National Theatre Review

Follies - Fantastic performance and staging. Excellent Show

Stunning location for London's performing arts. Three adjoining, although contrasting, theatres are used to present new productions of both classic and modern plays. Ideal setting by the river Thames, views by night from the upper-floor balconies overlooking the river are outstanding.

Fantastic place. Great performance of 'I'm not running '

What a fantastic venue. I was there to see Hadestown with my fiance. The production was the most incredible thing either of us had ever seen on stage.
The actors were all phenomenal and brought emotion and pain and longing to all of the songs. The music was powerful and well done on stage. The lighting and most importantly the stage itself were unlike anything we'd ever seen and I can't stop listening to the soundtrack and recommending the show to everyone I know. It is a must see!

I went to NT for the first time with my sister, all the previous times I've only gone to see the shops or use their toilet facilities. We sat in the stall at the edge (for Lehman Brothers) and the actors, the show, sound system, and staging set up were all phenomenon. I highly recommend this theatre.

Love this place

Would have received five stars but Vozhd was out the day I went over to his place for a cup 'o' cha an' a chat.

It's truly my favourite theatre. Relaxed and spacious. Fab actors in Peter Gynt

Amazing place friendly staff and a.stunning building went for a conference all facilities were in place. Car park definitely good place to park

A haven of theatrical excellence in an atmospheric concrete wrapping. Each auditorium creates its own special atmosphere. The intimate Dorfman is probably my favourite, but the late, lamented temporary theatre was a magnificent experience - like fringe at its best.

Excellent performances..
"Small island '' x

I've just seen the wonderful play Small Island by Andrea Levy. The National Theatre is great as they have seats that are a good range of prices.

Saw Master Harold and the boys. Show was well played... but the story was...meh.

The 3 course meal at the House restaurant was great and good value. The play "Julie" was good but a little too much of this short play had loud party music where perhaps only 1 min of the music would have been enough to inform the audience that a party was going on!

I love this place! Nice, cozy, has an amazing bookshop that you can just grab plays from have a read and put them back, the theatre is also amazing. A nice place to both to see a play and to spend a nice day at a cozy environment.

Multiple theaters with absolutely world-class performances where I have spent many the lovely afternoon and evening.

Cannot say enough wonderful things- every visit is a trip highlight! Thank you!

Cosy place to be. I usually go there to study and use free WiFi.

As always a great production (Antony and Cleopatra) in a world class theatre

I love the National Theatre, there's not a bad seat in the Olivier Theatre and seats are pretty comfy. We used the Friday Rush deals, which are amazing value, to see Anthony and Cleopatra. We enjoyed the show but felt the last half hour really dragged. Pre-ordering drinks via the app made the interval much more relaxing but, as always, there weren't badly enough ladies loos so the queue was horrendous.

Opened in 1976. Consistently delivering
spectacular works. A British institution.
Choice of theatres, Olivier, Lyttleton and
Dorfman, adds to its creativity and quality.
Live performances are broadcast to many
countries and thousands of venues. Top
actors. Great cafe. All part of the joys of
the South Bank. Best to book.

Pillarless and well tiered so great view from everywhere

Consistently high quality productions a very nice space

Beautiful building and a superb theatre venue. Wheel chair accessible as lifts are provided to the various theatres within. Gift shop has interesting and varied items for sale.

The UK'S National theatre with three stages. See website for productions. It has bars, a restaurant, terraces overlooking the Thames, a great venue,whether you want to see a production or not.

Fantastic. Had a great time here with the kids. Always so much going on.

Alternative theatre. Great view, loved the higher step up seating.

Great play. Restaurant bar - OK. Pricey. Wine on tap? No beer on tap? Maybe original but.....

Fantastic building, great show (that will depend what you're seeing)

Very mixed
On one hand it's an over rated pretentious load of.....
On the other, sometimes it can be really good.

Very neat place. I haven't watched anything in specifically in the National Theatre, but it is a very cool looking building and it has a very comfortable inside.

Returned to the NT after 10yrs. Great experience. Went to watch the Lehman Trilogy - everything was awesome. The views, the play, the staff and hospitality.

Hi it was great the tour was very informative, love the place

The bar here is a great alternative to the often crowded local pubs. Lots of seats indoors and outdoors and reasonably priced drinks too. You don't have to see a show to drink here.

3 theatres on one site. Olivier Theatre is largest and has a thrust stage and revolve. Lyttleton has a proscenium stage and revolve. Dorfman is smallest and is flexible in seating/staging arrangements.
All theatres are fully accessible and have limited wheelchair positions in the auditoriums.
Eating and drinking facilities throughout the building and many restaurants nearby on the Southbank.
Nearest Underground stations at Waterloo (also mainline) and Embankment. Buses stop on South side of Waterloo Bridge.

Didn't wait a long time in line for my ticket, the bar has a large variety of drinks and they have quite reasonable prices. "The imposter" was an amazing play, everyone who wants to see it, should go.

We flew from both Georgia and Minnesota to see Cate Blanchett and Stephen Dillane perform and were extremely pleased.

Great building, welcoming, knowledge staff, and usually great productions

Amazing performances spaces, and an extraordinary production of Brian Friel's Translations.

I went to see 'War Horse ' for the second time with my son and 2 friends.
It was a lovely evening. The theatre was fully packed and it was an enjoyable evening.
National Theatre is a lovely venue and is very accessible to members of the public who use a wheel chair .

Wonderful theatre. Love their online seating plan too which is very useful.

The national theatre, as a theatre is quite a venue. On the south bank of the Thames, it's easy to find and access and looks great from the exterior. On the interior, it's quite an aesthetic. I can't say much about the plays, as it depends on what you watch, but most are of quite a good quality, some being excellent.

