Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce is one of the many plays highlighted tomorrow in the live television screening of National Theatre: 50 Years On Stage.
This special production celebrates the 50th anniversary of the National Theatre drawing on plays and actors who have been part of the National Theatre over the past five decades.
Bedroom Farce was the first Ayckbourn play to be performed at the National Theatre when it opened in 1977 and the venue has staged 10 Ayckbourn plays since 1977.
It is part of a once-in-a-lifetime production which will bring together some of theatre's greatest stars for the celebration including Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Derek Jacobi, Helen Mirren, Penelope Wilton, Maggie Smith, Simon Russell Beale, Michael Gambon and Benedict Cumberbatch among many others.
The National Theatre first opened its doors in 1963 at the Old Vic, under Laurence Olivier. Now, 800 productions later, a cast of 100 will perform live some of the most memorable, ground-breaking, controversial and best-loved scenes from a number of these plays including Hamlet, The History Boys, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jerry Springer the Opera, Guys and Dolls and War Horse.
The event will also combine rare glimpses from the archive alongside the live scenes directed by the outing Artistic Director Sir Nicholas Hytner.
The National Theatre: 50 Years On Stage can be seen on BBC2 at 9pm on Saturday 2 November.
