The 2022 U.K. theater season promises to be a bumper one with new works from Stephen Beresford, Anupama Chandrasekhar, David Eldridge and Alecky Blythe among the highlights.
Three-time Olivier award-winning Alex Jennings (“The Crown) will lead the cast in the world premiere of “The Southbury Child,” the new play by BAFTA winner Stephen Beresford (“Pride”). Directed by Nicholas Hytner (“Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads”), the production will have an opening run at Chichester Festival Theatre June 13-25, 2022, followed by London’s Bridge Theatre July 1-Aug. 27.
The play follows clergyman David Highland who has kept a grip on his remote coastal parish through a combination of charm and determination, but when his faith impels him to take a hard line with a bereaved parishioner, he finds himself dangerously isolated from public opinion.
“The Father and The Assassin,” by India’s Anupama Chandrasekhar (“When the Crows Visit”), directed by Indhu Rubasingham (“The Invisible Hand”) traces the life of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse’s life. Shubham Saraf (“A Suitable Boy”) plays Godse and the cast includes Sagar Arya (“Silent Witness”), Ayesha Dharker (“The Father”) and Peter Singh (“Hampstead”). It plays May 12-June 18, 2022, at London’s National Theatre’s Olivier theater.
Playing at the National Theatre’s Lyttelton theater Apr.7-June 11, 2022 is Emlyn Williams’ “The Corn is Green.” The play is being given a new staging by director Dominic Cooke (“The Courier”) in its first London revival for over 35 years. Nicola Walker (“The Split”) plays the lead role of Lily Moffat, a teacher newly arrived in rural North Wales, determined to help young local miners out of poverty by teaching them to read and write.
Following their production of “Beginning,” which played to sold-out runs at the National Theatre and in the West End, writer David Eldridge and director Polly Findlay reunite with new play “Middle,” a portrait of a 21st-century marriage. It will play at the National Theatre’s Dorfman theater Apr.27-June 18, 2022. Claire Rushbrook (“Ali & Ava”) and Daniel Ryan (“Herself”) star.
“Our Generation,” the latest verbatim theater work by Alecky Blythe (“Little Revolution”), is created from five years of interviews with 12 young people from across the U.K. and is a portrait of their journey into adulthood. Daniel Evans (“Quiz”) directs this co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre which plays at the National Theatre’s Dorfman theater Feb.10-Apr. 9, 2022. The cast is Dee Ahluwalia, Joe Bolland, Anna Burnett, Anushka Chakravarti, Debbie Chazen, Gavi Singh Chera, Rachelle Diedericks, Hasan Dixon, Hélder Fernandes, Sarita Gabony, Conor Gormally, Alex Jarrett, Callum Mardy, Poppy Shepherd and Stephanie Street.
In addition, Jude Christian adapts Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” for young audiences with direction by Tinuke Craig. The production will embark on a four-week schools tour and perform at the Dorfman theater in March, 2022. And, Kirsty Housley directs Evan Placey’s reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Jekyll and Hyde” reaching over 10,500 secondary school students as part of an eight-week tour from January to March, 2022.
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