Trevor Nunn will definitely be leaving the National Theatre when his current contract runs out in September next year. The search for a replacement is said to have begun already. The job will not be advertised but preferred candidates will be approached.
There has been considerable criticism of Nunn recently. Last month he was attacked for the probability that he will make a personal profit out of the almost certain move to the West End of My fair Lady, when it reaches the end of its run on the South Bank. He has also been attacked for not "training up" possible successors.
London's Mayfair Theatre, which last housed a production ten years ago, is to stage The Song of Singapore from 28th June. The production comes from the Chichester Festival Theatre.
The Mayfair is part of the Mayfair Inter-Continental Hotel. It opened in 1963 but became a conference centre in 1992. The owners are contemplating further productions during the summer, the quiet season for conferences.
The Hampstead Theatre has raised an addition £600,000 towards the cost of its new home, ahead of deadline. However a further £2m still needs to be raised to ensure its completion.
The new Hampstead will be the first new producing house to be built in London since the National opened in 1976.
Michigan made This England possible
It was a $2m contribution from the University of Michigan which has enabled the Royal Shakespeare Company to present the series of Shakespeare's history plays entitled This England. In return, the company took part in a three week residency at the University in Ann Arbor, where it did three performances of the cycle and did 75 workshops, seminars and lectures.
Theer are plans for two further residences - in 2003 and 2005 - at a cost of several million dollars to the university.