Cate Blanchett, Anne-Marie Duff Among Stars Added to National Theatre’s 2026 Season

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CLOUD 9, LITTLE VOICE & ELECTRA/PERSONA headline the Olivier, Lyttelton & Dorfman stages

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Further casting, dates, and ticketing information have been announced for the 2026 shows at The National Theatre .

Get all the top news & discounts for UK & beyond.

BAFTA Award-winning actor Anne-Marie Duff to join the world premiere of Some Woman – an exciting new play from celebrated British playwright Helen Edmundson , directed by Blanche McIntyre .

Rebecca Humphries , Eloka Ivo , Tom Mothersdale , Charlotte Ritchie , Ellen Robertson , Stuart Thompson and Sam Troughton are cast in multi-award-winning playwright Caryl Churchill 's landmark play Cloud 9, directed by Dominic Cooke .

Dates and on sale for Benedict Andrews ' new play Electra/Persona featuring two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett , Nina Hoss and Ella Lily Hyland .

For a limited, one-week run in September, famed Portuguese playwright and director Tiago Rodrigues will make his National Theatre debut by bringing his compelling play Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists to The National Theatre for its UK premiere.

Dorfman dates confirmed for a brand-new production of Jim Cartwright 's The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, starring Francesca Mills and directed by Robert Hastie .

Tickets for Electra/Persona, Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists, Some Woman, Cloud 9 and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice will be on general sale from 12 noon BST on Thursday 21 May 2026.

19 August – 10 October 2026 (Press performance 1 September 2026)

Lyttelton theatre

In August, director and adapter Benedict Andrews (A Streetcar Named Desire) makes his National Theatre debut with the world premiere of Electra/Persona. Fusing ancient myth with Ingmar Bergman 's Persona in a powerful exploration of identity and the fragile line between who we are and who we play.

Benedict Andrews has assembled a stellar cast that includes Academy Award-winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) and Nina Hoss (Tár) and rising talent Ella Lily Hyland (Black Doves).

Which role undid you in the end?

Electra. A daughter consumed by grief and rage, clinging to the idea of justice as her world comes apart.

Persona. During a performance of Electra, an actress suddenly falls silent. What follows is a rupture: two women drawn into an intense, unsettling encounter where speech breaks down and the boundaries between self and role give way.

Joining Benedict is set designer Magda Willi , Costume Designer Merle Hensel , composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, lighting designer Jon Clark , video designer Ash J Woodward , casting by Alastair Coomer CDG , associate director Danica Selem, music associate Deanna H. Choi and staff director Oliver Hurst.

Tickets on sale from midday on Thursday 21 May 2026,

2 November 2026 – 13 January 2027 (Press performance 10 November 2026)

Lyttelton theatre

This autumn, multi-award-winning playwright Caryl Churchill (Top Girls) returns to The National Theatre for the first time since 2019 with her landmark play Cloud 9, which continues to challenge how we think about gender, power and the legacies of empire. Dominic Cooke (The Normal Heart) reunites with Churchill to direct a bold new production that brings fresh urgency to this daring and satirical classic.

Principal casting announced includes Rebecca Humphries , Eloka Ivo , Tom Mothersdale , Charlotte Ritchie , Ellen Robertson , Stuart Thompson and Sam Troughton .

In Victorian Africa, where Clive is a colonial administrator and patriarch, his wife, son and servant struggle to be what's expected of them.

When the family turn up a hundred years later in 70s London, what can they make of themselves in a world where empire lingers and freedom calls?

Dominic Cooke is joined by set designer Miriam Buether , Costume Designer Samuel Wyer , lighting designer Jessica Hung Han Yun, sound designer Donato Wharton , casting by Naomi Downham , dialect coach Penny Dyer , voice coach Shereen Ibrahim and staff director Max Harrison.

Further casting to be announced.

Tickets on sale from midday on Thursday 21 May 2026,

19 – 26 September 2026 (Press performance 21 September 2026)

Dorfman theatre

For a limited, one-week run in September, famed Portuguese playwright and director Tiago Rodrigues (Director of Festival d'Avignon) will make his National Theatre debut by bringing his compelling play Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists to The National Theatre for its UK premiere. This confronting, politically charged production will be performed in its native Portuguese with English surtitles.

The cast includes Isabel Abreu, Romeu Costa, António Fonseca, Beatriz Maia, Marco Mendonça, António Afonso Parra, Carolina Passos Sousa and João Vicente.

South Portugal, 2028. Catarina is about to kill her first fascist.

It is a rite of passage, steeped in tradition and family lore. A day of celebration, of beauty and death.

But when Catarina refuses to kill the hostage, her decision drives a wedge between the family. As ghosts of the past arise, unresolved questions emerge – what is the price of democracy? Is there room for violence in the fight for a better world?

Writer and director Tiago Rodrigues is joined in the creative team by artistic collaborator Magda Bizarro, set designer F. Ribeiro, lighting designer Nuno Meira, lighting adaptation for National Theatre Rui Monteiro, Costume Designer José António Tenente, composer and sound designer Pedro Costa, choir conductor and vocal arranger João Henriques, voiceover artists Cláudio de Castro, Nadezhda Bocharova, Pedro Moldão, Paula Mora, choreographers Sofia Dias and Vítor Roriz, technical weapons advisor David Chan Cordeiro, English translation by Daniel Hahn , surtitles by Patrícia Pimentel.

