National Theatre announce summer season featuring leading actors from stage and screen

The National Theatre have announced new productions for all three of its South Bank stages this summer: Jack Absolute Flies Again in the Olivier Theatre, Much Ado About Nothing in the Lyttelton Theatre and All of Us in the Dorfman Theatre, with tickets on sale to the public from 10 March.  

Jack Absolute Flies Again is a riotous and comedic new version of Sheridan’s The Rivals, co-written by Richard Bean and Oliver Chris, which will play in the Olivier Theatre in July. Originally due to open in April 2020, Emily Burns will direct Laurie Davidson (Cats) as Jack Absolute, alongside Caroline Quentin (Jonathan Creek) as Mrs Malaprop, Natalie Simpson (Three Sisters) as Lydia Languish, Kelvin Fletcher (Emmerdale) as Dudley Scunthorpe and Kerry Howard (Him & Her) as Lucy. James Corrigan, Theo Cowan, Jordan Metcalfe, George Kemp, Akshay Sharan, Tim Steed, Geoffrey Towers, Shona White and Helena Wilson also join the company.  

The production features set and costumes by Mark Thompson, lighting by Tim Lutkin, composition by Paul Englishby, sound by Paul Arditti, video and projection by Jeff Sugg, and choreography by Lizzi Gee. 

Simon Godwin will return to the Lyttelton Theatre to direct Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in July. Set in the Italian Riviera at the fictional Hotel Messina, Katherine Parkinson (Home, I’m Darling) will play Beatrice, with John Heffernan (The Pursuit of Love) as Benedick in Shakespeare’s timeless romantic comedy. The production has set design by Anna Fleischle, costumes by Evie Gurney, lighting by Lucy Carter, composition by Michael Bruce and sound by Christopher Shutt.   

Award-winning writer and comedian Francesca Martinez will make her NT debut with her new play All of Us, directed by Ian Rickson, playing in the Dorfman this July; a powerful and timely drama that explores the human cost of abandoning those who struggle to fit in.

The cast is led by Francesca Martinez alongside Chris Anderson, Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Bryan Dick, Kevin Hely, Christopher-John Slater, Francesca Mills and Wanda Opalinska. The set and costume design is by Georgia Lowe, with lighting by Anna Watson, movement by Lucy Cullingford, composition by Stephen Warbeck, and sound by Gregory Clarke.

Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre, Lynette Linton makes her National Theatre debut with a new production of Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky in the Lyttelton theatre from September. This startling play, set in 1930 during the Harlem renaissance, is about four friends whose lives and passions collide when a newcomer from Alabama arrives. Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale, Orange is the New Black) performs the role of Angel Allen, with Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo (Three Sisters) as Delia Patterson, Osy Ikhile (Sweat) as Leland Cunningham, Sule Rimi (Barber Shop Chronicles) as Sam Thomas and Giles Terera (Death of England: Face to Face) performing the role of Guy Jacobs.  

The production has set and costume design by Frankie Bradshaw, lighting by Oli Fenwick, movement by Kane Husbands, composition by Ben Kwasi Burrell, and sound by George Dennis. Tickets for Blues for an Alabama Sky will go on sale in May. 

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