National Theatre announces final season for Rufus Norris including Sondheim, Rosamund Pike, London Road, and more

The National Theatre has announced programming for Rufus Norris’ final season as artistic director – beginning next spring.

Lynette Linton will direct Arinzé Kene and Cherrelle Skeete in Michael Abbensetts’ comedy Alterations, sourced from the Black Plays Archive. The play, running in the Lyttelton Theatre from 20 February to 5 April and with new material by Trish Cooke, is grounded in the Guyanese experience of 1970s London.

Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, with a book penned by David Ives, will transfer from New York to London – you can find out more about the show here. Daniel Raggett will direct Shaan Sahota’s brand-new play The Estate, led by Adeel Akhtar (Sherwood), running in the Dorfman in summer 2025. Also involved are set designer Chloe Lamford, lighting designer Jessica Hung Han Yun and sound designer Mike Winship.

Juliet Stevenson will star in former Young Vic artistic director David Lan’s new play The Land of the Living, directed by Stephen Daldry and running in the Dorfman from September 2025. After that, David Eldridge will complete his trilogy of plays, following Beginning  and Middle, with End, directed by artistic director Rachel O’Riordan. It plays in the winter of 2025, with O’Riordan joined by set and costume designer Gary McCann, lighting designer Sally Ferguson and sound designer Donato Wharton.

The team behind Prima Facie will reunite for a new play, Inter Alia – you can find out more about it here – alongside the lead casting of Rosamund Pike.

As already revealed, James Graham’s Dear England  will return for a new run on the Olivier stage, before transferring to the Lowry in Salford.

Speaking of re-appraisals, Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork’s London Road will return to the National Theatre for a new run from 5 to 21 June, as will Tim Price’s Nye, from 3 to 16 July, once more starring Michael Sheen, also playing at Cardiff’s Millennium Centre for a new spell.

The season was revealed at the venue’s colossal costume and prop store, all part of the venue’s drive to improve sustainability and green initiatives, in response to the climate crisis.

Norris said today: “Leading the creative powerhouse that is the National Theatre over the past decade has been a profound privilege. I am humbled by the commitment, dedication and passion shown day in and day out by the extraordinary people who have joined me in the mission to make the NT a representative, sustainable, world class theatre, reaching far beyond its concrete walls.

“From establishing the New Work Department, which has sparked an explosion of new voices on and off stage, to creating NT at Home, now streaming in nearly every county in the world, I am beyond thrilled that NT now has a global audience reach of 19 million. There is simply nowhere else like it on earth. I can’t wait to watch from the wings as it flourishes and grows for future generations to enjoy under the brilliant leadership of Indhu Rubasingham and Kate Varah.”