The new boss of the National Theatre has a big job on her hands. The combination of Covid, funding cuts and rising costs has left it struggling financially. Audiences remain stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels, with plenty of theatregoers complaining about high ticket prices for mediocre productions. Bubbling away is the eternal question of the National’s role as the country’s pre-eminent stage venue in helping to tell the nation a story about its cultural and political life at a time of growing fragmentation.
There will be rap adaptations (why?) of Greek tragedy. There will also be a show involving Stormzy, the chart-topping rapper
What then can be gleaned about this and more from the first season plans of the theatre’s new artistic director? Indhu Rubasingham is the venue’s first female and ethnic minority artistic director — she was born in Sheffield and is of Sri-Lankan heritage. In unveiling her first season, there was, rather depressingly, much talk about ‘international’ priorities and diverse casting to appeal to global viewers.
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