National Theatre announces summer 2024 season

The summer season has been programmed by outgoing National Theatre artistic director Rufus Norris. He will be succeeded by Indhu Rubasingham next year.

The National Theatre has revealed its summer 2024 season, which will include James Graham’s adaptation of Boys from the Blackstuff and Katori Hall’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy The Hot Wing King.

The season, programmed by outgoing National Theatre artistic director Rufus Norris, kicks off with Boys from the Blackstuff in the Olivier Theatre from 22 May to 8 June. Graham’s adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s 1980s TV series is directed by Theatr Clwyd artistic director Kate Wasserberg in her National Theatre debut. The play, set in tough conditions in 1980s Liverpool, has a cast that includes George Caple, Dominic Carter, Helen Carter, Aron Julius, Nathan McMullen, Lauren O’Neil, Barry Sloane, and Mark Womack. Further casting is to be announced.

This is followed by Mnemonic, also in the Olivier Theatre, from 22 June to 10 August. The show is conceived and directed by Simon McBurney, founder of avant-garde theatre company Complicité, and explores the subject of memory. The cast includes Richard Katz and Kostas Philippoglou, with further casting to be announced.

The Hot Wing King makes its UK debut in the Dorfman Theatre from 11 July to 14 September. Directed by Roy Alexander Weise, the play follows a group of friends preparing for the annual Hot Wing Festival in Memphis. But after an unexpected family emergency, their plans get derailed as the men navigate the meaning of love, family and staying true to yourself. The cast includes Kadiff Kirwan, with further casting to be announced.

The season closes with The Grapes of Wrath in the Lyttelton Theatre, which runs from 17 July to 14 September. Frank Galati's Tony Award-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel is directed by Carrie Cracknell (Julie, The Deep Blue Sea). The play focuses on the Joad family, hardworking farmers who have lost everything in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl in the 1930s. They journey across America in the hope of finding work and a new life in California. The cast includes Cherry Jones, with further casting to be announced.

Photo credit: Boys from the Blackstuff artwork. (Photo courtesy of National Theatre)