Audiences taking their seats for the two latest openings at the National Theatre meet very different vibes. The Lyttelton feels very early twentieth century, its stage filled by a pre-Edwardian best room: flames blazing in a hearth, antimacassars on armchairs, and blindingly polished brown furniture.

Anna
National Theatre, London

Rutherford and Son
National Theatre, London

Audiences taking their seats for the two latest openings at the National Theatre meet very different vibes. The Lyttelton feels very early twentieth century, its stage filled by a pre-Edwardian best room: flames blazing in a hearth, antimacassars on armchairs, and blindingly polished brown furniture. In the Dorfman, the vibe is very early twenty-first century: the set is sealed within a perspex box, and a state-of-the-art pair of noise-cancelling headphones hangs over each backrest.

This off-stage prop is necessary to experience Anna, a piece created by playwright Ella Hickson with sound designers Ben and Max Ringham. Taking place inside the sealed cube, in 60 minutes of real time, is a drinks party in an East Berlin flat in 1968. Through our fancy cans, we hear conversations and ambient noises, sometimes distinct, intermittently louder or more muffled than expected.

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