DONMAR WAREHOUSE ANNOUNCES FIRST THREE SHOWS OF NEW SEASON FOR 2022/2023
Artistic Director Michael Longhurst and Executive Director Henny Finch today announce the first three shows in the Donmar’s 30th anniversary season and plans for the theatre’s birthday celebrations.
Highlights of the new season include Lillian Hellman’s masterpiece political thriller Watch on the Rhine – given its first major London revival in over 40 years by director Ellen McDougall, with a cast including Kate Duchêne, Caitlin FitzGerald and Patricia Hodge. This is followed by the world première of Diana Nneka Atuona’s Trouble in Butetown for which she received the 50th George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright and the Theatre Royal Haymarket’s Writers Award, directed by Tinuke Craig.
Also announced for Summer 2023 is Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical Next to Normal, directed by Longhurst.
Generously supported by Charles Holloway, Season Supporter
In Autumn 2022 the Donmar celebrates its 30th birthday, and to mark this special milestone, it will provide 3,000 £10 tickets for audiences aged under 30, made possible by generous support from Associate Sponsor Barclays. Beginning with Watch on the Rhine, and running throughout the year, there will be £10 tickets available for every performance.
As the centrepiece of the celebrations, the Donmar will stage a fundraiser performance in November with all three former Artistic Directors – Michael Grandage, Sam Mendes and Josie Rourke as special guests, alongside Longhurst, with performances from notable alumni reprising roles they played at the theatre; as well as a free exhibition of production images across the theatre’s public spaces later in the year. The fundraiser will be directed by Simon Evans.
Michael Longhurst said today, “It is a privilege to be co-helming the Donmar as we approach this major milestone. I am grateful for the talent, tenacity and generosity of all those who have built that history. These shows kick off our birthday celebrations in classic Donmar style with an unearthed gem, a thrilling new play and later in the year, a long-awaited Broadway musical. Lillian and Diana’s plays offer counterpoint perspectives from across the Atlantic at a pivotal moment in our history, presenting one of the most seminal American female writers of the 20th century alongside an exciting new British female playwriting talent. And I can’t wait for us to blow the roof off the building with an extraordinary rock musical next Summer. Here’s to the next 30!”
Speaking about supporting the Donmar to offer thousands of £10 tickets for under 30s, Richard Atkinson, Marketing Director at Barclays Payments commented, “We are incredibly proud of our long affiliation with the Donmar Warehouse. We can think of no better way to mark its thirtieth year than by supporting the Donmar by enabling thousands of people to see this remarkable season for just £10.”
Alongside the productions on stage, the Donmar continues its innovative work with the local community, platforming the voices of local young people. The theatre’s schools programme also expands, working with 2200 students to attend productions and devise work with leading theatre makers to be shared on the Donmar stage.
The Donmar’s commitment to skills development continues as the theatre welcomes the next cohort of CATALYST trainees for their year-long traineeships in arts administration roles. The Creative CATALYST programme also goes from strength to strength, with 8 assistants working with the creative teams over the next year’s productions in roles including lighting, sound and design.
Following a successful pilot, Donmar’s LOCAL Young Writers programme runs from this Autumn 2022, with 16 young writers aged 16-19 who will develop new work led by Molly Taylor and a leading team of playwrights.
Alongside the production of Next to Normal the Donmar will run a new project exploring mental health and wellbeing with young people in our home boroughs.
As part of the Donmar’s ongoing commitment to accessibility, over 1000 free tickets will be available for audiences aged under 26 as part of the Donmar’s YOUNG+FREE scheme.
Every production will have a BSL performance, alongside its captioned and audio described performance offer.
Instagram, Twitter and Facebook: @donmarwarehouse
WATCH ON THE RHINE
by Lillian Hellman
Directed by Ellen McDougall
Designer – Basia Bińkowska
Lighting Designer – Azusa Ono
Sound Designer – Tingying Dong
Fight Director – Cristian Cardenas
Cast includes Kate Duchêne, Caitlin FitzGerald and Patricia Hodge
9 December 2022 – 4 February 2023
“It’s an indulgence to sit in a room and discuss your beliefs as if they were a juicy piece of gossip.”
