Stella
On an island struck with a sleeping phenomenon, a rogue visitor falls for one of the inhabitants, not realising the personal danger it brings.
The lines between art and reality are blurred as a woman copes with an uninvited man from her past, and dangerous strangers in the present.
Jem
On the night of their 20th anniversary, Emelia discovers a deeply hidden secret about her husband’s identity through a pair of VR glasses, buried inside of him since before the two met.
Olivia
When the father of the family, Conrad, has to spend the night in hospital after a minor operation, the rest of the family gather to spend the evening together at home.
Hermine
Germany, 1944. Leyna, the 15-year old daughter of a white German mother and a black African father, meets Lutz, a compassionate member of the Hitler Youth whose father is a prominent Nazi soldier, and they form an unlikely connection in this quickly changing world.
Juliette
The "Devil's Evil Guitar" has been removed from the world by the supreme being, and rock and roll is a thing of the past in this newly puritanical environment. But what happens when the guitar is sent back by Vicious, an angel punk?
Hilary
Acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love, Arcadia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead) returns to the National Theatre with his highly-anticipated new play The Hard Problem, directed by Nicholas Hytner (Othello, Hamlet, One Man, Two Guvnors). Hilary, a young psychology researcher at a brainscience institute, is nursing a private sorrow and a troubling question at work, where psychology and biology meet. If there is nothing but matter, what is consciousness? This is ‘the hard problem’ which puts Hilary at odds with her colleagues who include her first mentor Spike, her boss Leo and the billionaire founder of the institute, Jerry. Is the day coming when the computer and the fMRI scanner will answer all the questions psychology can ask? Meanwhile Hilary needs a miracle, and she is prepared to pray for one.
Cordelia
An aged king decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, according to which of them is most eloquent in praising him. His favourite, Cordelia, says nothing. Simon Russell Beale, whose recent appearances at the National include Timon of Athens and Collaborators, takes the title role in Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Desdemona
The Moorish general Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his lieutenant Michael Cassio when in reality it is all part of the scheme of a bitter ensign named Iago.
