“This has been the greatest adventure”: Rufus Norris announces his final lineup of work as National Theatre director

Rufus Norris outlines the upcoming programming ahead of stepping down as director of the National Theatre in 2025, concluding his triumphant decade-long run at the helm of the organisation. Since joining in 2015, Norris has nurtured the theatre’s artistic programme into a powerhouse for new writing, broadened representation on and off the stage, wider global audience reach and prioritised environmental sustainability.

In line with the director’s ongoing commitment towards sustainable theatre, the programme was fittingly launched at the new National Theatre Green Store in Bermondsey – its latest and largest initiative responding to the climate crisis. As part of the theatre’s goal to reach net zero by 2030, the store houses costumes and props in one space to promote the reuse of materials across productions. An electric truck will also shuttle between the Green Store and the Southbank, significantly cutting carbon emissions.

Norris’s final season kicks off 2025 with the world premieres of four new plays. The Estate, a debut political satire from Shaan Sahota and directed by Daniel Raggett, will star Adeel Akhtara as an ambitious politician facing turmoil in the wake of a family tragedy. Following their successful collaboration on Prima Facie, Suzie Miller teams up again with director Justin Martin for Inter Alia, featuring Rosamund Pike in her National Theatre debut as a High Court Judge wrestling with the conflicting demands of her professional duties with her personal ties. Former Young Vic artistic director David Lan’s The Land of the Living, directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Juliet Stevenson, will tell the story of displaced children in the immediate aftermath of World War II, and rounding out this sharp lineup is End, the final instalment of David Eldridge’s trilogy (Beginning, Middle) all commissioned by Norris during his tenure.

With plenty of new work on offer, the National Theatre will also be welcoming back three cherished productions. James Graham’s renowned football drama Dear England, directed by Rupert Goold, will have a four-week run, this time with an updated version to reflect Gareth Southgate’s last chapter as England Manager. Also returning with a limited run is Alecky Blythe and Adam Cook’s highly anticipated musical London Road directed by Norris, who is particularly excited to share with audiences for both its groundbreaking form and combination of uncomfortable truths about our modern life and the enduring value of community. Finally, returning to Cardiff is Tim Pryce’s Nye; directed by Norris and with Good Omens star Michael Sheen returning to lead the story of Aneurin Nye Bevan’s battle to create the NHS.

Looking back on the 400 NHS workers who were offered free tickets to see Nye on stage earlier this year, along with another 1,000 invited to enjoy the live broadcast in cinemas, Norris is reminded of the tremendous privilege it has been for him to remind audiences of the valuable institution that is the NHS, but he also underscores how the initiative demonstrates how radically we have changed the way we consume the best of British theatre, especially in the shadow of the covid pandemic. Available to stream worldwide, the National Theatre reaches a global audience of 19 million every year through live and digital work, continually cultivating more theatre-goers and theatre-makers than ever before. Take Your Seats is Norris’s latest digital initiative to expand global reach and make art accessible to all, where audiences will be able to stream Nye on YouTube for free in November. London Road will also be recorded for a future streaming release on National Theatre at Home.

True to his commitment to celebrating talent often overlooked by the theatrical canon, a revival of Guyana-born British writer Michael Abbensetts’s 1979 comedy Alterations from the Black Plays Archive – refreshed with additional material by Trish Cooke – will see the stage for the first time in 40 years. Directed by Lynette Linton, the play spotlights the Guyesene experience of 1970s London and explores the aspirations and sacrifices of the Windrush generation. While championing productions centred on people of colour has been a cornerstone of Norris’s last decade (Barber Shop Chronicles, the Norris-directed Small Island, The Father and the Assassin, and most recently the highly praised Hot Wing King), he understands that there remains a long way to go in giving their stories sustained platform. One of the more momentous announcements includes the UK debut of the late Stephen Sondheim’s final musical Here We Are, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2023. Directed by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello, it follows a group of friends who find their dinner party interrupted by bizarre events that trap them in an endless evening; its cast will include Tracie Bennett, Rory Kinnear and Denis O’Hare, all of whom are no strangers to the NT stage. “The National was a beloved and second home for Stephen,” Norris expresses, “and it feels deeply appropriate so soon after his passing to share his final work with UK audiences.”

Extending outreach has been paramount to the director’s leadership, particularly where young people are concerned. The National Theatre is now delivering its learning programmes into every local authority in the UK, and 89% of secondary schools across the country signed up to the NT Collection, a unique free resource that supports learning in classrooms not just in the UK but also now in New York public schools, a sector poised for significant growth. Connections, the National Theatre’s youth programme, will celebrate its 30^th anniversary next year, having involved 125,000 young people over the decades – notable alumni including David Oyelowo, who takes on the title role in Coriolanus.

Before passing the directorial baton to his successor, Indhu Rubasingham, Norris will stick around for the next six months supporting these nine shows that showcase the breadth of background and depth of talent in the country’s storytelling community. He will also work alongside Rubasingham as she develops her first programme, facilitating a smooth transition. “My own future is very much an open book at the moment,” Norris reflects, but he can’t think of anyone better to entrust with the future of the National Theatre than her.

Ruweyda Sheik-Ali

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The upcoming NT programming for 2024/2025:

Take Your Seats: Nye	National Theatre at Home	From 7pm (GMT) 7 – 11 November 2024
Secondary Schools Tour: The LeftBehinds	Nationwide schools tour	January – March 2025
Alterations	Lyttelton Theatre	20 February – 5 April 2025
Dear England	Olivier Theatre & The Lowry, Salford	10 March 2025 – 24 May 2025
Here We Are	Lyttelton Theatre	23 April – 28 June 2025
Connections 30th Anniversary	Dorfman Theatre	June 2025
London Road	Olivier Theatre	5 – 21 June 2025
Nye	Olivier Theatre & Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff	3 July – 16 August 2025
Inter Alia	Lyttelton Theatre	TBA
The Estate	Dorfman Theatre	TBA
The Land of the Living	Dorfman Theatre	TBA
End	Dorfman Theatre	TBA