An Unrivalled Season This Summer and Autumn at the National Theatre

2 June 2016

An unrivalled season this summer and autumn at the National Theatre

Amadeusby Peter Shafferwith Lucian Msamati as Salieri
The Red Barn,a new playby David Hare
Stuff Happens,a rehearsed reading of David Hare's landmark play,staged to coincide with the publication of the Chilcot report
Peter Pan,a Bristol Old Vic co-production directed by Sally Cooksonwith Sophie Thompson as Captain Hook/Mrs Darling and Paul Hilton as Peter
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour,aNational Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre co-production
A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer, a Complicite Associates co-production with the National Theatre, in association with HOME Manchester
River Stage,the National Theatre’soutdoor arts and music festival,returns to present a hostof free weekend entertainment from 29 July to 29 August. The festival hosts takeover weekends from Latitude Festival, Rambert Dance Company, Bristol’s Mayfest, East London’s The Glory and the NT. Each weekend will stage the very best in live music, dance, performance, DJs and family workshops
Connections 21,celebrating 21 years of the world’s largest youth arts festival.

This autumn,Peter Shaffer’s classic playAmadeusmakes a long-awaited returnto the National after 37 years. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a rowdy young prodigywho arrives in Vienna determined to make a splash. Awestruck by his genius, Court Composer Antonio Salieri has the power to promote his talent or destroy it. Seized by obsessive jealousy he begins a war with Mozart, with music and, ultimately, with God.

Directed by Michael Longhurst(The World of Extreme Happiness at the NT and Constellations),this acclaimed play had its premiere at the National Theatre in 1979, winning multiple Olivier and Tony Awards before being adapted into an Academy Award-winning film. In this new production, Lucian Msamati (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) plays Salieri, with live orchestral accompaniment by Southbank Sinfonia.Designed by Chloe Lamford, with music direction and additional music by Simon Slater, choreography by Imogen Knight,lighting byJon Clark and sound by Paul Arditti.

Amadeus runs from 19 October to 31 December, and is supported by Travelex, with hundreds of seats at £15 for every show; the production is supported by the Amadeus production syndicate, in association with Southbank Sinfonia.

The Red Barn is a new play by David Hare, based on the novel, La Main, by Georges Simenon. The great detective writer Georges Simenon escaped France at the end of World War Two, and arrived in the USA to start again. With hisAmerican wife, he settled at Shadow Rock Farm in Lakeville.Years later, he wrote La Main, a psychological thriller set in a New England farmhouse.

David Hare has taken this novel and forged from ita startling new play that unfolds in Connecticut in 1969. On their way back from a party, two couples struggle home through the snow. Not everyone arrives safely.

Directed by Robert Icke(Oresteia), with design by Bunny Christie, lighting by Paule Constable, Tim Reid as Video Designer and sound by Tom Gibbons,The Red Barnplays in theLyttelton Theatre from Thursday 6 Octoberand is currently booking to 19 November, with additional performances and cast to be announced. Produced in association with Scott Rudin.

David Hare’sStuff Happensreturnsfor one nightonlyto mark the publication of the ChilcotInquiry’sreport. Hare directs a rehearsed reading of his landmark 2004 play about the diplomatic process leading up to the invasion of Iraq. 6 July, 7.30pmin theLyttelton Theatre, all tickets priced £10.

Peter Pan, JM Barrie's much-loved tale,takes flight at the NTthis winter. When Peter Pan, the leader of the Lost Boys, loses his shadow during a visit to London, headstrong Wendy helps him reattach it. In return she is invited to Neverland – where Tinker Bell the fairy, Tiger Lily and the vengeful Captain Hook await.

Following the acclaimed Jane Eyre,Sally Cookson brings her wondrously inventive Peter Pan to the NT after a sell-out run at Bristol Old Vic. The cast includes SaikatAhamed, Suzanne Ahmet, Marc Antolin, Lois Chimimba, Laura Cubitt, Phoebe Fildes, Felix Hayes, Paul Hilton, John Leader, Amaka Okafor, John Pfumojena, Jessica Temple, Sophie Thompson, Dan Wheeler and Madeleine Worrall.

