The National Theatre: A standing ovation for a great British institution on its 50th | Observer editorial
Today, British life seems unthinkable without it and our actors are the envy of the worldThe National Theatre, whose 50th birthday we celebrate today, is one of those classic British institutions, a kind of public oxymoron that defies gravity and logic.The state has never been hospitable to plays or players. Even in Shakespeare's day, actors were classed with vagabonds and prostitutes and liable to persecution.But th…