As the National Theatre in London celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, it faces unprecedented financial challenges, despite transferring more productions into the West End that at any other time in its history.
National Theatre shows currently playing in the West End after finding success at their South Bank home include James Graham’s new play Dear England staring Joseph Fiennes, running at the Prince Edward Theatre until 13 January 204; Jack Thorne’s The Motive and the Cue at the Noel Coward starring Mark Gatiss, Johnny Flynn and Tuppence Middleton, playing to 23 March 2024; and coming up, new British musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge, which premiered at Sheffield Theatres and had a successful run at the National, and is heading to the Gillian Lynne Theatre from 8 February to 3 August 2024.
The beginning of 2023 saw Sam Mendes’ hugely acclaimed National Theatre production of The Lehamn Brothers head back to the West End after a Tony Award-winning Broadway run, also playing the Gillian Lynne Theatre. Plus a transfer for their production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, at the Gielgud Theatre, and a successful tour of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, including bringing it back into the West End’s Noel Coward Theatre in the autumn.
The National also co-produced Broadway hit musical A Strange Loop in London, which played the Barbican Theatre in the summer; and co-produced Dr Semmelweis with Sonia Friedman at the Harold Pinter Theatre, starring Sir Mark Rylance.
Finally, Hadestown was originally staged at the National, before heading to Broadway to great acclaim, and is coming back to London’s West End next year, playing the Lyric Theatre from 10 February to 4 August 2024.
There’s also much West End buzz about the National’s Christmas production now playing at their Olivier Theatre, a musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. West End and Broadway producers have been circling the show, which scored some great reviews from the critics.
On Broadway, the National’s recent production of Lucy Prebble’s The Effect starring Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell is heading to The Shed in New York in March 2024.
The National itself has also been running at 90% and more capacity on the South Bank from April to December 2023.
But despite this, and all of this commercial success in the West End and beyond, the National is still facing some unprecedented challeneges, something that incoming new Artistic Director and Joint CEO Indhu Rubasingham will have to tackle when she starts in Spring 2024.
The National Theatre’s executive director Kate Varah, who will become Joint CEO when Rubasingham starts, said to The Times today:
“It’s been an absolutely extraordinary year. We have staged 31 productions and had seven West End transfers which is a record for us. And if you took it to this point of the year we have broken box office records and we have had had record philanthropic fundraising. We are doing something that people want and audiences are coming. But we are still running a deficit budget. It is just more expensive to make the work at the calibre and standard we do.”
About out-going Artistic Director Rufus Norris, who leaves in Spring 2025 after a 12 month handover with Indhu, Varah said: “Rufus has absolutely hit it out of the park with an eclectic mix of high quality world premieres of stories that are nationally resonant. We don’t ever expect things to be commercial — that is the joy of being at the National. We expect the artist to have the freedom to make something that is not fettered with that constraint and just make something that you think is beautiful and resonant and worth sharing and we will do the rest at the right point.”
The National recently published their annual report, and it highlighted a number of challenges facing the venue, including:
- Rising prices and a reduced subsidy from a cut to its Arts Council England grant means their funding has seen a real-terms reduction of 48% since 2010-11
- Repayments of the government’s emergency Covid loan are due to start, which is now £20.5 million with accrued interest
- It also urgently needs to upgrade the infrastructure of its grade II listed South Bank building – which will costs millions
The National Theatre is aiming to break-even by 2026 to 2027, which seems an ambitious milestone given the challenges.
However, industry reaction to the appointment of Indhu Rubasingham, ex-Artistic Director of the Kiln Theatre in North London, has been particularly positive, and her desire to have a Co-CEO role means that she plans to play a very active role, with Varah, in the running of the National – including financial planning.
James Graham, who wrote Dear England for the National, told The Times that the National had “nailed a balance of popular, broadly appealing plays in terms of subject matter with new, exciting talent. You have the confidence that they will meet your ambitions with scale and resource but also how you develop a play — there is a whole world of support that is available. It is a really muscular process and they give faith and commitment to what might seem stupid ideas like a play about Gareth Southgate. But the mission, especially for a national theatre, is to open up its doors as much as it can and to be nimble enough to respond to national events.”
Book tickets to The Motive and the Cue at the Noel Coward Theatre in London
Book tickets to Dear England at the Prince Edward Theatre in London
Book tickets to The Witches at the National Theatre in London
Book tickets to Standing at the Sky’s Edge the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London
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