Paul Mescal and Stormzy set for new shows

Theatre audiences will get a double dose of Paul Mescal in 2027, after the Irish actor signed up for two productions at the National Theatre.

The star of Normal People and Gladiator II will appear in two classic 20th Century plays – Death of a Salesman and A Whistle in the Dark.

The shows are among a raft of new productions that were announced by the prestigious London venue’s new artistic director Indhu Rubasingham on Tuesday.

Other stars coming to the National’s stage over the next two years include recent Oscar nominee Monica Barbaro and Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan, while rap artist Stormzy will collaborate with the theatre on a new production.

Rubasingham was named artistic director in December 2023, taking over from Rufus Norris after his decade in charge.

The National’s Lyttelton Theatre will return to a repertory model for the first time since 2020, meaning multiple shows will be staged concurrently featuring the same cast.

As part of a new repertory run, Paul Mescal will make his National Theatre debut in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Tom Murphy’s A Whistle in the Dark.

Despite having different settings and cultural backgrounds, bosses said the two shows shared common themes of dysfunctional family relationships and the weight of societal and familial expectations.

Mescal, who won an Olivier Award in 2023 for A Streetcar Named Desire, will play Biff Loman in Death of a Salesman. It has not yet been announced who will play the character’s father Willy, who is central to the play.

US actress Monica Barbaro, recently nominated for an Oscar for playing Joan Baez opposite Timothee Chalamet in Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, will appear in a revival of romance drama Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

She and Poldark star Aidan Turner will make their National Theatre debuts in the show alongside Lesley Manville.

Meanwhile, Derry Girls star Siobhán McSweeney, Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan and The Sixth Commandement’s Éanna Hardwicke will appear together in John Millington Synge’s Irish classic The Playboy of the Western World.

A new collaboration between the theatre and rap artist Stormzy was also announced, but details have not yet been revealed.

It is a project Rubasingham first pitched as part of her application for the job, saying his involvement would make for a “cut-through show that goes beyond theatre”.

After being appointed, Rubasingham joked she spent “six to eight months doggedly pursuing Stormzy and his team”, and he came on board after visiting the building.

She said the project was “very exciting” and confirmed it would be “a piece with his music”, but added: “I’m not saying more than that.”

In a statement, Stormzy said he had “always been drawn to theatre” and said he and Rubasingham “properly hit it off” when they met. “I’m excited to go on this creative journey with her,” he added.

Elsewhere, Black Panther star Letitia Wright will appear in The Story, a new play by US writer Tracey Scott Wilson about an ambitious black journalist who defies her editor to pursue an incendiary lead.

Other productions announced on Tuesday included:

• Pride, a new musical based on 2014’s Bafta-winning film, will explore the true story of how a group of lesbian and gay activists joined the miners’ strike campaign of 1984
• Rubasingham will direct Bacchae by Nima Taleghani, a retelling of an ancient Greek story featuring a “riot of lyricism, music and movement”, opening in September
• She will also direct a new adaptation of The Jungle Book, using puppetry to help retell the Rudyard Kipling story, opening next Christmas
• Kendall Feaver’s adaptation of Noel Streatfeild’s novel Ballet Shoes, will return in November after a successful run over the 2024 festive season
• Shakespeare’s Hamlet will return in September starring Life of Pi’s Hiran Abeysekera
• There will also be a new piece of work celebrating the 25th anniversary of immersive theatre company Punchdrunk, and a new adaptation of Man and Boy, marking 50 years since the death of its writer Terence Rattigan

Born in Sheffield and with Sri-Lankan heritage, Rubasingham is the seventh artistic director since the National was founded by Sir Laurence Olivier in 1963, and the first woman to hold the position.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, she pledged that the National’s next chapter would be known for telling “bold stories in big ways, which cross continents, move hearts and open minds”.

“It’s making sure that audiences who love the National and have been going there for 40 or 50 years are still wanting to be part of it, as well as attracting audiences that don’t feel welcome or don’t know the National,” she said.

Asked whether she would want the National to eventually return to the levels of repertory theatre being performed at the venue before the pandemic, Rubasingham replied: “If the finances allowed, it would be really wonderful.

“It is more expensive to rep,” she noted, “but there are a lot of advantages in terms of taking riskier work, and allowing word of mouth.”