Judy scene-stealer Jessie Buckley and The Crown’s Prince Charles, Josh O’Connor, will heat up National Theatre’s Olivier Theatre this summer as the Bard’s ill-fated lovers in Romeo and Juliet. Directed by Simon Godwin, the production is set in present-day Italy.
The drama is just one of nine additional works added to the U.K. theatre company’s 2020–2021 season.
Kicking off the summer is the Dominic Cooke-directed production of Emlyn Williams’ The Corn is Green (June 17–August 22) at National’s Lyttelton Theatre. The Welsh play returns to London for the first time in 35 years with Olivier winner Nicola Walker (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) starring as Miss Moffat.
After a sold-out run at Chichester Festival Theatre, Roy Williams’ Sing Yer Heart Out For the Lads comes in September to the Dorfman in a production directed by Nicole Charles
October will welcome the return of Helen Edmundson’s adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Small Island at the Olivier after a sold-out run in 2019. Outline. Transit. Kudos., by Alice Birch, adapted from Rachel Cusk’s novels, will open at the Lyttelton the same month.
April de Angelis' Kerry Jackson will have its world premiere at the Dorfman in November with Indhu Rubasingham directing. Set in the Hackney borough of London, the play examines gentrification through the eyes of a local restaurant.
Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient, Fleabag) makes her NT debut in Simon Stone’s adaptation of Phaedra at the Lyttelton, beginning December 2020. Joining Scott Thomas on stage is Assaad Bouab, with Stone set to direct.
Ringing in 2021 at the Olivier is Standing at Sky’s Edge, a co-production with Sheffield Theatres. Directed by Sheffield Theatres Artistic Director Robert Hastie, featuring music and lyrics by Richard Hawley and a book by Chris Bush, the musical follows three families living in Sheffield, England.
A new play by Jack Thorne, After Life, will open at the Dorfman in January 2021. Adapted from the movie by Hirokazu Kore-eda, the Headlong co-production is directed by Jeremy Herrin.
In February at the Lyttelton is Blues for an Alabama Sky, starring Olivier winner Giles Terera (Hamilton), directed by Bush Theatre Artistic Director Lynette Linton. An Off-Broadway production of the Pearl Cleage play opened February 18.
In addition to the new productions, the previously announced Welcome to Iran (May 21–June 13) has found its cast. Playwright Nadia Fall directs the play with a cast comprised of Moe Bar-El, Nalân Burgess, Souad Faress, Karina Fernandez, Nicholas Karimi, Serena Manteghi, Maimuna Memon, Isabella Nefar, Kareem Samara, and Joplin Sibtain. Also already announced is Emma Rice's adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
