Michael Longhurst announces first season as Donmar Warehouse artistic director

Michael Longhurst has announced his inaugural season as the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, as he prepares to take over the role from the outgoing Josie Rourke.

Longhurst, whose recent productions in London include The Son at the Kiln, Caroline, or Change in the West End and Amadeus at the National, has selected five plays which he said were "truly astonishing plays that interrogate the world we live in today" at the launch event in London.

Longhurst will direct the first production himself, as he stages a revival of David Greig's Europe. Starring Billy Howle, Kevrok Malikyan, Faye Marsay, Stephen Wight and Shana Zaza, Europe explores our complex relationship with the continent.

Designed by Chloe Lamford, with lighting by Tom Visser, movement by Imogen Knight and compositions by Simon Slater, Europe runs from 20^th June to 10^th August.

From 16^th August, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Appropriate will be directed by Ola Ince. Set in Arkansas as a family prepares to sell off their late father's estate, the play will star Monica Dolan as Toni. The production features design by Fly Davis.

The Donmar will the co-produce Alice Birch's new play [BLANK] with Clean Break from 11^th October. Directed by Maria Aberg with designs from Rosie Elnile, the play looks at what happened when a women goes to prison.

Over Christmas, Longhurst will direct Mike Lew's Teenage Dick. Starring Daniel Monks, the piece is a comic take on William Shakespeare's Richard III. It will run from 6^th December through to 1^st February 2020.

Closing the season will be a revival production of Caryl Churchill's Far Away, directed by Lyndsey Turner. The play, which premiered at the Royal Court in 2000, it based on the idea that everything in nature is at war. Turner's production at the Donmar will run from 6^th February to 21^st March.

Announcing the season, Longhurst said: "This is a theatre I've adored for years.  I once even slept outside overnight to get a ticket.  For me, the Donmar is a magical space designed to ignite theatrical fireworks; an intimate space in which to congregate and expand our horizons. 

"I'm honoured to be here and can't wait to get started."

_{Photo by Helen Maybanks.}