National Theatre Live: The Authenticator

National Theatre Live: The Authenticator

National Theatre Live: The Authenticator

Share

National Theatre Live: The Authenticator

"This house is full of secrets."

2026

0

0.0(0 votes)

Drama

Overview

Soon after inheriting her family's stately home, eccentric artist Fenella Harford discovers a stash of hidden diaries and enlists a young academic, Marva, to confirm their authenticity. Joined by Marva’s brilliant but overlooked mentor, Abi, the three women come together to seek the truth, soon realising that secrets at the heart of Harford Hall were darker than they could have imagined. A gripping gothic psychological thriller, The Authenticator reunites writer Winsome Pinnock ("Leave Taking") with director Miranda Cromwell ("Death of a Salesman") following their acclaimed production, "Rockets and Blue Lights".

Links & Resources

Website IMDbView

Social & External

Production Companies

National Theatre

The people behind it

Cast & crew

5 featured cast members

Starring

Rakie Ayola

Rakie Ayola

Abi

Sylvestra Le Touzel

Sylvestra Le Touzel

Fen

Cherrelle Skeete

Cherrelle Skeete

Marva

Phoebe Campbell

Phoebe Campbell

Ghost Bride (voice)

Nuala McGovern

Radio Presenter (voice)

Creative team

Directed by: Miranda Cromwell
Written by: Winsome Pinnock
Produced by: Tracey Low

Similar Movies

The Females

The Females

A young woman joins an exclusive health clinic and discovers that the town is populated almost entirely by women, and they have surprising intentions for any male tourists who visit.

Visitor Q

Visitor Q

In a dysfunctional family where the mother is a heroin addict and prostitute, beaten by her son, and the father is an ex-TV reporter, sleeping with his daughter and filming his son being beaten up, ‘Q’, a complete stranger enters the bizarre family, changing their lives for the better, finding a balance in their disturbing natures.

The World, the Flesh and the Devil

The World, the Flesh and the Devil

Ralph Burton is a miner who is trapped for several days as a result of a cave-in. When he finally manages to dig himself out, he realizes that all of mankind seems to have been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. He travels to New York City only to find it deserted. Making a life for himself there, he is flabbergasted to eventually find Sarah Crandall, who also managed to survive. Together, they form a close friendship until the arrival of Benson Thacker who has managed to pilot his small boat into the city's harbor. At this point, tensions rise between the three, particularly between Thacker, who is white, and Burton, who is black.

National Theatre Live: Chewing Gum Dreams

National Theatre Live: Chewing Gum Dreams

Meet Tracey Gordon. Friendship, sex, UK garage, school, teachers, periods, emergency contraception, raves, tampons, white boys, God, money. Friendship. The more she learns about the world the less she understands.

National Theatre Live: Of Mice and Men

National Theatre Live: Of Mice and Men

A powerful portrait of the American spirit and a heartbreaking testament to the bonds of friendship.

I'm Not Racist

I'm Not Racist

In a world where racism is reversed a white teenager navigates through the harsh reality of discrimination.

National Theatre Live: The Motive and the Cue

National Theatre Live: The Motive and the Cue

In 1964, Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new Broadway production of Hamlet under Sir John Gielgud’s exacting direction. But as rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide and the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel.

Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot

A "modern" Turkish family expects an exchange student from France who will accompany her 10-year-old daughter for the summer. Their shy daughter will not only practice French, but also have a friend finally. When this "expected visitor" came Nergiz is frustrated that the boy's name is Hafid and she does not find him "French" enough.

Hate from a Distance

Hate from a Distance

Reflects the injustices of a painful chapter of American History, while honoring the 50th anniversary (July 2, 1964) of the Civil Rights Act abolishing segregation.

National Theatre Live: Nye

National Theatre Live: Nye

Confronted with death, National Health Service founder Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan's deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament and fights with Winston Churchill.

The Gin Game

The Gin Game

This powerfully bittersweet comedy follows the relationship that develops between nursing home residents Fonsia (Mary Tyler Moore) and Weller (Dick Van Dyke) during a series of gin games in which their ailments, misfortunes and losses are exposed in funny, honest and increasingly heated moments.