Summer 1941. On a peaceful morning in a Washington D.C. living room, widow Fanny Farrelly anxiously awaits the return of her daughter and her German husband, fleeing Europe with their children.
As night falls, dark secrets emerge, and this American sanctuary becomes even more dangerous than what they left behind.
Known for her success on Broadway (The Little Foxes, The Children’s Hour) Lillian Hellman was also a brilliant activist, ahead of her time. Watch on The Rhine is her masterpiece political thriller, given a timely revival by director Ellen McDougall. Cast includes Kate Duchêne, Caitlin FitzGerald and Patricia Hodge.
Lillian Hellman, born in New Orleans in 1905, was an American playwright and screenwriter. She studied at New York University and Columbia University. Her plays include The Children’s Hour (1934), The Little Foxes (1939, revived by the Donmar in 2001), Watch on the Rhine (1941), The Searching Wind (1944), Another Part of the Forest (1946), The Autumn Garden (1951), and Toys in the Attic (1960). Translations and adaptations include Jean Anouilh’s The Lark (1955), Voltaire’s Candide (1957), and My Mother, My Father, and Me (1963 – from Burt Blechman’s novel How Much?). She also edited Anton Chekhov’s Selected Letters (1955) and a collection of stories and short novels, The Big Knockover (1966) by Hammett. She also published her memoirs An Unfinished Woman (1969), Pentimento (1973), and Maybe (1980). Her collected plays were first published in 1972. She died in 1984 aged 79.
Ellen McDougall was Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre from 2017 to 2022. Theatre includes: Dear Elizabeth, Effigies of Wickedness (Songs banned by the Nazis), The Unknown Island, Idomeneus (Gate); Our Town (Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park); The Wolves (Stratford East); Othello (Shakespeare’s Globe); Aladdin, Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith); The Rolling Stone (Orange Tree/Royal Exchange, Manchester); The Remains of Maisie Duggan (Abbey Theatre, Dublin); The Glass Menagerie (Headlong); Anna Karenina (Royal Exchange, Manchester); Henry the Fifth (Unicorn); Glitterland (Secret Theatre/Lyric Hammersmith); Ivan and the Dogs (Olivier Award nomination, Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre; Actors Touring Company/Soho). Ellen was formerly part of the Secret Theatre Company at the Lyric Hammersmith. She trained as an assistant to Katie Mitchell and Marianne Elliott. She was awarded an International Artists’ Development Award (ACE/British Council) in 2012.
Kate Duchêne’s theatre credits include Henry V (Donmar Warehouse), Suzy Storck (Gate Theatre), Hedda Gabler, Everyman, Hansel and Gretel, A Woman Killed with Kindness, Beauty and the Beast, Attempts on Her Life, Women of Troy, Iphigenia at Aulis (National Theatre/Dublin Abbey Theatre), Waves (National Theatre/UK tour), The Forbidden Zone (Barbican/Amsterdam), Ten Billion (Royal Court Theatre/Avignon Festival), The Trail of Ubu (Hampstead Theatre), Henry VIII (Shakespeare’s Globe), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (City of London Sinfonia), The Sugar Syndrome (Royal Court Theatre), and The Herbal Bed, The Cherry Orchard, The Country Wife and Richard III (RSC). Her television credits include Cursed, Doctor Who, Foyle’s War, Afterlife, Family Life, and Kiss Me Kate; and for film, Roxane, All Good Children and An Education.
Caitlin FitzGeraldcan currently be seen in Patrick Somerville’s HBO Max limited series Station Eleven for director Hiro Murai, and Shonda Rhimes’s hit Netflix limited series Inventing Anna. Previously she starred in Aaron Sorkin’s feature The Trial of Chicago 7, the HBO series Succession, the Starz series Sweetbitter, Sophia Takal’s independent feature Always Shine, and the third season of Emmy-nominated series Unreal. Caitlin is also known for her work in the Showtime series Masters of Sex, and had a season-long arc on the finale season of SundanceTV’s Rectify. Additional credits include Adult Beginners; Nancy Meyers’ It’s Complicated; Whit Stillman’s Damsels in Distress; and Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock.