Exploring the possibilities and pain of growing up, Peter Pan is a riot of magic, mischief, music and make-believe, suitable for children aged 7 and over.Dramaturgy is by Mike Akers, with set design by Michael Vale, costume design by Katie Sykes, lighting by Aideen Malone,musicby Benji Bower, sound design by Dominic Bilkey, movement by Dan Canham, aerial direction by Gwen Hales, fight direction by Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown of RC-ANNIE Ltdand puppet direction and design by Toby Olié.

Peter Pan is a Bristol Old Vic and NT co-production, devised by the Company and based on the works of JM Barrie. The production runs from 16 November, with additional performances to be announced. Half-price tickets available for under-18s.

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour,the criticallyacclaimed stage adaptation of Alan Warner’s cult Scottish novel The Sopranos, adaptedby Lee Hall (Billy Elliot)and directed by Vicky Featherstone(Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre), receives its London premiere at the Dorfman Theatre on 8 August.

This musical tells the story of six girls on the cusp of change. Funny, sad, rude and beautifully sung, Our Ladies...is a tribute to being young, lost and out of control, featuring a soundtrack of classical music and 70s pop rock, to create a wild and tender ‘play meets gig’ about singing, sex and Sambuca. Suitable for those aged 16 and over.

The production had its premiereat the Edinburgh Festival Fringe inAugust 2015, and enjoyed a successful sell-out run at the Traverse Theatre, earning critical and audience acclaim, and picking up four awards before embarking on a national tour. The full cast includes Melissa Allan, Caroline Deyga, Kirsty Findlay, Karen Fishwick, Joanne McGuiness, Kirsty MacLaren, Frances Mayli McCann and Dawn Sievewright with musicians Amy Shackcloth, Laura Bangay, Becky Brass and Emily Linden.

Music arrangement and supervision is by Martin Lowe, design by Chloe Lamford, lighting design by Lizzie Powell and choreography by Imogen Knight. Our Ladies…marks the National Theatre of Scotland’s return to the NT in London, following the sell-out co-production of The James Plays in 2014, which is currently touring.

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour is a National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre co-production, running from 8 August to 1 October. The Dorfman Partner is Neptune Investment Management.

A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Canceris an all-singing, all-dancing examination of life with a cancer diagnosis.This brand new musical confronts the highs and lows of the scariest word we know.Bryony Kimmings creates fearless theatre to provoke social change. Her collaboration with Complicite looks behind the poster campaigns and pink ribbons at the reality of cancer: waiting rooms and chemo suites, changed bodies, family pressures and financial worries. Expect big anthems, shiny costumes, blood, tears and real cancer patients in this rip-roaring, heart-breaking celebration of ordinary life and death.

Directed by Bryony Kimmings, with the cast including NaanaAgyei-Ampadu, Amy Booth-Steel, Hal Fowler, Amanda Hadingue, Golda Rosheuvel and Gareth Snook, the show is a whistle-stop tour through life with a cancer diagnosis, with songs.The bookis by Bryony Kimmings and Brian Lobel, with lyrics by Bryony Kimmings and music by Tom Parkinson.

The production featuresset design byLucy Osborne, costume design by Christina Cunningham, choreography by Lizzi Gee, music direction by Marc Tritschler,lightingdesign by Paul Anderson and sound design by Lewis Gibson, andis a Complicite Associates co-production with the NT, in association with HOME Manchester. A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer is a Dorfman Theatre show, commissioned by Complicite and supported by Neptune Investment Management. On stage at the National from 14 October to29 November, the show contains adult themes and strong language. Tour dates include: HOME,20 to 24 September, Box Office: 0161 200 1500. Exeter Northcott, 28 September – 2 October, Box Office: 01392 726363. A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer is supported by the Mirisch & Lebenheim Charitable Foundation.

