NATIONAL THEATRE 50 YEARS ON STAGE - (BBC Two, 11/2/13)

From Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to The History Boys, from Antony and Cleopatra to Angels in America, from Guys and Dolls to London Road - enjoy a thrilling evening of live performance and rare glimpses from the archive, featuring many of the most celebrated actors who have performed on the National Theatre stage over the past five decades. The gala performance with a cast of 100 performed live onstage in the Olivier Theatre, included Roger Allam, Simon Russell Beale, James Corden, Benedict Cumberbatch, Frances de la Tour, Judi Dench, Christopher Eccleston, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Alex Jennings, Rory Kinnear, Adrian Lester, Anna Maxwell Martin, Helen Mirren, Andrew Scott, Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton. Directed by Nicholas Hytner. The evening's performances featured Judi Dench reviving a scene from her performance as Shakespeare's Cleaopatra, reciting the elegy to Antony, Maggie Smith reprising her role as Mrs. Sullen in George Farquhar's comedy The Beaux' Stratagem, Simon Russell Beale's return to Hamlet, and Michael Gambon and Derek Jacobi take to the stage in parts created by John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land. (Chapter Marks, Region 1, 145 min)