Adrian Lester and Meera Syal share their experiences of forming acting careers at a time when they rarely saw people of colour in the industry, some thoughts on the empathy of storytelling, and memories of drama school. This is their Life in Stages. Subscribe for more from the National Theatre: youtube.com/nationaltheatre/?sub_conf...

While you may recognise Adrian from Hustle, his multi-award-winning stage career includes Company (Donmar, West End), Hymn (Almeida), Red Velvet (Tricycle) and As You Like It (Lyric). At the National his credits include Sweeny Todd (1993), Henry V (2003), Othello (2013) and our film of Romeo & Juliet (2021).

Meera Syal first gained recognition as part of the team for Goodness Gracious Me and her film credits include Yesterday (2019) and Beautiful Thing (1996). Her stage career began at the Royal Court and at the National, she’s performed in plays including Rafta, Rafta (2007) and Behind the Beautiful Forevers (2014).
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Life in Stages is the National Theatre’s interview series profiling some of the biggest names in British theatre.

Filmed on the empty Lyttelton stage, each episode features a pair of creatives reflecting on their stage careers, and revealing the funny, personal and poignant stories behind everything from their earliest theatre memory to their biggest professional highs and lows.

S1 Ep1 Olivia Colman and Rufus Norris:    • Life in Stages S1 Ep1: Olivia Colman ...  
S1 Ep2 Jessie Buckley and Josh O'Connor:    • Life in Stages S1 Ep2: Jessie Buckley...  
S1 Ep3 Adrian Lester and Meera Syal:    • Life in Stages S1 Ep3: Adrian Lester ...  
S1 Ep4 Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bill Nighy and Andrew Lincoln:    • Life in Stages S1 Ep4: Bill Nighy, An...  
S1 Ep5 Dominic Cooke and Sophie Okonedo:    • Life in Stages S1 Ep5: Sophie Okonedo...  
S1 Ep6 Clint Dyer and Kae Tempest:    • Life in Stages S1 Ep6: Kae Tempest an...  

Life in Stages is produced by National Theatre and Wing. This series is kindly supported by Charles Stanley Wealth Managers.

#NationalTheatre #LifeInStages
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