Stunning brutalist building south of the river. This is a massive performance space in London with many theatres. The service here is always helpful and friendly, and some of the best shows in the world are performed here! Highly recommend catching a show here, or just visiting the space if you're in the area.

Must visit place in London, has an impressive collection of paintings

I love NT, it's always an enjoyable experience watching a play here.

National theatre is a very nice place and have a great view from the river side terrace

Magnificent, emotion filled production of Sondheim's Follies!

The first time l've seen anything performed at the Olivier - what a fantastic space - and a truly inspired set for a wonderful play, 'Translations'. So interesting to have the acting space just a small island surrounded by 'landscape'. I was completely overwhelmed by the experience. Thank you.

Amazing venue for unique and interesting plays. Curate a really interesting programme of shows, with a range of theatres for different types of production from intimate art pieces to large international touring shows with star casts. The tour is really worth doing to see behind the scenes and understand the history of the place as well as how the magic makes it to stage.

Great venue. Fabulous location. Keep eyes peeled for reasonable price tickets. Plays range from the fantastic to the okay. Read reviews to ensure you pay the right price.

So much to see and do, great exhibition on how they do some of their shows

We had an amazing visit to the National Theatre, I love the book shop. Thank you!

This is an absolutely wonderful venue staffed by plenty of friendly, well trained people. The surprisingly beautiful brutalist design has been somewhat tempered by modern improvements . The lobby has been extended with glass walls, balconies improved and the overall design tinkered with to make it more accessible and usable. We were in the Olivier Theatre and it really is a brilliant performance space. The acoustics are very good and it s so well designed that I doubt there is a truly bad seat in the house. There are plenty of entrances and easy access to restrooms and refreshments. If you haven t been to the National, you simply must go.

Just watched the Follies in Olivier Theatre. Great show and very good seats for a fraction of the price one would pay in the West end. Small theatre so any seat has great view to the stage

We saw Anthony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre. The stage was impressive, a grand design that quickly changed from scene to scene. One moment, it's Cleopatra's palace and the next you're in Rome and then a battlefield. Beautiful work by the national theatre.

I watched War Horse here a few months ago. Oh my goodness it was amazing, the horse s apparel was great, the actors amazing; exactly like the book! Definitely recommend! During the interval, it gets too busy and there isn t really anywhere to buy food. Other than that, I loved the show and the National Theatre s workshops are brilliant!

Great little theatre, big enough to fit a good crowd yet small enough to be intimate and close to the action.

St. George and the Dragon was so "Wow"!!! I would recommend this play to every teacher to visit with pupils. It's a "must see" for everyone with a sense for the difficulties of our times. I also took a backstage tour at the theatre and it was highly interesting.

One of the best place to visit, to learned, highly recommend it

There are always a variety of performances available to see over 3 separate stages at reasonable prices.

Different plays come ever 3-4 months, a variety of revivals of excellent established works and cutting edge productions from new writers.

I have seen numerous shows here which have gone on to the west end and international success.

If your going to the theatre, may as well go to the best

Still a fabulous venue after so many years. Love it.

Great clear views of stage from all areas. Comfortable tiered seats, modern (though plain) theatre building. Always many interesting plays.

Thank goodness there are still a few oases of sanity left. My only regret is that they have started imposing charges for parking motorbikes. There was always plenty of room for then when it was free, and I expect most just park elsewhere now.

Good experience for a theatre play. The Cafe and bookshop are helpful for the waiting time. There is always so long queue at the lady s room on the ground floor, but the one of upstairs is always empty. So it s good idea to use that one when it s quite busy on the ground floor

A more serious and quiet sister to Royal Festival Hall next door

THE premiere artistic theater company in London and one of the best in the world. Its rare to see plays produced at this quality and on this scale. If you're a theater lover, you will love whatever you see here.

It's the national, hard to explain but I think its amazing.

a must do experience in London, heaped with tradition and wonderful performances

Love the different levels and pockets of space within the building you can find to work/study/converse and the range of plays are diverse enough to entertain and give you experience with many different social crowds of friends.

Fantastic venue. Amazing shows and great range of prices. Magical atmosphere.

A great place to experience a range of theatre. Opportunities to get cheaper seats with different schemes. Attracts top performers, companies and theatre makers. Don't think I've ever seen anything 'bad' at the national, though plenty of surprises and great discoveries. Inside the hardly auspicious concrete shell is a place of magic... And some nice roof gardens.

Great place to hang our or go to one of the three theatres on site.

No queues to collect tickets. Brilliant stage. We saw Macbeth and view was fantastic. It didn't seem like there would bea problem wherever you sat. Sweets were ridiculously expensive as you would imagine so bring your own if going with children.

What a fantastic venue! There were staff everywhere to help direct us to the right place, toilets everywhere, the theatres were perfect and the stage was very modern. Loved it!

Just seen Anthony and Cleo here, 3.5 hours. Great performance wonderful stage sets and fantastic music.

Modern theatre, good view, enough leg room. There's a big shop here you can buy some scripts of plays or any books about theatre.

They stage amazing first class productions. There was a great view from my relatively cheap seat. There was good legroom too which is very important to me as I have restricted mobility, but not bad enough to be considered disabled.

Very different theatre productions on at all the theatres on the south bank, all just been upgraded so very modern surroundings.

Went to see Follies and it was phenomenal. It took place on the Olivier Theatre and it is a beautiful theatre. Highly recommend both the venue and the musical!

Only visited once but found it very comfortable especially if you want somewhere to work on personal projects in an arts oriented space.

Iconic brutalist architecture. Top notch shows and excellent eateries for all budgets. What's not to like? Supporting this impressive slice of UK culture particularly during this slightly paranoid phase we're going through is highly recommended.