London’s beloved National Theatre has finally reopened for the summer.
Thanks to their excellent, lockdown-spanning National Theatre at Home project, the temporary loss of the National Theatre hasn’t felt as heavy a blow as it could have done. Still, life is far better when the venerable theatre is back in business, and happily that date has finally arrived. The National Theatre has just reopened with a new production, and a second one is due to arrive two weeks later, on June 16.
[National Theatre]In fact, for the first time since last March, the National Theatre is about to open more than one of their three theatres. They’d previously reopened the Olivier Theatre (their main auditorium) in October for Death of England: Delroy, which, in a dramatic twist worthy of any good stage adaptation, was forced to close on its official opening night due to the November lockdown. This time, the Olivier is back from June 16, whilst the Dorfman Theatre has already opened its doors to visitors.
As for the plays, the National Theatre has lined up a tantalising pair of prospects for us to enjoy. The big opening is a new version of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, set to open at the Olivier on June 16. It’ll star Michael Sheen, Karl Johnson, and Sian Phillips, and tells the tale of a small Welsh fishing village and its residents, who are struggling with old secrets and new challenges.
[National Theatre]In the Dorfman Theatre, meanwhile, you can now find an intriguing play to kick off the reopening season. After Life is an adaptation of the Hirokazu Koreeda film of the same name, in which a group of people trapped in the waiting room between life and death have to decide on one memory, in which they will spend the rest of eternity. It’s being brought together by Harry Potter & The Cursed Child writer Jack Thorne, set and costume designer extraordinaire Bunny Christie, and director Jeremy Herrin. It runs from June 2 to July 24, and is hopefully just the first of many plays we’ll be seeing this year!
Stay up to date on the full reopening and new productions here.