Report on the National Theatre

Brunilda Haxhijaha         

UAL

Professional Practice

On Friday 18^th September, both drama and musical theatre groups went to visit backstage at the National Theatre.  The four theatres at the National Theatre are the Olivier Theatre, Lyttelton Theatre, Dorfman Theatre and the Temporary Theatre. We were lucky enough to be given the experience to tour all four of the theatres backstage which was magnificent. 

The Olivier Theatre was named after Laurence Olivier, who was the first director of the National Theatre. In addition, the Olivier is the largest of the three theatres at the National. It has one temporary theatre which will be taken down in 2017. The Olivier has a concentrated intimacy. It’s in a shape of a semi-circle with a total of 1160 seats. The architect specifically designed this theatre so the span of the seats matches their effective span of vision. He gained this inspiriting form the Ancient Greece. However, there have been a few minor adjustments because of the location in the area. 

The theatre was built so that it has an 118^oC peripheral vision which gives the actors a view of the audience within the compass of the eye. Moreover, the Olivier has a special feature that isn’t in any of the other theatres at the National. This feature is the tower where many objects or props that are heavy or difficult to transfer onto the stage and it can be replaced. During one performance, an actor was lifted from the tower and then required to drop to make it as believable as possible.

The Lyttelton Theatre was named after Oliver Lyttelton and Viscount Chandos. It is a facade theatre (the arch that separates a stage from the auditorium).  Also it is a small television style theatre, you can hear and see almost equally well from each of its 890 seats however, it does not have the excellence sight and acoustics like the Olivier theatre. At the time that we attended, technicians were adjusting the lights with the help of a cross formation with numbers 1-11 to help them to position the lights for the next performance. 

Another thing technicians can do is they can make change the stage and make it into an open-end stage; add a forestage or create and orchestra pit for musicians. The architect thought that the National theatre should have a classic design so he set the Lyttleton theatre to be his first and last design.

The Dorfman Theatre is a rectangular room and is the smallest theatre in the National which can hold up to 450 people. However, it has been reconstructed to have a greater capacity in the theatre including better and flexible seats that are more comfortable for the audience to sit on. For almost every production, the seating is different to fit the actor’s point of command. The seats can be folded away completely to become a flat floor.

From this experience, it was a pleasure and an amazing experience being able to tour the National Theatre.  Also, I've gained a lot more knowledge about the National Theatre that I didn't know before for example, the National Theatre was opened in 1976 and the Temporary Theatre is to be taken down in 2017. I would love to have the opportunity to come back and watch a play in each theatre.