Paul Mescal, Stormzy and Nicola Coughlan take place for new national theater shows

The theater public will have a double dose of Paul Mescal in 2027, after the Irish actor signed up for two productions in the National Theater.

The star of the normal people and the gladiator II will appear in two classic pieces of the 20th century – the death of a seller and a whistle in the dark.

The shows are part of a series of new productions which were announced Tuesday by the prestigious artistic director of London. Indu Rubasingham.

The other stars who arrive on the national scene in the next two years include the recent nominated at the Oscars Monica Barbaro and Nicola Coughlan de Bridgerton, while the rap artist Stormzy will collaborate with the theater on a new production.

Rubbasingham was appointed artistic director In December 2023, taking over from Rufus Norris after his decade in charge.

The National Lytelton Theater will return to a repertoire model for the first time since 2020, which means that several shows will be organized simultaneously with the same distribution.

As part of a new repertoire race, Paul MESCAL will make his debut at the national theater in Death by Arthur Miller of a seller and Tom Murphy whistled in the dark.

Despite different contexts and history, the bosses said that the two show common shared themes of dysfunctional family relationships and the weight of societal and family expectations.

Mescal, who won an Olivier Award in 2023 for a tram named Desire, will play Biff Loman in the death of a seller. It has not yet been announced who will play the father of the character Willy, who is at the heart of the play.

American actress Monica BarbaroRecently nominated for an Oscar for playing Joan Baez in front of Timothee Chalamet in Bob Dylan Biopic A complete unknown, will appear in a revival of romantic drama Les Liaisons Dangreus.

She and Poldark Star Aidan Turner will make his debut at the national theater in the show alongside Lesley Manville.

Meanwhile, Derry Girls Star Siobhán McSweeneyBridgerton Nicola coughlan And the sixth commandment Eanna Hardwicke Will appear together in the Irish classic of John Millington Synge, The Playboy of the Western World.

A new collaboration between the theater and the rap artist Muddle has also been announced, but the details have not yet been revealed.

This is a project that Rubasingham presented for the first time as part of his work request, saying that his involvement would make a “cut spectacle that goes beyond the theater”.

After being appointed, Rubasingham joked saying that she spent “six to eight months to continue Stormzy and his team”, and he came on board after visiting the building.

She said that the project was “very exciting” and confirmed that it would be “a piece with her music”, but added: “I am not saying more than that”.

In a statement, Stormzy said he had “always been attracted to the theater” and said that he and Rubasingham “hit properly” when they met. “I am delighted to make this creative trip with her,” he added.

Elsewhere, Black Panther Star Letitia Wright The story will appear in The Story, a new piece by the American writer Tracey Scott Wilson about an ambitious black journalist who challenges her publisher to pursue an incendiary advance.

The other productions announced on Tuesday included:

• Pride, a new musical based on Bafta winning film in 2014, will explore the true story of the way a group of lesbian and gay activists joined the 1984 minors’ strike campaign
• Rubasingham will direct Bacchae by Nima Taleghani, a story of an old Greek story featuring a “riot of lyricism, music and movement”, opening in September
• She will also direct a new adaptation of The Jungle BookUsing puppets to help tell the story of Rudyard Kipling, opening the next Christmas
• The adaptation of Kendall Feaver from the novel by Noel Streatfeild Ballet shoeswill come back in November after a successful race during the holiday season 2024
• Shakespeare Hamlet will come back in September with the life of Hiran Abeysekera de Pi
• There will also be a new job celebrating the 25th anniversary of the immersive theater company Punchand a new adaptation of Man and boyMarking 50 years since the death of his writer Terence Rattigan

Born in Sheffield and with the Sri Lankan inheritance, RUBASINGHAM is the seventh artistic director Since the National was founded by Sir Laurence Olivier in 1963, and the first woman to occupy the post.

Addressing journalists on Tuesday, she promised that the next national chapter of the National would be known to tell “daring stories in great way, which cross the continents, move hearts and open minds”.

“It is a question of ensuring that the public who loves the national and who has been there for 40 or 50 years still want to be part of it, as well as to attract an audience who does not feel welcome or do not know the national,” she said.

When they were asked if she wanted the National to come back to repertoire levels during the theater before the pandemic, Rabasingham replied: “If finances allowed it, it would be really wonderful.

“It’s more expensive for representatives,” she noted, “but there are many advantages in more risky work and allow word of mouth.”