{"id":60994,"date":"2025-04-29T19:25:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T19:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/60994\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T19:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T19:25:09","slug":"paul-mescal-monica-barbaro-more-stars-in-national-theatre-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/60994\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Mescal, Monica Barbaro & More Stars In National Theatre Lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tGladiator II\u2019s\u00a0Paul Mescal<\/a>,\u00a0A Complete Unknown\u2019s\u00a0Monica Barbaro<\/a>,\u00a0Black Panther\u2019s\u00a0Letitia Wright<\/a> and\u00a0Bridgerton\u2019s\u00a0Nicola Coughlan<\/a> will be making their debuts at the National Theatre<\/a>, regarded by many as Britain\u2019s top cultural institution.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey\u2019re among a host of star names invited to tread the NT\u2019s boards by Indhu Rubasingham<\/a>, the organization\u2019s new artistic director and co-chief executive.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe theatre chief also\u00a0revealed that she and famed rapper and grime music genius Stormzy<\/a> are developing a show that will be staged at the National at a later date.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMescal, who by the way has been known to rap,\u00a0will lead a repertory company at the National\u2019s Lyttelton Theatre in 2027. There he will star in two plays:\u00a0Tom Murphy\u2019s\u00a0A Whistle in the Dark, about a married Irishman living in the Midlands who allows his three brothers to lodge with him and his young wife. Directed by Caitr\u00edona McLaughlin, it\u2019s a co-production with Dublin\u2019s Abbey Theatre, where McLaughlin is artistic director.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Irish-born Mescal will then play Biff in Arthur Miller\u2019s\u00a0Death of a Salesman,\u00a0to be directed by Rebecca Fracknall, who worked with the actor on the celebrated Almeida Theatre production of Tennessee Williams\u2019\u00a0A Streetcar Named Desire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMuch sought after on stage and screen, Mescal was able to spread his commitment to the Williams play across\u00a0well over two years in London and New York, all the while carving a schedule between stage runs where he could\u00a0film\u00a0Gladiator II\u00a0with Ridley Scott and make time for Oliver Hermanus\u2019 Cannes-bound\u00a0The History of Sound\u00a0in which he stars opposite Josh O\u2019Connor. He also had time to play William Shakespeare in\u00a0Hamnet\u00a0alongside Jesse Buckley, Emily Watson and Joe Alwyn. That Chlo\u00e9 Zhao-directed film begins a limited\u00a0stateside release November 27.<\/p>\n

\n\tMescal is also portraying Paul McCartney in Sam\u00a0Mendes\u2019\u00a0Paul McCartney biopic\u00a0for Apple.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRubasingham pushed back against suggestions that she and co-chief executive Kate Varah were seeking Hollywood names to bolster ticket sales.<\/p>\n

\n\tRubasingham told Deadline that she wanted Mescal treading boards at the National because he\u2019s \u201ca proper actor, he\u2019s a proper theatre actor. It\u2019s about backing quality actors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tNational Theatre Artistic Director and Co-Chief Executive Indhu Rubasingham<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBaz Bamigboye\/Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tSame was true, Rubasingham said,\u00a0of Barbaro, Oscar-nominated for her Joan Baez in James Mangold\u2019s Bob Dylan movie. \u201cWe obviously knew she\u2019d trained thoroughly in acting and dance\u00a0and acting before we even approached her,\u201d Rubasingham reasoned.<\/p>\n

\n\tBarbaro will join Lesley Manville<\/a> (The Crown), fresh from her\u00a0best actress Olivier Award win two weeks ago for\u00a0Oedipus, and Aidan Turner, so good in Rivals on Disney+, in a major revival of\u00a0Pierre Choderlos de Laclos\u2019\u00a0Les Liaisons Dangereuses\u00a0directed by multiple Tony- and Olivier-winning Marianne Elliott. The adaptation is by Christopher Hampton.<\/p>\n

\n\tCoincidentally, Manville played the ingenue C\u00e9cile de Volanges in the original 1985 production for the Royal Shakespeare Company.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLesley Manville<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRachell Smith<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAidan Turner<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Balsom<\/p>\n

\n\tCoughlan will star in John Millington Synge\u2019s\u00a0The Playboy of the Western World\u00a0in the Lyttelton from December 4, again directed by Caitr\u00edona McLaughlin, with \u00c9anna Hardwicke and Siobh\u00e1n McSweeney.<\/p>\n

\n\tWright will star in Tracey Scott Wilson\u2019s\u00a0new play\u00a0The Story, about a young reporter pursuing a hot lead and the racism and vitriol she has to endure. Rubasingham described the play as \u201cchillingly relevant.\u201d It will be directed by Clint Dyer.<\/p>\n

\n\tJames McArdle (Mare of Easttown), Clare Perkins (Wheel of Time) and Ukweli Roach (Big Mood) will lead Rubasingham\u2019s production of\u00a0Bacchae\u00a0into the Olivier stage from September 13. Written by Nima Taleghani from the ancient Greek tale about the God of theatre, it will feature designs by Robert Jones, choreography by Kate Prince and an original score by D.J. Walde.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe show will be filmed for future streaming on National Theatre at Home.<\/p>\n

\n\tRobert Hastie will direct Olivier-winning actor Hiran Abeysekera (Life of Pi) playing the Danish prince in Hamlet at the Lyttelton Theatre from September 2025. The show will be also be shot for future National Theatre Live release in cinemas around the world.<\/p>\n

\n\tRubasingham noted that Hamlet was the first production \u2014 starring Peter O\u2019Toole \u2014 to be staged at the National Theatre in 1963.<\/p>\n

\n\tA new adaptation of\u00a0The Jungle Book\u00a0by Anupama Chandrasekhar, based on Rudyard Kipling\u2019s classic tale, will be directed on the Olivier stage by Rubasingham in time for the December 2026 holidays. The production will feature puppetry by Finn Caldwell and Nick Barnes.<\/p>\n

\n\tCo-chief executive\u00a0Varah said the National\u00a0<\/strong>has signed up to collaborate with The Shed in Manhattan and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, while Rubasingham added that she\u2019s always in conversation with Oskar Eustis at the Public Theater in NYC.<\/p>\n

\n\tRubasingham declared that she\u2019s more interested in \u201cstate-of-the-world plays than state-of-the-nation plays.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t(L-R) Kate Varah and Indhu Rubasingham at the National Theatre<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBaz Bamigboye\/Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tTo that end, she and her team are pursuing partnerships with actors, writers, directors and designers from around the world\u00a0and seeking \u201cartists that open the doors to audiences.\u201d Productions will tour UK theatres and schools; indeed, many shows will be scaled down to be presented at schools here in the UK and over in Brooklyn in partnership with BAM.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe National Theatre\u2019s now very much the International Theatre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gladiator II\u2019s\u00a0Paul Mescal,\u00a0A Complete Unknown\u2019s\u00a0Monica Barbaro,\u00a0Black Panther\u2019s\u00a0Letitia Wright and\u00a0Bridgerton\u2019s\u00a0Nicola Coughlan will be making their debuts at the National…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[77,31577,31578,31579,31580,19735,31581,9375,31582,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-60994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-indhu-rubasingham","10":"tag-lesley-manville","11":"tag-letitia-wright","12":"tag-monica-barbaro","13":"tag-national-theatre","14":"tag-nicola-coughlan","15":"tag-paul-mescal","16":"tag-stormzy","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114422895346366446","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}