London’s National Theatre has unveiled a packed 2026 program featuring a constellation of international stars including Cate Blanchett, Sandra Oh, Lesley Manville, Letitia Wright, and Nina Hoss, as the venerable institution expands its reach across U.K. and global stages.
The slate represents the vision of co-chief executives Indhu Rubasingham and Kate Varah to bring global talent to both reimagined classics and ambitious new work while extending the theater’s footprint through tours, Broadway transfers, and digital distribution.
Two-time Oscar winner Blanchett reunites with “Tár” co-star Hoss and rising talent Ella Lily Hyland in Benedict Andrews’ “Electra/Persona,” fusing Sophocles’ ancient myth with Ingmar Bergman’s 1966 film. The production features music by Oscar-winning composer Hildur Guðnadóttir and examines how grief transforms identity. It plays the Lyttelton in autumn 2026.
Oh makes her National Theatre debut alongside Paul Chahidi and Abigail Cruttenden in Martin Crimp’s contemporary adaptation of Molière’s “The Misanthrope,” directed by Rubasingham. The production reimagines the titular character as Alice, a novelist who despises hollow contemporary mantras and faces backlash for speaking her mind. The show runs June 16-Aug. 1 in the Lyttelton Theatre.
Wright makes her National Theatre bow in Tracey Scott Wilson’s newsroom thriller “The Story,” directed by associate artist Clint Dyer. The British premiere also stars Aliyah Odoffin, Wilf Scolding, Ashley Thomas, and Lorraine Toussaint, examining an ambitious Black reporter who defies her editor to pursue an incendiary lead. Performances run Aug. 27-Oct. 24 on the Olivier stage.
Manville joins Monica Barbaro, Gabrielle Drake and Aidan Turner in Marianne Elliott’s revival of Christopher Hampton’s “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” returning to the National Theatre after nine years. The production marks the first staging of Hampton’s acclaimed adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ epistolary novel at the National Theatre. It plays the Lyttelton March 21-June 6.
The global phenomenon “War Horse,” based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel and adapted by Nick Stafford, returns to its original Olivier Theatre home ahead of its 20th anniversary in 2027. The production, featuring ground-breaking puppetry by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, has been seen by over 8.8 million people worldwide and won more than 25 major awards including the Tony for best play. It runs May 16-July 30.
The season opens with Terence Rattigan’s “Man and Boy,” directed by Anthony Lau in his National Theatre debut, starring Ben Daniels and Laurie Kynaston. The drama about power, deception, and the complex bond between father and son is set in 1930s New York as international financier Gregor Antonescu’s empire faces collapse. It plays the Dorfman Jan. 30-March 14 and will be released on National Theatre at Home.
Winsome Pinnock reunites with director Miranda Cromwell for “The Authenticator,” a gothic psychological thriller starring Rakie Ayola, Sylvestra Le Touzel, and Cherelle Skeete. After inheriting her family’s stately home, eccentric artist Fenella Harford discovers hidden diaries and enlists two academics to uncover dark secrets at Harford Hall. It runs in the Dorfman March 26-May 9 and will also stream on National Theatre at Home.
Producers P&P Productions bring “Pride,” a new musical based on the award-winning film, reuniting director Matthew Warchus and writer Stephen Beresford. The show tells the inspiring true story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners during the 1984 miners’ strike, with original music by Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen, and DJ Walde. The cast includes Samuel Barnett, Matthew Durkan, Gillian Elisa, and Caroline Sheen. Following previews at Sherman Theatre in Cardiff March 31-April 18, it plays the Dorfman June 11-Sept. 12.
Portuguese playwright and Avignon Festival director Tiago Rodrigues brings his critically acclaimed “Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists” to the Dorfman for a limited one-week run in September, performed in Portuguese with English surtitles.
Multi-award-winning playwright Caryl Churchill returns to the National Theatre for the first time since 2019 with her landmark play “Cloud 9,” exploring sexual politics, colonialism, and gender roles. Dominic Cooke reunites with Churchill to direct the production in the Lyttelton in autumn/winter 2026.
Francesca Mills stars in a new production of Jim Cartwright’s “The Rise and Fall of Little Voice,” directed by Robert Hastie, marking the start of a new commitment to tour work directly following mainstage runs. The production plays the Dorfman Theatre in December 2026 before embarking on a nationwide tour.
British playwright Helen Edmundson returns with “Some Woman,” her first original play since “Queen Anne” in 2015. The production will play the Dorfman later in 2026.
Carmen Nasr makes her National Theatre debut with “Samira,” directed by Emily Burns. Set at the height of the Arab Spring in 2011, the play examines a Middle Eastern Studies department in London thrown into crisis when a young Syrian blogger vanishes without a trace. The show, inspired by true events, begins rehearsals in late 2026 in the Dorfman.
As the National Theatre prepares to celebrate 60 years of Broadway activity in 2027, two productions transfer to New York in 2026: Hastie’s “Hamlet,” starring Hiran Abeysekera, plays Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theatre April 19-May 17, while Alexander Zeldin’s critically acclaimed “The Other Place” runs at The Shed Jan. 30-March 1. Both transfers launch multi-year partnerships with the New York venues.
Rosamund Pike reprises her critically acclaimed role in the West End transfer of “Inter Alia,” written by Suzie Miller and directed by Justin Martin. The co-production with Playful Productions runs at Wyndham’s Theatre March 19-June 20 following a sold-out run at the National Theatre.
The 2026 season also includes Robert Hastie’s staging of Nina Raine and Moses Raine’s new version of Maxim Gorky’s “Summerfolk” (Olivier, March 6-April 29) and Anupama Chandrasekhar’s new adaptation of “The Jungle Book” as the winter festive offering, directed by Rubasingham with puppetry by Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes.
The National Theatre is expanding its digital footprint with an ambition for every production to have a life beyond its stages through streaming platform National Theatre at Home or cinema releases via National Theatre Live.
In a continued push to reach every child in the U.K. before they leave school, the 2025 production of “Bacchae” is being adapted by Nima Taleghani to tour school halls across England for nine weeks this autumn, directed by Hannah Hauer-King. The tour will reach over 10,000 students in secondary schools and colleges.
The Connections Festival will take place at the Lowry in Salford June 25-28, while the New Views Festival returns to the National Theatre July 2-3, platforming new writing from students across the U.K.
“I can’t wait to dive into this year with an extraordinary group of emerging and world-renowned artists coming to the National Theatre, many for the first time,” Rubasingham said in a statement. “It’s a privilege to stage work that theatrically explodes, surprises and challenges us to see the world anew.”
Varah added: “Our 2026 season is about sharing stories locally, nationally and globally. In this way, along with our growing digital footprint, we are opening doors in the U.K. and around the world like never before.”
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