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September is always a great month for London theatre: after the slowdown of the summer, autumn sees pretty much every subsidised theatre in London stage new productions simultaneously.
And this September feels particularly momentous as Indhu Rubasingham takes over as the seventh artistic director of the National Theatre and directs Bacchae, the first show she’s programmed. Over at the Young Vic and Nadia Fall also starts her reign. It’s the end of an era at the Bush also, where Lynette Linton directs her last play for the venue – and the Almeida, where Rupert Goold’s final season begins. Plus lashings of celebrity fun including Ncuti Gatwa, Letitia Wright, Alicia Vikander, Andrew Lincoln and Brendan Gleeson.
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The best new theatre openings in London in September
1. Romans: A Novel
What is it? Now this is a way to kick off a final season. Admittedly a very long final season: Rupert Goold’s final tranche of programming at the Almeida will last until the end of next year. But it couldn’t get off to a more promising start than a veritable theatre hipster holy grail: a new play from Alice Birch. Her 2017 drama Anatomy of a Suicide is one of the great British works of the last decade. She’s not done a lot of stage stuff since because her screen career went into overdrive, notably with her adaptation of Normal People. Now she’s finally back with a new play. To be honest the description seems cool but slightly enigmatic: it’s ‘a kaleidoscopic account’ of how male narratives have shaped the world since the 19th century. It will probably be funny and clever and it definitely stars the great Kyle Soller in his first stage role since his screen breakthrough in Andor.
Almeida Theatre, Sep 9-Oct 11.
2. Bacchae
What is it? Indhu Rubasingham leads her first season in charge of the National Theatre from the front as she directs her very first piece of programming there: a wild ride modern vernacular take on Euripides’s horrifying Greek tragedy The Bacchae, adapted by actor and first-time playwright Nima Taleghani. As befits the tenure of a new NT artistic director, some very decent names are in the cast – notably James McArdle (another Andor alumnus), Clare Perkins and Ukwelki Roach.
National Theatre Olivier, Sep 13-Nov 1. Buy tickets here.
See also: there are two more National Theatre openings well worth checking out this month. Juliet Stevenson stars in David Lan’s Steven Daldry-directed The Land of the Living in the Dorfman Theatre. And the NT’s smash revival of The Importance of Being Earnest transfers to the West End with Olly Alexander and Stephen Fry starring.
3. The Lady from the Sea
What is it? The most wildcard piece of programming at the Bridge Theatre in some years sees auteur director Simon Stone given leeway to craft one of his typically off-the-leash modern adaptations of a classic text. In this case it’s Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea, in which a comfortably married woman’s dark past comes to meet her. Alicia Vikander will make her UK stage debut as Ellida, with Andrew Lincoln in her first proper theatre role since The Walking Dead as her boring husband Edward.
Bridge Theatre, Sep 10-Nov 8. Buy tickets here.
4. Born with Teeth
What is it? Rather than stick with the National Theatre’s The Importance of Being Earnest as it heads to the West End this month, erstwhile Timelord Ncuti Gatwa is hitting up Theatreland with a totally different play. Born with Teeth is new work produced by that other great British theatre institution the RSC, and will star Gatwa as Christopher Marlowe, opposite Edward Bluemel’s William Shakespeare. Written by American playwright Liz Duffy Adams it’s a tense and apparently somewhat steamy account of the duo’s collaboration on Henry VI.
Wyndham’s Theatre, now until Nov 1. Buy tickets here.
5. Not Your Superwoman
What is it? In a big month for artistic directors either coming or going, here’s the great Lynette Linton’s swansong at the Bush. Not Your Superwoman is a domestic drama of the sort the west London theatre has tackled so well under Linton’s watch, following a mother and daughter paralysed by the loss of a grandmother. The USP here is undoubtedly the starry casting: Emma Dennis-Edwards’ play will be performed by Bridgerton star Golda Rosheuvel and Letitia Wright, aka Black Panther herself.
Bush Theatre, Sep 6-Nov 1. Buy tickets here.
6. Cow | Deer
What is it? To her fans, Katie Mitchell isn’t just a director: she’s a high priestess of the avant-garde, who kept the flame of the experimental going during UK theatre’s normie noughties. A lot of her work is in Europe these days, but you wonder if even the Germans would baulk at Cow | Deer, which sounds about as extreme a work of theatre as it’s possible to get. Made in collaboration with writer Nina Segal and sound designer Melanie Wilson, it concerns the lives of a cow and a deer and has a cast of four, although there will be no actual dialogue. It’s undoubtedly going to be strange and challenging but you’ll never see anything quite like this again.
Royal Court Theatre, Sep 4-Oct 11.
See also: If they’re not as out there as Mitchell, it’ll be a joy to have avant-garde Irish company Dead Centre occupying the larger Downstairs theatre at the Royal Court with Deaf Republic, a new show based on the works of Ukrainian poet Ilya Kaminsky.
7. The Weir
What is it? Irish playwright and director Conor McPherson is low key having the sort of year that makes Jamie Lloyd look like a slacker: for the Old Vic he wrote and directed new play The Brightening Air and brought back his hit musical Girl from the North Country, and later this year he’s the writer of the huge new Hunger Games show. In between he’s found time to revive probably his most famous straight up play: The Weir, a crepuscular chiller about a group of lonely souls telling ghost stories in a remote Irish country pub. Brendan Gleeson stars, in the great Irish screen actor’s first London role for decades.
Harold Pinter Theatre, Sep 12-Dec 6. Buy tickets here.
8. Titus Andronicus
What is it? Simon Russell Beale must have had a nice time doing Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love at Hampstead Theatre last Christmas, because he’s back for more. This time he transfers to the north London theatre to reprise his role in the RSC’s recent production of Shakespeare’s horrifying gorefest Titus Andronicus. He’ll play the eponymous Roman general in Max Webster’s modern-dress production. It’s always a treat to see probably our greatest living Shakespearean actor in action. But it’s truly not one for the sensitive of disposition.
Hampstead Theatre, Sep 5-Oct 11.
9. Entertaining Mr Sloane
What is it? The first London production since the ’00s for Joe Orton’s dark farce about a handsome lodger who upends the household of the pair of siblings who take him in makes for a bold and eye-catching start to Nadia Fall’s tenure as Young Vic artistic director. There’s some intriguing casting as well, with Tamzin Outhwaite and Daniel Cerqueria joined by Rizzle Kicks main man Jordan Stephens, who’ll be making his stage debut in the title role.
Young Vic, Sep 15-Nov 8. Buy tickets here.
10. Dracula
What is it? It’s Bram Stoker’s immortal vampire novel, adapted for the stage by playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm. Her high-concept version puts the female characters at the centre, most especially Mina Harker, who in this setting is the only survivor of the story. Presumably this means it’s set a long time after the events of the book, or perhaps Malcolm has altered them. Whatever the case, it’s an intriguing prospect.
Lyric Hammersmith, Sep 11-Oct 11. Buy tickets here.
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