Who are we and what do we do?

    Since National Theatre Live was launched in June 2009, we've broadcast more than forty productions live, from both the National Theatre and other theatres in the UK.

    Our broadcasts have now been experienced by over 5.5 million people in over 2,000 venues around the world, including over 650 venues in the UK alone. Past broadcasts from the National Theatre have included Danny Boyles' Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, War Horse; Man and Superman with Ralph Fiennes.

    Broadcasts from other UK theatres include Coriolanus from the Donmar Warehouse; Macbeth from the Manchester International Festival; Our biggest single broadcast to date is Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch at the Barbican, which has been seen by over 550,000 people.

    How do we do it?

    Though each broadcast is filmed in front of a live audience in the theatre, cameras are carefully positioned throughout the theatre to ensure that cinema audiences get the “best seat in the house” view of each production.

    Where can you find us?

    The nearest venue to you is Emei 1958 Cinema, located at No. 360 Qingjiang Road East, Chendu, China.

    What's on?

    Clicking “Book Now” will take you through to a third party site where you can complete your booking.

    When I was a boy there were no smart phones. Computers were something you saw on STAR TREK(星际航行), and our television only got one channel clearly. Still, I was never bored. The fields, hills, and woodlands around my house were the nature ready-made playgrounds.

    I can remember once hiking to a nearby lake and slowly walking around it. At the backside of it I was amazed to find an old, one-lane, dirt road that I had never seen before. I immediately set out to travel it. It was full of holes and muddy tracks and deep woods bordered it on both sides, but exploring it still seemed like a fine adventure.

    I walked on and on for what seemed like hours. I was sure my guardian angel was whispering in my ear to turn around and head back home but I was stubborn and even a bit stupid, so I walked on.

    The dirt road give way to a rock one and then a paved one, yet there was still neither a car nor a house in sight. My legs were getting tired. I noticed that the sun was starting to go down and I grew scared. I didn't want to end up trapped on this road in the dark of night, but I was sure it would be dark before I could make my way back to the lake again.

    I was almost in tears when I turned one last curve(弯曲处) and saw something in the distance. It was a house that I recognized. My heart leapt up! I jumped up and down and laughed out loud. I knew the way home! It was still over a mile away but my legs felt like feathers and I hurried back to my house in no time. I walked in with a big smile on my face just in time for dinner.

    I remembered this recently when I saw a sign that said, “All roads lead Home.” This is true. In this life all roads no matter what their twists(弯曲) and turns are can lead us home again. They can lead us to our homes here on Earth. They can lead us to our homes in our heart, if we can insist.

    GOING TO UNIVERSITY is supposed to be a mind-broadening experience. That statement is probably made in comparison to training for work straight after school, which might not be so encouraging. But is it actually true? Jessika Golle of the University of Tübingen, in Germany, thought she would try to find out. Her result, however, is not quite what might be expected. As she reports in Psychological Science this week, she found that those who have been to university do indeed seem to leave with broader and more inquiring minds than those who have spent their immediate post-school years in vocational (职业的) training for work. However, it was not the case that university broadened minds. Rather, work seemed to narrow them.

    Dr. Golle came to this conclusion after she and a team of colleagues studied the early careers of 2,095 German youngsters. The team used two standardized tests to assess their volunteers. One was of personality traits, including openness, conscientiousness（认真）and so on. The other was of attitudes, such as realistic, investigative and enterprising. They administered both tests twice—once towards the end of each volunteer's time at school, and then again six years later. Of the original group, 382 were on the intermediate track, from which there was a choice between the academic and vocational routes, and it was on these that the researchers focused. University beckoned for 212 of them. The remaining 170 chose vocational training and a job.

    When it came to the second round of tests, Dr. Golle found that the personalities of those who had gone to university had not changed significantly. Those who had undergone vocational training and then got jobs were not that much changed in personality, either—except in one crucial respect. They had become more conscientious.

    That sounds like a good thing, certainly compared with the common public image of undergraduates as a bunch of lazybones. But changes in attitude that the researchers recorded were rather worrying. In the university group, again, none were detectable. But those who had chosen the vocational route showed marked drops in interest in tasks that are investigative and enterprising in nature. And that might restrict their choice of careers.

    Some investigative and enterprising jobs, such as scientific research, are, indeed beyond the degreeless. But many, particularly in Germany, with its tradition of vocational training, are not. The researchers mention, for example, computer programmers and finance-sector workers as careers requiring these traits. If Dr. Golle is correct, and changes in attitude brought about by the very training Germany prides itself on are narrowing people's choices, that is indeed a matter worthy of serious consideration.

    Many people criticize today's newspapers as sensationalist, satisfying the public's abnormal curiosity. But journalism a century ago was just as notorious (臭名昭著). Publishers at that time routinely competed with each other for wild stories that could draw in the most readers. Meanwhile, it was an ideal atmosphere for a courageous reporter like Nellie Bly to spring into fame.

    Bly, whose name was Elizabeth Corcoran, had to work to make her way in the world. Different from many women of the time, however, she refused to let the working world scare her away. Her first big opportunity as a reporter came in 1885 after she wrote an angry letter denouncing the Pittsburgh Dispatch for an article it had run criticizing women forced to work outside the home. The interested and excited editor hired Bly for her "spirit," and soon she was investigating the situations of female factory workers. Bly cared less about their jobs than their lives after work  - their amusements, their motivations, their fears and ambitions. She produced an article totally different from what other reporters of the time were writing: personal, thoughtful, meaningful.

    By 1887 Bly had a job with the New York World, one of the leader papers of the day. She quickly became famous for undercover stories about women in a mental hospital. Soon she had investigated life as a maid, a chorus girl, and even a street girl. In her best - known brave deeds, in 1890, Bly beat the famous "around the world in 80 days" trip Jules Verne had described in his novel. Traveling by steamship, train, even ricksha, Bly reported from each stop. A spellbound nation hung on every word. Only 25, Bly had become internationally famous.

    In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what "Keeping up with the Joneses" is about. It is the story of someone who tries to look as rich as his neighbors.

    The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. And he was proud of his wealth(财富). He got married and moved with his wife to a very rich neighborhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors. It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.

    Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it"Keeping up with the Joneses", because"Jones"is a very ordinary(普通的) name in the United States. "Keeping up with the Joneses" came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand's series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.

    People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are"Joneses"in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

Smartphones can be a force for good. Your phone is always with you, making it the perfect device to push you into a more beneficial way of living. Here are some of the best apps that can help.

Habitica

Habitica turns the goal of forming good habits into a game, with its own characters and scoring. It's a lot of fun, and the app also lets you build habits with friends and family. In addition to regular repeating habits, you can add a more general to-do list, and the rewards you get can be customized too—you could treat yourself to a meal out or an extra hour of games.

Smoke free

If you're determined to give up smoking, Smoke Free is one of the most comprehensive apps for giving you that extra push you need to make a permanent change. The app offers a host of useful features to people wanting to go smoke-free: the ability to see your progress over time, charts showing how your health is improving, day-by-day encouragement, and some advice on techniques for giving up smoking.

MyFitnessPal

You can find tons of health and fitness apps for your phone, but My FitnessPal stands out not just because it is easy to use, but because it makes practical suggestions for you. It can take in a host of data, from the calories you're taking in to the number of swims you're doing per week, and offer reports on calorie consumption and macronutrient (大量营养素) breakdown.