Production Teatro Nacional D. Maria II (Lisboa)

Executive production Festival d'Avignon

Co-production Wiener Festwochen, Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione (Modena), Théâtre de la Cité – CDN Toulouse Occitanie & Théâtre Garonne Scène européenne Toulouse, Festival d'Automne à Paris & Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Teatro di Roma – Teatro Nazionale, Comédie de Caen, Théâtre de Liège, Maison de la Culture d'Amiens, BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen), Le Trident – Scène nationale de Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, Teatre Lliure (Barcelona), Centro Cultural Vila Flor (Guimarães), O Espaço do Tempo (Montemor-o-Novo).

Tickets on sale from midday on Thursday 21 May 2026,

7 October – 21 November 2026 (Press performance 15 October 2026)

Dorfman theatre

Later this year, the Dorfman will host the world premiere of Some Woman – a provocative new play from celebrated British playwright Helen Edmundson (Small Island), her first since Queen Anne in 2015.

Blanche McIntyre (Tartuffe) returns to The National Theatre to direct BAFTA-winning actor Anne Marie-Duff (Bad Sisters) who will play central character Julie Robson.

‘I don't want to be this woman'

Julie Robson is used to being overlooked. At work, at home, everywhere in between.

But when an encounter on a station platform goes wrong and all eyes are suddenly on Julie, something shifts within her and she feels compelled to make a stand.

What happens when an ordinary woman pits herself against the forces that shape the world? What happens when she refuses to be quiet?

Director Blanche McIntyre is joined by set and Costume Designer Robert Jones and casting by Martin Poile CDG.

Further casting to be announced.

Tickets on sale from midday on Thursday 21 May 2026,

2 December 2026 – 23 January 2027 (Press performance 10 December 2026)

This winter in the Dorfman, a new production of Jim Cartwright 's modern classic The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, will reunite Francesca Mills as Little Voice and director Robert Hastie following Hamlet in the Lyttelton last year. A joyful, tender and bittersweet celebration of music, ambition and the courage it takes to be heard with iconic music from the likes of Judy Garland , Shirley Bassey and more.

Alone in the sanctuary of her small bedroom, Little Voice fills the air with pitch‑perfect renditions of her deceased dad's prized record collection of the great divas, from Judy Garland to Billie Holiday .

But when her mother Mari's latest fling, local wheeler dealer Ray, hears her sing he's certain he's struck gold. Will Little Voice be pushed into a spotlight she never asked for?

Director Robert Hastie is joined in the artistic team by set and Costume Designer Janet Bird , lighting designer Paul Pyant , sound designer Mike Walker , composer and music director David Shrubsole , voice coach Shereen Ibrahim and casting by Alastair Coomer CDG .

The production is due to tour directly following a mainstage run. Further details to be announced.

Further casting to be announced.

Tickets on sale from midday on Thursday 21 May 2026,

16 May – 30 July 2026 (Opening Performance 2 June 2026)

Olivier theatre

The National Theatre 's global smash-hit production War Horse returns to its original home nearly two decades after its debut and following a recent acclaimed tour of the UK and Ireland. Based on Michael Morpurgo 's beloved novel, adapted by Nick Stafford and originally directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris , War Horse has become the most successful play in the history of The National Theatre , winning more than 25 major awards including the Tony Award for ‘Best Play' and has been seen by over 8.8 million people worldwide.

War Horse tells the remarkable story of a young boy called Albert and his horse Joey, set against the backdrop of the First World War. It is a timeless story of love, courage and friendship, brought to life by astonishing life-sized horses from Handspring Puppet Company and a stirring musical score. War Horse has inspired a generation of theatre-makers since its premiere in 2007.

The full cast of 35 includes: Anita Adam Gabay (Emilie / Joey as a Foal), Rianna Ash (Joey / Topthorn head), Eloise Beaumont-Wood (Joey as a Foal), Stephen Beckett ( Ted Narracott /Strauss), Ike Bennett ( David Taylor / Thomas Bone), Jo Castleton (Rose Narracott), Owen Dagnall (Geordie / Alternate Albert Narracott ), Alexandra Donnachie (Joey / Topthorn head), Felicity Donnelly (Joey / Topthorn hind), Sam Goodchild (Joey / Topthorn hind), Danny Hendrix (Veterinary Officer Martin), Jasmin Hinds (Matron Callaghan), Linford Johnson (Sergeant Fine), Andrew Keay (Joey / Topthorn hind), Nicholas Khan (Arthur Narracott / Brandt), Manuel Klein (Friedrich / Priest), Michael Larcombe (Joey / Topthorn hind), Matthew Lawrence (Joey / Topthorn head), Madeleine Leslay (Paulette / Sarah Carter ), Wade Lewin (Joey / Topthorn head), Jack Lord (Klausen / Allan), Damian Lynch (Thunder / Carter), Lewis McBean (Joey / Topthorn heart), Chris Milford (Joey / Topthorn heart), Corey Montague -Sholay (Billy Narracott / Klebb), Jordan Paris (Joey as a Foal), Anne-Marie Piazza (Nell Allan / Schnabel), Daniel Rock (Captain Stewart / Ludwig), Simon Stanhope (Manfred), Tom Sturgess ( Albert Narracott ), Sally Swanson (The Singer), Lucy Thorburn (Jenny Bone / Annie Gilbert), Chris Williams (Captain Nicholls / Dr Schewyk), Niko Wirachman (Joey / Topthorn heart) and Rafe Young (Joey / Topthorn heart).

At the outbreak of the First World War, young Albert's beloved horse Joey is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. Too young to enlist, Albert refuses to forget him, embarking on an extraordina

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Cate-Blanchett-Anne-Marie-Duff-and-More-Join-National-Theatres-2026-Season-20260506)._