Indhu Rubasingham's first season as the National Theatre's Director and Co-Chief Executive will feature "16 brand new productions... nine world premières, two tours for schools and a return to repertory theatre for the first time since 2020."
Rubasingham will herself open the season in September with her production of "the first ever playwriting debut on the National Theatre's Olivier stage": Nima Taleghani's Bacchae celebrating the God of theatre, with a cast including James McArdle, Clare Perkins and Ukweli Roach design by Robert Jones, choreography by Kate Prince and an original score by DJ Walde. The play will be adapted for a schools tour the following year, directed by Hannah Hauer-King.
The Lyttelton's opening production will be Shakespeare's Hamlet, directed by Robert Hastie with Hiran Abeysekera in the title role, followed by John Millington Synge's The Playboy of the Western World directed by Abbey Theatre Artistic Director Caitríona McLaughlin, with a cast including Nicola Coughlan, Éanna Hardwicke, Siobhán McSweeney and Marty Rea.
McLaughlin will also direct one of actor Paul Mescal's National Theatre debuts: Tim Murphy's A Whistle in the Dark, co-produced with the Abbey Theatre. Mescal will also star in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman directed by Rebecca Frecknall.
Family shows in the programme include a return of Kendall Feaver's adaptation of the novel Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield directed by Katy Rudd and a new adaptation by Anupama Chandrasekhar of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book for Christmas, directed by Indhu Rubasingham with puppetry by Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes.
Letitia Wright makes her National Debut in the British première of The Story by American playwright Tracey Scott Wilson, the story of an ambitious black reporter who defies her editor to pursue an incendiary lead, choosing to go to any lengths to get ‘the story’, directed by Clint Dyer. Marianne Elliott returns to the National after nine years with a revival of Christopher Hampton's adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos with Monica Barbaro, Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner. Dominic Cooke will reunite with playwright Caryl Churchill for a revival of her play Cloud 9.
Pride is a new musical based on the film of the same name with a book and lyrics by Stephen Beresford and original music by Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde, directed by Matthew Warchus, about how a group of lesbian and gay activists joined the miners’ strike campaign of 1984. Also inspired by true events, Samira by Carmen Nasr explores themes of authenticity, political upheaval and identity, focusing on a young Syrian blogger who is not all that she seems.
The Authenticator is a new play by Winsome Pinnock directed by Miranda Cromwell set in a crumbling stately home where a valuable discovery reveals a family's complex past and sparks a quest to unearth the house's hidden secrets. Director Anthony Lau will make his National Theatre debut with a revival of Terence Rattigan's Man and Boy with a cast led by Ben Daniels.
Rubasingham is working with grime artist Stormzy on an upcoming production to be premièred at the National Theatre, yet to be announced, and the National has commissioned a new work from immersive theatre specialists Punchdrunk for the Dorfman in 2027 to celebrate that company's 25th anniversary.
Rubasingham said of the programme, “the National Theatre is a very special place at the heart of our national discourse, and I am incredibly proud to be its seventh Director. I am so excited about everything to come, and the wealth of projects and artists announced today. The National Theatre is a beacon of creativity, humanity and possibilities. It holds the stories of so many people who have made this place mean so much to so many. This is just the beginning, a flavour of what's to come, the start of the next chapter.”