The new National Theatre at Home series kicked off with the award-winning production of One Man, Two Guvnors. We’ve looked back at the National Theatre’s YouTube archive to pull out some great videos to support the show and your students.
Interview with James Corden.
James Corden’s ‘high point’ of his career
James Corden talks about One Man, Two Guvnors being the ‘high point’ of his career.
Commedia dell’Arte.
The National Theatre has put together a host of great videos to explore Commedia dell’Arte. One Man, Two Guvnors is an adaptation of a Commedia classic – The Servant of Two Masters.
Commedia dell’Arte roughly translates to ‘comedy through the art/craft of improvisation’. The form originated in Italy during the 16th Century is regarded as Europe’s first professional theatre.
Themes and devices used in One Man, Two Guvnors includes improvisation, the use music, song & dance and its stand-out comic set-pieces.
The World of Commedia dell’Arte
This film is an introduction to the world of Commedia dell’Arte. Learn about all of the stock characters in Commedia, the masked and the unmasked, their status, their physical shapes and their characters. This film was made from a two day workshop with young actors held at the National Theatre with Didi Hopkins from Commediaworks.
Commedia dell’Arte: A Historical Overview
A short film giving an overview of the history of Commedia dell’Arte. In this film Didi Hopkins from commediaworks describes the influence of commedia dell’arte on modern theatre and other dramatic formats such as film and television.
Commedia dell’Arte: Language
Commedia companies toured outside of Italy, to France and Spain, and so Gromalot evolved, a nonsensical babble speak that carried the truthful emotional intention of a character. This language meant that audiences were able to understand the action on the stage and enabled commedia dell’arte to become an international type of theatre.
Commedia dell’Arte: Emotion
This film looks at ways of physicalising the primary emotions: joy, grief, fear, anger, surprise, love, laughter and how to use this in a performance rather than ‘acting’.
Commedia dell’Arte: Character Shape
Each commedia character has a specific physical shape and way of moving. This film was made over a two-day workshop with a group of young actors and lead by Didi Hopkins.
National Theatre At Home
National Theatre At Home is a way of seeing some of the NT’s famous work from the comfort of our homes, each Thursday from 7pm.
The series kicked off with their hit production of One Man, Two Guvnors. They continued with a range of productions including Jane Eyre, Treasure Island, Frankenstein, Barber Shop Chronicles and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Currently available is the Nottingham Playhouse production of Alan Bennett’s The Madness of George III. Small Island, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Les Blancs, The Deep Blue Sea and Amadeus has also been announced
Read more about the National Theatre At Home Productions.
How to watch One Man, Two Guvnors
The National Theatre’s production of One Man, Two Guvnors is no longer available to watch as part of National Theatre At Home. However, schools can still watch the full show through the National Theatre Collection service.
Find out more about the National Theatre Collection.
Find out more about the National Theatre’s Educational Offering
As well as the National Theatre Collection, the NT offers a wide range of education packs, educational videos and other resources that you can use for free.
See our complete guide on the National Theatre’s Education Offering.
Want more shows you can watch online for free?
See our round up of 28 Shows You Can Watch Online for free! Including Bristol Old Vic, Chichester Festival Theatre, National Theatre, The Old Vic and more!