Patricia Hodge’s theatre credits include: Private Lives (Theatre Royal Bath/UK tour); A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (Trafalgar Studios); Copenhagen; Travels With My Aunt; As You Like It (Chichester Festival Theatre); Relative Values (Harold Pinter Theatre/Theatre Royal Bath); Dandy Dick (Theatre Royal Brighton/UK tour); Calendar Girls (Chichester Festival Theatre/UK tour/Noel Coward Theatre); The Clean House (Sheffield Crucible/Royal and Derngate, Northampton/UK tour); The Country Wife (Theatre Royal Haymarket); Boeing Boeing (Comedy Theatre); His Dark Materials; Noises Off; Summerfolk; Money (Olivier Award Best Supporting Actress); A Little Night Music (National Theatre); Heartbreak House (Almeida); The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Strand Theatre/UK tour); Separate Tables (Albery Theatre/UK tour); Shades (Albery Theatre); Nymph Errant (Adlephi Theatre/Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Noel and Gertie (Warehouse Theatre/Comedy Theatre, Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical nomination); Benefactors (Michael Codron); The Mitford Girls (Chichester Festival Theatre/Globe Theatre, Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical nomination); Then and Now (Hampstead Theatre); Happy Yellow (Bush Theatre); Pal Joey Look Back in Anger; The Beggar’s Opera (Nottingham Playhouse); Hair (Queen’s Theatre); Maudie (Thorndike Theatre); Pippin (Her Majesty’s Theatre); The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Phoenix Theatre); Popkiss (Globe Theatre); All My Sons; Say Who You Are; The Birthday Party; The Anniversary (Traverse Theatre). Television includes: Murder in Provence; All Creatures Great and Small; Roadkill; A Very English Scandal; Downton Abbey Christmas Special; Miranda; Poirot; Maxwell; Hustle; Miss Marple; Sweet Medicine; Waking the Dead; The Falklands Play; The People’s Passion; The Moonstone; The Legacy of Reggie Perrin; The Cloning of Joanna May; Rich Tea and Sympathy; The Secret Life of Ian Fleming; The Shell Seekers; The Heat of the Day; Inspector Morse; Let’s Face the Music of…; Exclusive Yarns; The Life and Loves of a She-Devil; Time for Murder, The Return of Sherlock Holmes; Oss; Robin of Sherwood; Hotel Du Lac (BAFTA Best Actress nomination); Behind Enemy Lines; The Death of the Heart; Dust to Dust; Hay Fever; Jemima Shore Investigates; Holding the Fort; Nanny; The Professionals; The Other ‘Arf; Edward and Mrs Simpson; Target; Rumpole of the Bailey; The One and Only Mrs Phyllis Dixey; Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic; Softy Softly; The Naked Civil Servant; Quiller; The Girls of Slender Means; Menace. Films include: The Laureate; Before You Go; Prague Duet; Jilting Joe; The Leading Man; Sunset; Just Ask for Diamond; Thieves in the Night; Vilde, The Wild One; Betrayal; Riding High; Charlotte; The Elephant Man; Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang; Heavy Metal; Rosie Dixon – Night Nurse; The Disappearance.
TROUBLE IN BUTETOWN
By Diana Nneka Atuona
Directed by Tinuke Craig
10 February – 25 March 2023
“First thing I’m a need you to do is keep my secret. Can’t let nobody know I’m here and I mean nobody”
In her illegal boarding house in Butetown, Cardiff, Gwyneth Mbanefo toils tirelessly to keep afloat.
It’s a port town during the war; home to souls from every corner of the globe. When Nate, an African American GI, escapes his barracks and discovers this new world without segregation, can he find safe harbour? And with danger on every corner, whom can he trust?
Trouble in Butetown is a world première by the award-winning playwright Diana Nneka Atuona (Liberian Girl), directed by Tinuke Craig.
Trouble in Butetown is a recipient of the Theatre Royal Haymarket Writers Award.
Casting to be announced.
