1. Rimini Protokoll: Uncanny Valley (Rimini Protokoll: Uncanny Valley)
We mostly think of robots as work machines, as efficient and precise executors of tasks. In German industry, they barely look like people, to avoid emotional complications. Unlike in Asia, where humanoid robots have already been developed for some time, for example for care-work or as sex partners. The external similarity to human beings makes the acceptance of machines easier. However, if the machine is too similar to a human, we begin to feel mistrust: what is human, what is machine? Japanese robotics researchers call this weird similarity the “uncanny valley”. For his play, Stefan Kaegi works with a writer and playwright for the first time: Thomas Melle allowed an animatronic double of himself to be made. This humanoid takes the author’s place and throws up questions: what does it mean for the original when the copy takes over? Does the original get to know himself better through his electronic double? Do the copy and his original compete or do they help each other?
2. National Theatre Live: Barber Shop Chronicles
For generations, African men have gathered in barber shops to discuss the world. These are places where the banter can be barbed and the truth is always telling. Follow along as we leap from a barber shop in Peckham to Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Accra over the course of a single day.
It has an average vote of 7.5 on TMDB.
3. National Theater Live: The Crucible
A witch hunt is beginning in Arthur Miller's captivating parable of power with Erin Doherty and Brendan Cowell . Raised to be seen but not heard, a group of young women in Salem suddenly find their words have an almighty power. As a climate of fear, vendetta and accusation spreads through the community, no one is safe from trial. Lindsey Turner directs this contemporary new staging, design by Tony award winner Es Devlin. Captured live from the Olivier stage of the national theater.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
4. Paradise Lost
Playwright Clifford Odets' portrait of the Great Depression unfolds in the modest two-family home of Leo and Clara Gordon as misfortune strikes them and the people running with them. Opened on Broadway in 1935, it became one of the Group Theatre's most controversial plays and Odets' favorite.
5. The Sound of Music Live!
The Sound of Music Live! is a television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway musical The Sound of Music, starring country singer Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp, performed and televised live from Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York. Meron felt that if the telecast were successful, the concept could become "another kind of entertainment that can exist on TV." By her request, Underwood's casting as Maria was personally endorsed by Julie Andrews, who starred in the 1965 film.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
6. National Theatre Live: Les Blancs
An African country teeters on the edge of civil war. A society prepares to drive out its colonial present and claim an independent future. Racial tensions boil over. Tshembe, returned home from England for his father’s funeral, finds himself in the eye of the storm.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
7. National Theatre Collection: Translations
Owen, the prodigal son, returns to rural Donegal from Dublin. With him are two British army officers. Their ambition is to create a map of the area, replacing the Gaelic names with English. It is an administrative act with radical consequences.
8. Death of a Salesman
Adaptation of Arthur Miller's play.
It has an average vote of 5.944 on TMDB.
9. Hemmet (Hemmet)
A satire of the welfare society showing the mechanical nature of the elderly care.
10. A Little Life (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam: Een Klein Leven)
In this worldwide bestseller, we watch four men over a period of more than thirty years: lawyer Jude, actor Willem, visual artist JB and architect Malcolm. The story is the history of their friendship, as they remain closely connected with each other during the rest of their lives. They develop their careers in the city where ambition and success are the indicators of a successful life: New York. Ivo van Hove adapts Hanya Yanagihara’s novel to theater and creates a penetrating performance.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
11. True West
A screenwriter gets conned out of selling a script to a Hollywood producer by his brother, who pitches his own idea for a movie. This video recording of the 1982 Steppenwolf Theatre Company production was later broadcast by PBS.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
12. Aniara (Aniara)
Musical production of the space epic Aniara.
13. Rent
The story of several friends in New York City facing financial poverty, homophobia, AIDS, and, of course, rent.
It has an average vote of 6.74 on TMDB.
14. National Theatre Collection: The Winter's Tale
Perdita is a brave, intelligent and much-loved girl, but something is not quite right in her world. Join her on a journey through magic and mayhem as she uncovers her story – the girl who was once lost and then found. This exciting new version of The Winter's Tale is the perfect introduction to Shakespeare for younger audiences. Warning: watch out for pursuing bears.
15. Hamilton
Presenting the tale of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, this filmed version of the original Broadway smash hit is the story of America then, told by America now.
It has an average vote of 8.197 on TMDB.
16. National Theatre Live: wonder.land
Inspired by Lewis Carroll's iconic story, this coming-of-age adventure explores the blurred boundaries between our online and offline lives. Combining live theatre and digital technology in dazzling new ways, wonder.land is brought to life on stage by an extraordinary creative team
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
17. National Theatre Live: Dara
1659 Mughal, India. Two brothers, Dara and Aurangzeb, are both heirs to the Muslim empire. Dara, the crown prince, has the love of the people – and of his emperor father – but younger brother Aurangzeb holds a different vision for India’s future. Now they fight ferociously for succession.
It has an average vote of 9 on TMDB.
18. The Fourposter
The story takes place entirely in a bedroom dominated by a couple's four-poster bed, taking them through fifty years of marriage, through happiness and sorrow, through good times and bad, through childbirth, parenthood, and the eventual sadness from the absence of their children. In the end, they face the future together, while remembering their past.
19. Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway
Set in New York City's gritty East Village, the revolutionary rock opera RENT tells the story of a group of bohemians struggling to live and pay their rent. "Measuring their lives in love," these starving artists strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
20. National Theatre Live: Vanya
Andrew Scott brings multiple characters to life in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, filmed live in West End, London. Hopes, dreams, and regrets are thrust into sharp focus in this one-man adaptation which explores the complexities of human emotions.
It has an average vote of 8.2 on TMDB.
