A Damon Albarn musical inspired by Alice in Wonderland and the return of Chiwetel Ejiofor to the National Theatre stage for the first time in 15 years have been announced by the theatre’s new management team.
Rufus Norris and Tessa Ross also revealed details of new plays by Caryl Churchill, Patrick Marber and Wallace Shawn as well as the London premiere of a production that originally starred the comedian Chris Rock when it ran on Broadway in 2011, The Motherfucker With The Hat.
Norris is taking over from Nicholas Hytner as the theatre’s director, while Tessa Ross will be the new chief executive, replacing executive director Nick Starr.
Announcing their first programme they said in a mission statement: “The work we make over the coming years will strive to be as open, as diverse, as collaborative and as national as possible.
“We want to inspire artists and audiences to think in new ways, to constantly reimagine the act of making theatre. The first season is just a beginning, but it contains the seeds of what is to come.”
The Albarn musical is a co-commission with the Manchester international festival and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. It will open in Manchester in July and be staged at the National from November.
Called wonder.land, it will have a book and lyrics by Moira Buffini – whose plays include Welcome to Thebes and Handbagged – and will be the first time Albarn has composed for someone else’s words.
The musical’s central character is a 12-year-old girl bullied at school and unhappy at home who escapes into a virtual world full of characters that include a Cheshire Cat and the scary Red Queen. “It is full of fresh and exuberant songs,” said Norris. “It is Damon at his best.”
Norris himself will direct, one of two productions he is taking charge of in his first year.
The other is an adaptation by the poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, of the 15th-century morality tale Everyman starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, returning to the National for the first time since he was Romeo and Peer Gynt in 2000.
Ross said they wanted to work with more organisations around the country and the first year will see collaborations with the Bristol Old Vic, Headlong, Manchester International festival and the Royal Exchange in Manchester.
On the vexed issue of having more touring productions Ross said it was “an absolute priority” to make sure NT shows were not dependent on West End success before they were able to go out of London.
Norris stressed the last thing they wanted to do was alienate existing audiences. “We do not intend to lose one single audience member that has been so loyally committed to this theatre,” he said.