Diana Nneka Atuona is a Nigerian-British playwright from Peckham, London. She studied at South Bank University before winning a scholarship from Gray’s Inn to study law. Her first play Liberian Girl won the 2013 Alfred Fagon Award and opened at the Royal Court Theatre in 2015. Atuona was also nominated for the Evening Standard Award as Most Promising Playwright and the Writer’s Guild award for Best New Play. In 2019 she received the 50th George Devine Award for most promising playwright for Trouble in Butetown. Diana is currently working on a short play for Tiata Fahodzi’s project, ‘Talking about a Revolution’ for Autumn 2022. She is also developing work for television and film and is currently under commission with the Royal Court and The Old Vic.
Tinuke Craig’s directing credits include: Jitney (Headlong / Leeds Playhouse and Old Vic), Last Easter (Orange Tree), Aisha (the black album) (Old Vic), Crave (Chichester Festival Theatre), Hamlet For Young Audiences (National Theatre), Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith), Vassa (Almeida Theatre), The Color Purple (Leicester Curve/Birmingham Hippodrome), random/generations (Chichester Festival Theatre), I Call My Brothers (Gate Theatre), dirty butterfly (Young Vic). Tinuke trained at LAMDA and received the Genesis Future Director Award 2014. In 2015-2016 Tinuke was the Gate Theatre’s Associate Director and she is currently an Artistic Associate at the Lyric Hammersmith. She is the current Baylis Director at the Old Vic.
NEXT TO NORMAL
Music by Tom Kitt
Book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey
Directed by Michael Longhurst
12 August – 7 October 2023
“It is much more than a feel-good musical; it is a feel-everything musical.” New York Times
Critically acclaimed Broadway musical Next to Normal is an intimate exploration of family and loss. At its heart is Diana Goodman, a suburban wife and mother living with bipolar disorder and haunted by her past. Donmar Artistic Director Michael Longhurst directs the long-awaited UK première of this powerful rock musical about a far from average family.
Next to Normal is the winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Tony Awards including Best Original Score.
Casting to be announced.
Tom Kitt received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, two Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Orchestrations, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Score for Next to Normal (Second Stage Theater/Broadway). He is also the composer of If/Then (Tony and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), High Fidelity (Broadway), Bring it On, The Musical (co-composer with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Broadway), Superhero (Second Stage), Disney’s Freaky Friday (Stage Production and Original Disney Channel Movie Musical), Dave (Arena Stage), The Winter’s Tale, All’s Well That Ends Well, Cymbeline (Public Theater’s NYSF), From Up Here, The Madrid (Manhattan Theatre Club), Orphans (Broadway), The Retributionists (Playwrights Horizons), and As You Like It (Toho Co., Japan). As a music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator, credits include SpongeBob Squarepants, The Musical (Tony, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk Award nominations), Head Over Heels, Jagged Little Pill; Grease Live!, Rise (NBC), and American Idiot. His work with Green Day also includes additional arrangements for their Grammy Award-winning album 21st Century Breakdown and their album trilogy, ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! Tom received an Emmy Award as co-writer (with Lin-Manuel Miranda) for the 2013 Tony Award opening number, Bigger. Other television songwriting credits include a musical episode of Royal Pains, and songs for Penny Dreadful, Sesame Street, and Julie’s Greenroom. As a musical director, conductor, arranger and orchestrator, credits include the Pitch Perfect films, 2Cellos featuring Lang Lang (Live and Let Die), The Kennedy Center Honors, 13, Debbie Does Dallas, Everyday Rapture, Hair, Laugh Whore, Pippin (Deaf West), and These Paper Bullets. Upcoming projects include musical adaptations of the films Almost Famous (premiering on Broadway in October 2022), Magic Mike, and The Visitor.
