Editing Royal National Theatre (section)

=== Theatres ===
The National Theatre building houses three separate theatres. Additionally, a temporary structure was added in April 2013 and closed in May 2016.

====Olivier Theatre====
Named after the theatre's first artistic director, [[Laurence Olivier]], this is the main auditorium. Modelled on the [[Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus]], it has an open stage and a fan-shaped audience seating area for 1160 people. A "drum revolve" (a five-storey revolving stage section) extends eight metres beneath the stage and is operated by a single staff member. The drum has two rim revolves and two platforms, each of which can carry ten tonnes, facilitating dramatic and fluid scenery changes. Its design ensures that the audience's view is not blocked from any seat, and that the audience is fully visible to actors from the stage's centre. Designed in the 1970s by [[Richard Brett (theatre consultant)|Richard Brett]] and [[Richard Pilbrow]] and a prototype of current technology, the drum revolve and a multiple "sky hook" flying system were initially very controversial and required ten years to commission, but seem to have fulfilled the objective of functionality with high productivity.<ref>[http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/8047/the-drum-revolve/history-of-the-drum-revolve.html History of the Drum Revolve] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230024930/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/8047/the-drum-revolve/history-of-the-drum-revolve.html |date=30 December 2010 }} at National Theatre website</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Backstage: How the National reinvented theatre |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/backstage-how-the-national-reinvented-theatre |access-date=28 December 2024 |publisher=The Stage |date=24 October 2016}}</ref>

====Lyttelton Theatre====
Named after [[Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos|Oliver Lyttelton]], the National Theatre's first board chairman, it can accommodate an audience of 890 and has a [[proscenium arch]] design with flat side walls and seating arranged in long straight rows on two raked tiers. The proscenium arch is adjustable in width and there is an orchestra pit lift. The Lyttelton has been criticised for its lack of warmth, partly arising from the fact that the upper level audience is invisible to those on the lower level (and, of course, vice versa).<ref>{{cite web |title=Royal National Theatre |url=https://database.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/theatres/show/3149-royal-national-theatre |website=The Theatres Trust |access-date=28 December 2024 |ref=3149}}</ref>

====Dorfman Theatre====
Named after [[Lloyd Dorfman]] (philanthropist and chairman of [[Travelex Group]]),<ref>{{cite news|author=Brown, Mark |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/oct/28/national-theatre-dorfman-donation |title=National Theatre's Cottesloe venue to be renamed after £10m donor|access-date= 3 October 2022|work=[[The Guardian]]|date= 28 October 2010}}</ref> the Dorfman is "the smallest, the barest and the most potentially flexible of the National Theatre houses . . . a dark-walled room" with an audience capacity of 400.<ref name="Dorfman">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/venue/dorfman-theatre |title= Dorfman Theatre|website= Royal National Theatre|access-date = 3 October 2022}}</ref> It was formerly known as the Cottesloe Theatre (named after [[John Fremantle, 4th Baron Cottesloe|Lord Cottesloe]], Chairman of the South Bank Theatre Board). The Cottesloe was the smallest of the National's three theatres and, but for pressure exerted by [[Peter Brook]] and [[Peter Hall (director)|Peter Hall]], might easily have been omitted. It sits below the stage of the Olivier in a space initially planned for a third theatre which had been cancelled earlier in the design process.  It was designed by [[Iain Mackintosh]] and Theatre Projects Consultants.<ref>{{cite news |title=Backstage: How the National reinvented theatre |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/backstage-how-the-national-reinvented-theatre |access-date=28 December 2024 |publisher=The Stage |date=24 October 2016}}</ref> It was the most influential of the modern 'courtyard' theatres, with its extremely simple, rectangular form and the audience on three shallow tiers, it could be readily adapted to proscenium, end stage, thrust, in-the-round, traverse or promenade form. The Cottesloe closed its doors on 23 February 2013 to undergo major refurbishment and reopened as the Dorfman Theatre on 30 September 2014 as part of the National's [[#NT Future|NT Future]] redevelopment.<ref>{{cite web |title=Royal National Theatre |url=https://database.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/theatres/show/3149-royal-national-theatre |website=The Theatres Trust |access-date=28 December 2024 |ref=3149}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Why small is now big in theatreland |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21967604 |access-date=28 December 2024 |publisher=BBC |date=1 April 2013}}</ref>

The enhanced<ref name="Dorfman" /> theatre reopened in September 2014 under its new name.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/nationals-dorfman-theatre-to-open-with-fatboy-slim-musical|title=National's Dorfman Theatre to open with Fatboy Slim musical|work= [[The Stage]]|date = 2 July 2014|access-date = 3 October 2022|author= Quinn, Michael}}</ref>

====Temporary Theatre====
The Temporary Theatre, formerly called The Shed, was a 225-seat black box theatre which opened in April 2013 and featured new works; it closed in May 2016, following the refurbishment of the Dorfman Theatre.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2016/national-theatre-reveal-closing-date-for-temporary-theatre/|title=National Theatre reveals closing date for Temporary Theatre |date=19 April 2016|work=The Stage}}</ref>

In 2015 British artist [[Carl Randall]] painted a portrait of actress [[Katie Leung]] standing in front of The Shed as part of the artist's "London Portraits" series, where he asked various cultural figures to choose a place in London for the backdrop of their portraits.<ref name="London Portraits by Carl Randall - Royal Drawing School">{{citation | title= Carl Randall's "London Portraits" on display in National Portrait Gallery. | publisher= The Royal Drawing School, London | year= 2016 | url= http://rdsalumni.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/carl-randalls-london-portraits-on.html | access-date= 20 March 2021 }}</ref><ref name="Actress Katie Leung and The Shed">{{citation | title= Actress Katie Leung and The Shed. | publisher= Carl Randall's artist website | year= 2016 | url= http://www.carlrandall.com/london-portraits/actress-katie-leung-portrait | access-date= 20 March 2021 | archive-date= 20 March 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210320102305/https://www.carlrandall.com/london-portraits/ | url-status= live }}</ref> Leung explained she chose The Shed as her backdrop because she performed there in the 2013 play ''The World of Extreme Happiness'', and also because "... it's a temporary theatre, it's not permanent, and I wanted to make it permanent in the portrait".<ref name="London Portraits - Video Documentary">{{citation | title= Carl Randall's London Portraits – Video Documentary. | publisher= The Daiwa Anglo Japanese Foundation London | year= 2016 | url= http://www.dajf.org.uk/news/carl-randalls-london-portraits-video-documentary | access-date= 20 March 2021 | archive-date= 10 August 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160810090712/http://www.dajf.org.uk/news/carl-randalls-london-portraits-video-documentary | url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="London Portraits - Carl Randall">{{citation | title= London Portraits – Video Documentary. | publisher= Youtube | year= 2016 | url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNdLUQVhAzg | access-date= 20 March 2021 | archive-date= 20 March 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210320102542/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNdLUQVhAzg | url-status= live }}</ref>[[File:19 4 2018 Royal National Theatre axis view.jpg|thumb|Axis view of Royal National Theatre to Olivier Theatre fly tower]]