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New National Theatre boss Indhu Rubasingham has unveiled her first programming today (April 29), the first part of what she declares is a mission to unveil a more international version of the National.
The caveat before breaking down today’s announcement is that it covers a very long period of time, with several shows announced that won’t run until 2027 – some of these announcements are very much medium term, but they’re all very exciting.
Rubasingham’s programming will begin this autumn
For slightly tedious reasons (it had to close for an emergency refurb) the smaller of the NT’s three theatres the Dorfman will be running shows programmed by Rubasingham’s predecessor Rufus Norris until the end of the year. But the two bigger theatres are all hers and will open with her first two shows in September. The Olivier will play host to a striking, rhyme-based new adaptation of Euripides’s shocking Bacchae (Sep 13-Nov 1) by actor Nima Taleghani, directed by Rubasingham and starring James McArdle, Clare Perkins and Ukwili Roach.
At the same time in the Lyttelton it’s the first production of Hamlet (Sep 25-Nov 22) to run at the NT since Rory Kinnear did the honours in 2010 – it’ll star Olivier winner Hiran Abeysekera as the doomed Danish prince, and new NT deputy Robert Hastie will direct.
The next two shows have also been announced: last year’s Christmas smash Ballet Shoes will return to the Olivier (Nov 17-Feb 21 2026), and the Lyttelton ‘Christmas’ show will be a revival of John Millington Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World (Dec 4-Feb 28 2026), directed by Caitriona McLaughlin and starring Derry Girls alumni Nicola Coughlan and Siobhán McSweeney.
There will be stars
Let’s cut to the chase: has Rubasingham lined up any famous actors? Yes. Yes she has. Monica Barbaro, Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner will star in Marianne Elliott’s revival of the sultry classic Les Liaisons Dangereuses (spring 2026). Letitia Wright will feature as an ambitious Black reporter pursuing an incendiary lead in US playwrighht Tracey Scott Wilson’s The Story (autumn 2026). And some guy by the name of Paul Mescal will star in two shows in 2027…
Rep is back!
To the uninitiated, the rep system is when a theatre has multiple shows in its repertoire that play together, rather than just one at a time (the Globe is the only major London theatre to run a permanent rep system). The NT was historically a rep theatre but ditched it for financial reasons when it reopened post-pandemic. Rubasingham isn’t rushing into bringing it back fully, but that pair of Mescal-starring plays will run in rep and will be a tester for bringing it back partially. The shows are Tom Murphy’s ’60s Irish classic A Whistle in the Dark (directed by Caitríona McLaughlin) and Arthur Miller’s landmark Death of a Salesman (directed by Rebecca Frecknall).
Stormzy is doing… something
At the launch press conference Rubasingham divulged that part of her application for the NT job involved programming an imaginary first season, which included a show (an imaginary show) co-written with rap star Stormzy. Having been appointed she duly pursued the man and he has, apparently, signed on board. What the project is and when it’ll run has not been divulged – the most Rubsingham would say is that it will feature his music.
Punchdrunk will celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary there
Immersive legends Punchdrunk have collaborated with the NT before, on 2013’s gargantuan The Drowned Man. They’ve never done a show at the National itself, though. But that will change in 2027 when they take over the Dorfman for a new work. What will it involve? We don’t know!
Other bit and bobs
The 2026 Olivier Christmas show is locked in: Rubasingham will direct Anupama Chadrasekhar’s new adaptation of The Jungle Book, with puppets from puppeteering big dogs Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes. A major revival of Caryl Churchill’s landmark play Cloud 9 is happening in the Lyttelton, with Dominic Cooke directing, dates TBC. When the Dorfman is finally free for Rubasingham’s programming we’ll be getting the following: a revival of Terence Rattigan’s Man and Boy, starring Ben Daniels; a new play by the venerable Black playwright Winsome Pinnock called The Authenticator; Samira, by Carmen Nasr, is a drama about a young Syrian blogger who is not all she appears; and outgoing Old Vic director Matthew Warchus will direct a musical adaptation of his hit film Pride – apparently we’ll be seeing more musicals in the Dorfman. And that’s your lot for now!
Ballet Shoes is on sale already. Bacchae, Hamlet and The Playboy of the Western World will go on sale May 15.