River Stage 2016

This summer the NT presentsthe River Stage festival, a free outdoorarts festivalwhich returns to the National on the South Bank to stage the very best live music, dance, performance, DJs and workshops from partners across the country:

29, 30, 31 July:The Glory on the River Stage
East London’s alternative establishment The Glory takeover the stage, led by Jonny Woo and John Sizzle. Get ready for a drag-packed tour-de-force of shows, DJs and fantastic spectacle.

5, 6, 7 August:Latitude Festival on the River Stage

Latitude Festival is packing up its tents and venturing from Suffolk to the South Bank with a selection of its family-friendly acts. There is something for everyone in this exciting, eclectic line up.

12, 13, 14 August:Mayfest on the River Stage

Bristol’s unique annual festival of contemporary theatre,Mayfest, brings a selection of unusual, playful andambitious work to the River Stage.

19, 20, 21 August:Rambert on the River Stage

Internationally renowned dance company Rambert is taking over the River Stage with a weekend of unique dance pieces from their wonderful, diverse repertoire. Book free for workshops for all ages and live music by Rambert musicians.

26, 27, 28, 29 August:National Theatre on the River Stage

The final weekend will be a heady mix of music, dance, performance and an outdoor cinema screening giving everyone something to see and do on theAugust Bank Holiday weekend.

The Young Chekhov trilogy opened to overwhelming acclaim at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2015, and comes to the Olivier Theatre from 14 July toSaturday 8 October, offering a chance to explore the birth of a revolutionary dramatic voice. Anton Chekhov’s Platonov, Ivanov and The Seagull have been adapted as new versions by David Hare and will be performed by one ensemble of actors, directed by Jonathan Kent.

The cast includes Anna Chancellor, Peter Egan, Joshua Jamesand James McArdle (both nominated for Ian Charleson Awards for their performances),Nina Sosanyaand Olivia Vinall. Set design by Tom Pye, costumes by Emma Ryott, lighting by Mark Henderson, music by Jonathan Dove, sound design by Paul Groothuis and fight direction by Paul Benzing.Each play can be seen as a single performance or enjoyed together, either over different days or as a thrilling all-day theatrical experience:

Platonov–Schoolteacher Mikhail Platonov has a problem – he’s irresistible to women. Set in the blazing heat of a rural summer, this freewheeling comedy is a cry of youthful defiance against the compromises of middle age.

Ivanov–Nikolai Ivanov is only 35, a radical and a romantic, but alreadyhe’s feeling that he’s thrown his life away. He hopes one lastdesperate romance may save him from becoming asmall-town Hamlet. This electric play is powered both byhilarious satire and passionate self-disgust.

The Seagull –On a summer’s day in a makeshift theatre by a lake,Konstantin’s cutting-edge new play is performed, changingthe lives of everyone involved forever. Chekhov’s playis both comic and tragic, and marks the birth of themodern stage.

Three Show Days –On 30 July, 3, 13, 20, 24 August, 3, 17, 24 September and8 October audiences can see all three plays on the same day.Combined tickets available.

The Plough and the Starsopens 20 July,in a production marking the centenary year of the Easter Rising. Sean O’Casey places a fixed lens to watch as a dozen vivid characters come and go – selfless, hilarious and desperate by turns – while the heroic myth of Ireland is fought over elsewhere.As the rebellion builds to a climax half a mile away, the disparate residents of a Dublin tenement go about their lives, peripheral to Ireland’s history.Howard Davies, who memorably brought Sean O’Casey’sThe Silver Tassieto the NT stage in 2014, co-directs with Jeremy Herrin (This Houseand People, Places & Things). Designed by Vicki Mortimer, with lighting by James Farncombe,music by Stephen Warbeck, sound by Paul Groothuis and fight direction by Kate Waters,the run of The Plough and the Starshas been extended until 22 October.

Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera, regarded as a landmark of 20th-century musical theatre, currently playing in the Olivier Theatre and directed by Rufus Norris, has added further performances until 1 October. London scrubs up for the coronation. The thievesare on the make, the whores on the pull, the police cutting deals to keep it all out of sight, and Mack the Knife is back in town. In this vivid and darkly comic new adaptation by Simon Stephens,containing filthy language and immoral behaviour,Rory Kinnear plays Macheath.Part of the Travelex season which offers hundreds of seats for every performance from £15, the cast also includes Rosalie Craig, Haydn Gwynne, Nick Holder, George Ikediashi, Peter De Jersey, Debbie Kurup andSharon Small. This production is supported by Travelex, with hundreds of seats at £15 for every performance, and by The Threepenny Opera appeal donors. This production is supported by Travelex, with hundreds of seats at £15 for every performance, and by The Threepenny Opera production syndicate.

Helen McCrory and director Carrie Cracknell reunite to present Terrance Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea following their acclaimed Medea in 2014. When Hester Collyer is found by her neighbours in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, the story of her tempestuous affair with a former RAF pilot and the breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge begins to emerge. With it comes a portrait of need, loneliness and long-repressed passion. Behind the veneer of post-war civility is a brutal sense of loss and longing. The production is currently playing in the Lyttelton Theatre until 21 September.

Sunset at the Villa Thalia, a new play byAlexi Kaye Campbell, spans a decade as it explores the impact of foreign influence on a nation and its people. It’s April 1967 and Greece is in political turmoil. Charlotte and Theo have retreated to a small island in search of peace and inspiration. But when they meet a charismatic American couple at the port they are seduced into making choices with devastating consequences. With a cast that includesChristos Callow, Sam Crane, GlykeriaDimou, Elizabeth McGovern, Ben Miles, Pippa Nixon and Eve Polycarpou, the productionruns until 4 August. Sunset at the Villa Thalia is a recipient of an Edgerton New Plays Award.

Suhayla El-Bushra’s take on the satirical masterpiece The Suicide, by Nikolai Erdman, updates the setting to contemporary urban Britain, bringing hip hop, live music and fast-paced humour to the Lyttelton Theatre, in a production directed by Nadia Fall and with a cast that includes Javone Prince, Ayesha Antoine, Paul Kaye and Ashley McGuire. Things are getting tough for Sam; no job, benefits stopped and stuck in a tiny flat, the pressure is building and for Sam, it feels like there might be only one way out. Supported by Travelex, with hundreds of tickets available at £15,The Suicide runs until 25 June.

National Theatre West End, UK and international touring

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Timeby Simon Stephens, based on the best-selling novel by Mark Haddonand directed by Marianne Elliott. Christopher has an extraordinary brain, exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes Christopher on a frightening journey that upturns his world. Suitable for 11-year-olds and over.Winner of 5 Tony Awards, including Best Play. Winner of 7 Olivier Awards, including Best New Play:

WEST END: Gielgud Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue, W1 Booking to 18 Feb 2017.

UK & IRELAND TOUR VENUES:The Lowry, Salford; Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh; Grand Theatre, Leeds;Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Bath Theatre Royal; Mayflower Theatre, Southampton; Nottingham Theatre Royal; Grand Opera House, Belfast; BordGáis Energy, Dublin Theatre; Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff; New Theatre, Oxford; Bristol Hippodrome; Theatre Royal, Plymouth; Birmingham Hippodrome; Liverpool Empire Theatre; Alhambra Theatre, Bradford; King’s Theatre, Glasgow; and Milton Keynes Theatre.

Assisted performances at many venues. Further venues and tour dates to be announced, see websites for details: curiousonstage.com/tour

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ON BROADWAY: Barrymore Theatre, booking until 4 September.

This House by James Graham – 1974, the UK faces economic crisis. In the engine rooms of Westminster, arcane traditions linger and a hung parliament looms. It's up to the whips to roll up their sleeves, and shepherd and coerce an unruly chorus of MPs within the Mother of all Parliaments. Following two sell-out seasons at the NT, Jeremy Herrin’s production will transfer to the West End this autumn after an upcoming run at Chichester Festival Theatre’s Minerva Theatre.