London’s National Theatre has unveiled its 2027 program, with Paul Mescal, Emma Corrin and Emilia Clarke topping a star-heavy slate of 18 productions, eight of them world premieres, spanning the venue’s three stages and beyond.
Mescal returns to the Lyttelton theater for a repertory season, playing Biff Loman in Rebecca Frecknall’s staging of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” before switching to the role of Michael Carney in Caitríona McLaughlin’s production of Tom Murphy’s “A Whistle in the Dark,” a co-production with Ireland’s Abbey Theatre. Tracy Letts makes his U.K. stage acting debut as Willy Loman opposite Monica Dolan’s Linda Loman, with Ciarán Hinds also joining the cast.
Indhu Rubasingham, director and co-chief executive of the National Theatre, said next year’s program “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.” Kate Varah, executive director and co-chief executive, said the 2027 slate “reflects a scale, ambition and reach that places us at the heart of the U.K.’s thriving cultural ecosystem,” pointing to a National Theatre audience that now spans 184 countries.
The remaining world premieres include James Graham’s “Major,” reuniting the writer with director Jeremy Herrin after their acclaimed “This House” to dramatize John Major’s rise to prime minister, and Rubasingham’s staging of Moira Buffini’s “The Great Indaba,” a co-production with MGC dramatizing the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Carmen Nasr’s “Samira,” set during the Arab Spring and directed by Emily Burns, stars May Calamawy, Joshua McGuire and Sirine Saba.