Vakeel Saab

Vakeel Saab

A retired lawyer with a troubled past returns to the courtroom to fight for three young women falsely accused in a high-profile assault case.

The Beacon

Joshua Nyaga travels to the countryside from London to spend a summer’s weekend with his girlfriend Cass’ family for the first time. Transplanted as a young boy from the violence of the Ugandan civil war to the concrete jungle of London, Joshua has never experienced the privilege that Cass’ family enjoys. Surrounded by the sea and lush natural landscape, the farm is an oasis, brimming with idealistic notions and lively debate amongst Cass’ father, stepmother and their longtime friend of the family, Michael. But Joshua’s warm welcome is short lived, when a sudden act of violent racism at a local summer concert shatters the peace forcing Joshua and those around him to confront the uncomfortable truth of their differences.

Love Syndrome: The Beginning

Love Syndrome: The Beginning

Day seeks revenge on Itt for a plan that led to his brother Night's assault, but their twisted dynamic sparks unexpected feelings.

Black Venus

Black Venus

The true story of Saartje Baartman, a black South African worker who moves to London with her master in the early 19th century. Although she dreams of being an artist, once in Europe she is exploited as a sideshow attraction due to her large buttocks and genitalia.

National Theatre Live: Medea

National Theatre Live: Medea

Medea is a wife and a mother. For the sake of her husband, Jason, she’s left her home and borne two sons in exile. But when he abandons his family for a new life, Medea faces banishment and separation from her children. Cornered, she begs for one day’s grace. It’s time enough. She exacts an appalling revenge and destroys everything she holds dear.

30 Miles

30 Miles

An act of kindness leads to the destruction of two lives in just thirty miles, when a hitchiker and his ride let down their guards and reveal intimate, dark secrets about their pasts

Next to Normal

Next to Normal

A mother struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effects that managing her illness has on her family. The PBS Great Performances recording of the West End transfer to Wyndham's Theatre (from The Donmar Warehouse) in 2024.

Sergeant Rutledge

Sergeant Rutledge

Respected black cavalry Sergeant Brax Rutledge stands court-martial for raping and killing a white woman and murdering her father, his superior officer.

The Turk Shop

The Turk Shop

At a creative firm somewhere in Stockholm, there's a short break in a meeting. Cecilia relates an anecdote from a hen party, about a 'Turk kiosk' that turned out to be closed. Asal, relatively new at the workplace, questions Cecilia's choice of words, and this seriously offends Cecilia. In the end it's Asal who is accused of inappropriate behaviour.

Recommended Movies

Skin

Skin

Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.

Bombshell

Bombshell

Bombshell is a revealing look inside the most powerful and controversial media empire of all time; and the explosive story of the women who brought down the infamous man who created it.

Nickel Boys

Nickel Boys

Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

May December

May December

Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past.

Speak

Speak

Freshman high-school student Melinda has refused to speak ever since she called the cops on a popular summer party. With her old friends snubbing her for being a rat, and her parents too busy to notice her troubles, she folds into herself, trying to hide her secret: that star senior Andy raped her at the party. But Melinda does manage to find solace in her art class headed by Mr. Freeman.

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

The Truth About Emanuel

The Truth About Emanuel

A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.

Girl in the Box

Girl in the Box

The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.

A Dry White Season

A Dry White Season

During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.

Till

Till

The true story of Mamie Till Mobley's relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi.

The Girl in the Book

The Girl in the Book

The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.

The Tale

The Tale

An investigation into one woman’s memory as she‘s forced to re-examine her first sexual relationship and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.

Come Sunday

Come Sunday

Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.

Beast

Beast

MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.

12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave

In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.

Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl

Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl

Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.

The Last Rifleman

The Last Rifleman

A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.

Hands of Stone

Hands of Stone

The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.

Hounddog

Hounddog

A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.

Pretty Baby

Pretty Baby

In 1917 New Orleans, a 12-year-old girl is raised in a brothel by her prostitute mother.