves (2006), War Horse (2007), The White Guard (2010), London Road (2011), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2012), The Effect (2012)

Encore dates and cinema locations are added frequently. For listings and to learn more and purchase tickets, visit www.ntlive.com.