Brian Yorkey received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as the 2009 Tony Award for Best Score for Next to Normal (Second Stage Theater/Broadway). He was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical for Next to Normal, and his work on the show earned him the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Score. He partnered again with the Next to Normal team on If/Then (Tony Award nominee for Best Score) starring Idina Menzel. He co-wrote the libretto for The Last Ship (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination, with John Logan), with a score by Sting. His musical adaptation of Freaky Friday for Disney Theatricals enjoyed a national tour before being adapted into a Disney Channel Original Movie. Current theatrical projects in development include the original musical Jesus in My Bedroom, with composer Tim Symons, as well as a stage musical adaptation of Magic Mike. Additional theatre credits include Making Tracks, which has played off-Broadway and regionally, the musical adaptation of Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet, and the play, Book of Jobs with Alex Glover. Brian was the Executive Producer and Showrunner of 13 Reasons Why for Netflix, Paramount Television and Anonymous Content.
The season is presented in partnership with Wessex Grove. We are also delighted that Simmons & Simmons have renewed their Associate Sponsorship of Donmar Warehouse for a further two years.
DONMAR WAREHOUSE
LISTINGS
41 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London WC2H 9LX
Members Priority Booking:
Director’s Forum members can book from Monday 10 October
Steel members from 9am (online) and 12pm (phones) on Tuesday 11 October
Copper members from 9am (online) and 12pm (phones) on Wednesday 12 October
Friends from 9am (online) and 12pm (phones) on Friday 14 October
Public booking:
From 12pm (online and phones) on Monday 17 October
Box Office: www.donmarwarehouse.com / 020 3282 3808
PERFORMANCE TIMES
Evenings Mon – Sat: 7.30pm
Matinees Thu & Sat: 2.30pm
TICKET PRICES
Watch on the Rhine, Trouble in Butetown
£55 (£50) / £41 (£38) / £21 (£19)
£10 standing tickets
Next to Normal
£60 (£55) / £45 (£41) / £23 (£21)
£10 standing tickets
Preview discounts apply to the first four performances only
YOUNG+FREE
YOUNG+FREE tickets for 16-25 year olds released by ballot. Sign up at www.donmarwarehouse.com.
Generously supported by IHS Markit.
DONMAR DAILY
New tickets on sale every day at the Donmar. Allocations of tickets will be made available every day for performances 7 days later. Tickets will be available across the auditorium at every price band.
ACCESS
The Donmar Warehouse is fully wheelchair accessible. Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome in the auditorium. There is a Loop system and a Radio Frequency system fitted in the main auditorium and there are also hearing loops at all the front of house counters.
ASSISTED PERFORMANCES
If you require a companion to attend the Donmar, their ticket will be free. To book call 020 3282 3808 or email [email protected].
For all other access enquiries or bookings call 020 3282 3808.
CAPTIONED PERFORMANCES – 7.30pm (captioned by Stagetext)
Watch on the Rhine: Monday 23rd January
Trouble in Butetown: Monday 20th March
Next to Normal: Monday 25th September
AUDIO DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE – 2.30pm (audio-described by VocalEyes)
Watch on the Rhine: Saturday 28th January
Trouble in Butetown: Saturday 11th March
Next to Normal: Saturday 30th September
BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETED PERFORMANCES
Watch on the Rhine: Saturday 21st January, 2.30pm
Trouble in Butetown: Friday 24th March, 7.30pm
Next to Normal: Saturday 23rd September 2.30pm
SEASON AT A GLANCE:
THE BAND’S VISIT
24 September – 3 December 2022
Captioned: Monday 28 November 7.30pm
Audio-Described: Saturday 26 November 2.30pm
British Sign Language Interpreted: Saturday 19 November 2.30pm
WATCH ON THE RHINE
9 December 2022 – 4 February 2023
Captioned: Monday 23rd January 7.30pm
Audio-Described: Saturday 28th January, 2.30pm
British Sign Language Interpreted: Saturday 21st January, 2.30pm
TROUBLE IN BUTETOWN
10 February – 25 March 2023
Captioned: Monday 20th March, 7.30pm
Audio-Described: Saturday 11th March, 2.30pm
British Sign Language Interpreted: Friday 24th March, 7.30pm
NEXT TO NORMAL
12 August – 07 October 2023
Captioned: Monday 25th September, 7.30pm
Audio-Described: Saturday 30th September, 2.30pm
British Sign Language Interpreted: Saturday 23rd September, 2.30pm