Eight world premieres, a Punchdrunk collaboration marking the building’s 50th anniversary, and major stars including Rosamund Pike, Emma Corrin and Uzo Aduba feature in one of the National Theatre’s boldest programmes yet.
The National Theatre has announced its full 2027 programme, bringing together eight world premieres, major classic revivals and an extraordinary roster of star casting across its three London stages, alongside an expanding nationwide and international reach.
Indhu Rubasingham, Director and Co-Chief Executive, said the season “brings together a remarkable range of work that looks across the last century to explore the perspectives, cultures and conflicts that continue to shape our world.”
Paul Mescal returns to rep
The year’s biggest acting story is Paul Mescal appearing in repertory across two productions in the Lyttelton. He plays Biff Loman in a new staging of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, directed by Rebecca Frecknall, opposite Monica Dolan as Linda Loman and Tracy Letts making his UK stage acting debut as Willy Loman. Mescal then switches to Michael Carney in Tom Murphy’s A Whistle in the Dark, directed by Caitríona McLaughlin in a co-production with Ireland’s Abbey Theatre, alongside Ciarán Hinds.
Eight world premieres
The new work includes Major, James Graham’s Olivier Theatre premiere reuniting him with This House director Jeremy Herrin, dramatising John Major’s sudden rise from chief whip to Prime Minister. Moira Buffini reunites with Indhu Rubasingham for The Great Indaba, telling the story of a pivotal 1998 meeting in South Africa on the road to the Good Friday Agreement.
Emilia Clarke makes her National Theatre debut in Plenty, David Hare’s landmark play, staged by former NT Director Richard Eyre ahead of the play’s 50th anniversary and Hare’s 80th birthday.
Elsewhere, Uzo Aduba makes her National Theatre debut in The Adeyemis – A Family Saga, Oladipo Agboluaje’s epic family drama directed by Lucian Msamati. Samira, Carmen Nasr’s new play set during the Arab Spring, stars May Calamawy and is directed by Emily Burns. Natasha Gordon adapts Bernardine Evaristo’s Mr Loverman for the stage, and Glorious Madness brings the songs of Joan Armatrading to a new musical directed by Phyllida Lloyd, with a book by Iman Qureshi.
Marking the National Theatre building’s 50th anniversary, Punchdrunk’s Felix Barrett will create a new immersive production, Ghostlight, curated by Lucy Kirkwood — continuing a creative partnership between Punchdrunk and the National that stretches back to 2006.
Star-studded classics
Michael Grandage returns to the National for the first time since 2010 to direct Emma Corrin, Arty Froushan and Harriet Walter in Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer. Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell, the team behind the acclaimed Death of a Salesman revival, reunite for a major new production of West Side Story, using Jerome Robbins’ original choreography.
Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead returns 60 years after its premiere, directed by Deputy Artistic Director Robert Hastie, with Mawaan Rizwan and George Fouracres in the title roles.
Beyond London
Rosamund Pike will make her Broadway debut reprising her role in Inter Alia at the Music Box Theater from November, alongside her West End co-stars Jamie Glover and Cormac McAlinden. The hit stage adaptation of Ballet Shoes embarks on a major UK tour, with casting including Strictly Come Dancing’s Anton Du Beke, in partnership with multisensory theatre company Frozen Light. The Rise and Fall of Little Voice tours to seven regional theatres directly from its Dorfman run, and The Last Wild, a new eco-thriller adaptation for primary school and family audiences, tours to seven venues in a co-production with the Unicorn Theatre.
Pride, the joy-filled musical about the 1984 alliance between LGSM activists and striking Welsh miners, transfers to the newly relaunched Bridge Theatre from 12 November 2026, following sold-out runs at the Dorfman and Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre.
Expanding digital reach
National Theatre at Home will offer new subscribers a seven-day free trial from fresh, with over 25 new titles added to the streaming platform in 2027. The Jungle Book will stream free via YouTube in March as part of the Take Your Seats initiative, captioned in five languages. The National Theatre Collection adds new titles including Hamlet and The Playboy of the Western World, reaching schools across the UK and America.
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