At a moment when the world's fractures feel both ancient and newly urgent, the National Theatre has announced a 2027 season built around eight world premieres — stories of political rupture, identity, and reconciliation drawn from the Arab Spring, post-apartheid South Africa, the Caribbean, and Britain's own European crossroads. James Graham returns to the parliamentary stage with a portrait of John Major's unlikely rise to power, while the season as a whole signals a deliberate turn away from canonical certainty toward original, internationally-minded storytelling. The absence of Shakespeare
National Theatre announces Major play among eight world premieres exploring political upheaval
Eight new plays about political rupture, not Shakespeare
Mark
So the National Theatre is essentially saying Shakespeare can wait. Why make that choice now?
Mimi
They're not saying Shakespeare can wait forever—Hamlet goes to their streaming service. But yes, they're choosing to use their three main stages for something else. Eight new plays, most of them about political rupture or social identity. It's a statement about what the moment demands.
Luke
Though we should be careful here. The announcement says eight premieres out of 18 productions. That's less than half. They're still doing West Side Story, Death of a Salesman, Plenty. So it's not a total abandonment of the canon—it's a rebalancing.
Mark
What's the through-line? What connects a play about John Major to one about the Arab Spring?
Mimi
Rubasingham called it "themes of resilience and hope." But more concretely, they're all about moments when the political order shifts. Major taking over from Thatcher. The Good Friday agreement. The Arab Spring. A man confronting his identity within a marriage and a society. These are stories about people navigating upheaval.
Luke
That's fair, but I'd note we don't have scripts yet. We have titles, writers, and directors. The actual thematic coherence will depend on what these plays actually say when they open.
Mark
Is this a risky bet for the National?
Mimi
It's an investment in original storytelling at a time when theatres are competing with streaming and film. They're betting that audiences want new work that speaks to now, not just revivals.
Luke
The real test is whether these plays land artistically. Eight world premieres is ambitious. Some will likely be stronger than others. And the claim about "international spirit"—we'll see if that's borne out in the actual casting, creative teams, and storytelling choices.
Mark
What about the absence of Shakespeare? Does that matter?
Mimi
Symbolically, yes. It signals a shift in institutional priorities. Practically, it frees up stages for new work. But it's also worth noting that Hamlet isn't disappearing—it's moving to their streaming platform.
Luke
Which raises a question: is the National Theatre saying that Shakespeare belongs to the streaming audience, not the live theatre audience? Or is it just a practical scheduling choice? The announcement doesn't clarify that.
Il Polso
- The National Theatre is staking its 2027 identity on eight world premieres, a bold wager that original stories of global conflict and resilience matter more right now than the classics that once defined its reputation.
- James Graham's portrait of John Major — the whip who became prime minister as Britain's European future trembled — arrives as political instability again dominates public life, making the commission feel less like history and more like a mirror.
- Shakespeare has been quietly moved off the main stages and into the streaming archive, a symbolic demotion that will unsettle traditionalists and embolden those who believe national theatres must earn their relevance anew.
- Star power is being deployed with intention: Paul Mescal in Death of a Salesman and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Emilia Clarke in Plenty, Emma Corrin and Harriet Walter in Suddenly Last Summer — names that pull audiences toward unfamiliar territory.
- Director Indhu Rubasingham is framing the entire season around resilience and hope, positioning the National not as a South Bank monument but as a living institution reaching schools, cinemas, and streaming platforms across the country and beyond.
At a moment when the world's fractures feel both ancient and newly urgent, the National Theatre has announced a 2027 season built around eight world premieres — stories of political rupture, identity, and reconciliation drawn from the Arab Spring, post-apartheid South Africa, the Caribbean, and Britain's own European crossroads. James Graham returns to the parliamentary stage with a portrait of John Major's unlikely rise to power, while the season as a whole signals a deliberate turn away from canonical certainty toward original, internationally-minded storytelling. The absence of Shakespeare from the main stages is not an oversight but a statement: the institution is recalibrating what a national theatre owes its moment in history.
The National Theatre has announced eight world premieres for its 2027 season, marking a conscious shift toward stories of political upheaval and global conflict over the canonical works that have long defined its stages. At the season's centre is a new play by James Graham — the writer behind the celebrated parliamentary drama This House — tracing John Major's improbable rise from parliamentary whip to prime minister at the moment Britain's relationship with Europe was most precarious. Jeremy Herrin, Graham's collaborator on This House, will direct.
