The National Theatre has today announced that the Death of England trilogy, written by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams – which includes Death of England, Death of England: Delroy and Death of England: Face to Face – will be available to stream for the first time on National Theatre at Home, in celebration of the organisation’s first nomination at the British Academy Television Awards for Death of England: Face to Face, filmed at the National Theatre over lockdown in 2021.
Death of England: Face to Face will be available on National Theatre at Home from Thursday 5 May, with the full trilogy available to watch from Thursday 12 May.
Written by Clint Dyer (Get Up Stand Up!), Deputy Artistic Director of the National Theatre, and Roy Williams (Sucker Punch), and directed by Dyer, this will be the first time the trilogy will be available to watch together with each part filmed in a different theatre at the NT.
Death of England opened in the Dorfman theatre in 2020, with Rafe Spall as Michael; Death of England: Delroy with Michael Balogun re-opened the National Theatre after the first covid closure in 2020 and was filmed in the round in the Olivier theatre. Death of England: Face to Face sees Michael (Neil Maskell) and Delroy (Giles Terera) come together for the standalone feature film, filmed in the NT’s Lyttelton theatre while the theatre was closed for live performances during lockdown. Death of England: Face to Face has been nominated in the Single Drama category of this year’s BAFTA TV awards.
National Theatre at Home is available now at ntathome.com, the Death of England trilogy available to rent from £5.99 – £7.99, a monthly subscription for £9.99 or a yearly subscription for £99.99. Gift subscriptions are available for anything between 1 month and 12 months.
Each of the three new titles will be available with captions from 12 May, with all titles available with Audio Description from 19 May.
National Theatre at Home is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
National Theatre at Home is also supported by The Linbury Trust.
The new additions to NT at Home are:
Death of England
A family in mourning. A man in crisis.
After the death of his dad, Michael is powerless and angry.
In a state of heartbreak, he confronts the difficult truths about his father’s legacy and the country that shaped him.
At the funeral, unannounced and unprepared, Michael decides it is time to speak.
Rafe Spall (Hedda Gabler, Black Mirror) performs this fearless one-person play which asks explosive and enduring questions about identity, race and class in Britain.
It is written by Roy Williams (Sucker Punch, Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads) and Clint Dyer (The Happy Tragedy of Being Woke), who becomes the first black British artist to have performed, written and directed a full-scale production at the National Theatre.
Recording from the National Theatre Archive.
Available at least until 13 May 2023.
Death of England: Delroy
Michael Balogun plays Delroy with ‘firecracker energy’ (★★★★ Evening Standard) in this new work by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams, which explores a Black working-class man searching for truth and confronting his relationship with Great Britain.
Following national Coronovirus measures, Death of England: Delroy was forced to close . The production was filmed on the press night, which was also its closing performance.
A production from the National Theatre.
Available at least until 13 May 2023.
Death of England: Face to Face
January 2021. Britain is locked down, divided and facing some difficult truths. Old friends Michael and Delroy are dealing with issues much closer to home.
Tensions are running high. During an explosive afternoon in Delroy’s East London flat, the pair are forced to confront their relationship with their country – and with each other.
Neil Maskell (Peaky Blinders, Small Axe) and Giles Terera (Hamilton) play Michael and Delroy in this powerful and timely new film from the National Theatre.
The film is written by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams, and directed by Clint Dyer.
A production from the National Theatre.
Available at least until 6 May 2023.
Death of England: Face to Face is presented by Sky Arts and No Guarantees, and produced by the National Theatre, in association with Sabel Productions and Cuba Pictures.
Filming of Death of England: Face to Face in the Lyttelton theatre was made possible thanks to the generosity of Graham and Joanna Barker.