The National Theatre: five secrets from behind the scenes

As part of the National Theatre’s wonderful backstage tours, we went behind-the-scenes, revealing a load of cool secrets about the venue in the process! The team working on the tours not only provided oodles of information about the building and its history, but also individual productions and their little tidbits and unique details.

You can also watch a video of the event below.

1. The Dorfman Theatre 

The smallest space, the Dorfman, had originally been destined to be an orchestral rehearsal space when the founders of the National Theatre had hoped for the venue to have its own orchestra. However, it was reconfigured into a dynamic space originally called the Cottesloe. It has a very small lighting rig of only 24 lights, as productions brought in so many of their own lights instead.

2. The Lyttelton Theatre

The Lyttelton has one of the widest proscenium arches in London, and this is a dynamic proscenium arch, so can be subtly changed depending on the show. It also has a gigantic wing space that’s shaped like a big L, so that allows full sets to be moved in and out quickly.

3. The Olivier Theatre 

The biggest space is the Olivier stage, configured so that looking out from the stage, your field of vision is 118 degrees, which encompasses your entire peripheral vision. Given the sense of scale, a lot of musicals and Shakespearean work has been performed here. It also has a gigantic and unique revolving drum housed underneath the stage, unlike any other device in the UK.

4. Backstage at the National Theatre 

Behind the scenes the National Theatre is a giant maze, so much so that when Julie Walters was performing, she was so scared of walking out onto the wrong stage, that she asked a company manager to lay tape along the floor to the wings of the right location. The venue was originally designed by famed architect Denys Lasdun, who normally oversaw social housing and university buildings – the National is the only theatre he ever worked on.

5. The production workshops 

The National’s cavernous workshops are a treasure trove of little easter eggs for theatre fans. You can see the remains of Alice, who was actually an unused horse from War Horse and was meant to be Joey’s mum. She sadly never made it to the final show. Fifty per cent of new sets built at the National are based on material from old sets, with 66 per cent of current sets destined to be used again.

@whatsonstage

👀 secrets backstage at @National Theatre! Gifted #NationalTheatre #London #Theatre #TheatreTok

♬ original sound – WhatsOnStage

The 75-minute tour takes place at 5pm every day from Monday to Friday, with midday tours on Saturdays. They can be booked via the National Theatre website.