National Theatre makes diverse casting drive to appeal to global viewers

Telegraph

29-04-2025

The new boss of the National Theatre will increase diverse casting in a bid to attract a global audience to its Netflix-style streaming platform.
Indhu Rubasingham has announced her first season as artistic director, unveiling rap adaptations of Greek tragedy and a show involving Stormzy, the chart-topping UK rapper.
The venue's first female and ethnic minority artistic director has also set out her 'international' priorities for the theatre.
This includes expanding the global audience for National Theatre at Home, a £9.99 per month streaming service for productions that insiders hope to make into a 'Netflix for theatre'.
The theatre, founded by Laurence Olivier in 1963, will seek to use the diversity of actors as part of this vision.
Casting decisions will be made partly with a view to choosing actors who represent potential audiences in international markets, including India and Nigeria.
Ms Rubasingham said that she would look at 'who is the big Nollywood [Nigerian film industry] star, who's the big Bollywood star that we could bring and work' that could 'open the door to new audiences, because they are seeing someone they really want to see'.
The theatre will also look to work with writers and other creatives who can help to tell 'stories that cross continents' as part of plans to focus on 'international reach'.
Ms Rubasingham said that she wants to 'bring the world to our stages, and take our stages to the world'.
She added that she was interested in 'state-of-the-world plays, as opposed to state-of-the-nation plays'.
'New chapter' for theatre
Her tenure features Hiran Abeysekera who will become the first non-white star to take on the title role in Hamlet and a rap adaptation of Euripides's ancient tragedy The Bacchae.
The programme will feature The Story, a US drama about racial politics and media ethics, and Cloud 9, a work that comments on colonialism. There will also be an adaptation of Pride, a film about gay and lesbian activists who supported striking miners in 1984.
International stars will also feature: Paul Mescal is to star in Death of a Salesman, while details of Stormzy's scheduled appearance in a show remain a closely guarded secret.
Kate Varah, the National Theatre's executive director, has backed the ambitions to expand the theatre's streaming service, which was first launched in 2020.
Speaking at London's South Bank, she said that the new chapter in the theatre's history would include reaching audiences 'not just in our country, but in 184 countries around the world'.
She added: 'It's no longer just about what happens here on the South Bank, the National Theatre is now a global theatre with an audience of 28 million per year.'
The specific sum generated by National Theatre at Home has not been made public, but the platform paid out £1 million in royalties to creatives in 2022.
The focus on the potential revenue from the service comes amid tightening budgets, with the theatre highlighting a 52.5 per cent real-terms drop in its Arts Council funding since 2011.
Hit productions are broadcast via the National Theatre Live scheme, which broadcasts live theatrical shows in cinemas and other venues. The scheme earned the theatre more than £10 million in 2023.
The venue continues to attract top theatrical talent, including Aidan Turner and Lesley Manville, who will star in its upcoming production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
In 2023, Ms Rubasingham was chosen to become the seventh director of the National Theatre since its foundation.
She also serves as its joint chief executive, alongside Ms Varah, in keeping with the theatre's dual leadership model.
Ms Rubasingham previously led the Kiln Theatre in London, which was embroiled in a row during her tenure over the venue's refusal to host an event linked to Israel.