The premieres range widely in geography and subject. One play is set during the Arab Spring; another dramatises a 1997 meeting in South Africa where Nelson Mandela's government hosted Northern Irish political rivals as the Good Friday negotiations neared their breakthrough. Oladipo Agboluaje has written a family saga starring Uzo Aduba, and Natasha Gordon has adapted Bernardine Evaristo's novel Mr Loverman — a story of a married Caribbean man confronting his sexuality — with Gary Beadle, Jo Martin, and Danny Sapani in the cast. The season also includes Glorious Madness, a new British musical featuring songs by Joan Armatrading, and Ghostlight, an immersive production by Punchdrunk's Felix Barrett.
Alongside the premieres, the National has programmed a carefully chosen selection of modern classics. Paul Mescal will lead a repertory pairing of Death of a Salesman and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, while Emilia Clarke takes on David Hare's Plenty and Emma Corrin and Harriet Walter appear in Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer. What is conspicuously absent is Shakespeare — Hamlet will be added to the National Theatre Collection, the institution's streaming and education service, rather than staged in any of the three main houses.
The 18-production season, described by director Indhu Rubasingham as united by "resilience and hope," reflects a theatre actively redefining its reach and its responsibilities. No longer anchored solely to the South Bank, the National is extending itself through cinema, schools, and streaming — and its programming choices suggest an institution that believes the world's present conflicts demand urgent, original artistic attention.
The National Theatre is building its 2027 season around eight world premieres, a deliberate pivot toward stories of political rupture and global conflict rather than the canonical works that have long anchored its stages. At the center sits a new play about John Major's unlikely ascent from parliamentary whip to prime minister, written by James Graham and directed by Jeremy Herrin, the pair behind the acclaimed parliamentary drama This House. The play will trace Major's emergence at a moment when Britain's relationship with Europe hung in the balance, examining what leadership demands when the political ground shifts beneath a nation's feet.
Graham has made recent political history his recurring subject, and this commission represents another return to that terrain. The National Theatre's director, Indhu Rubasingham, framed the entire season as an exploration of "the perspectives, cultures and conflicts that continue to shape our world"—a statement of intent that extends far beyond Major's story. Among the eight new works are plays set during the Arab Spring, a drama centered on a 1997 meeting in South Africa where Nelson Mandela's new government sat down with Northern Irish political rivals as the Good Friday agreement negotiations approached their breakthrough, and a family saga by British Nigerian writer Oladipo Agboluaje that will star Uzo Aduba. Natasha Gordon has adapted Bernardine Evaristo's acclaimed novel Mr Loverman for the stage, a work about a married Caribbean man confronting his sexuality, with Gary Beadle, Jo Martin, and Danny Sapani in the initial cast.
The season also includes a new British musical called Glorious Madness, featuring songs by Joan Armatrading, and an immersive production by Punchdrunk called Ghostlight, conceived and directed by founder Felix Barrett. Alongside the premieres, the National has programmed modern classics and 20th-century works: West Side Story, Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer with Emma Corrin and Harriet Walter, David Hare's Plenty starring Emilia Clarke, and Death of a Salesman with Paul Mescal and Tracy Letts. Tom Murphy's A Whistle in the Dark and Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead will also appear, with Mescal leading a repertory production.
What is notably absent is any Shakespeare production among the National's three main stages. Hamlet will instead be added to the National Theatre Collection, the organization's streaming and education service—a symbolic choice that signals where the institution's priorities now lie. The 2027 programme totals 18 productions, with the eight premieres representing a significant investment in what Kate Varah, the theatre's executive and co-chief executive, called "original storytelling" and "bold artistic voices." Rubasingham described the season as united by "themes of resilience and hope," intended to reflect "the international spirit at the heart of our National Theatre."
The programming shift reflects a broader ambition: the National is no longer primarily a South Bank institution. It is reaching audiences through cinema, streaming, and schools, with the 2027 season designed to extend that reach. The balance of the announcement—eight world premieres against a handful of established works, no Shakespeare, a deliberate focus on contemporary political and social upheaval—suggests a theatre institution recalibrating its mission at a moment when the world's conflicts and transformations demand urgent artistic attention.
Citazioni salienti
The season examines the perspectives, cultures and conflicts that continue to shape our world— Indhu Rubasingham, National Theatre director
The programme represents an investment in original storytelling and bold artistic voices— Kate Varah, National Theatre executive and co-chief executive
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Politics & Governance