Michael Longhurst: I think theatres need to regenerate

Michael Longhurst is leaving in style – having announced earlier today three excellent new productions to round out his tenure at London’s Donmar Warehouse. 

Even with the intense upheaval of Covid, it’s hard to deny Longhurst has had a fairly impressive string of hit shows under his belt during a five-year spell – the most recent being the newly transferring Next to Normal, which opens in the West End next summer. 

Longhurst is excited to see this version of the piece get its moment in the spotlight, many many years after it was first seen over in the US: “Because it’s been over 15 years since the original Broadway production, we have had time and space to work on it – and the world has changed. And I think that story is so much more accessible to us in the UK.” 

It’ll be a belated swansong for Longhurst too, who will depart the award-winning Covent Garden venue before Next to Normal’s opening at the Wyndham’s Theatre. 

But that’s not to say the director won’t have plenty to be getting on with in the meantime, re-uniting with Next to Normal’s choreographer (and now supplier of additional direction for the West End) Ann Yee for the world premiere of Lucy Kirkwood’s new play The Human Body. 

Following the string of successes including Chimerica, Mosquitoes, The Welkin and The Children, the premiere of a new Kirkwood play is always a notable moment in the theatre calendar. Longhurst, who describes Kirkwood as “one of our best writers…hands down”, agrees. 

The offering is tantalising – described by Longhurst as “using forms and tropes of Hollywood movies to sort of juxtapose the grit and reality of austerity, postwar Britain, and come up with something incredible”. 

A key point of reference, he notes, is Brief Encounter, with the piece also set in the 1940s and following an unexpected relationship between a Labour councillor GP and a local film star, during the advent of the NHS.

Keeley Hawes and Jack Davenport star, while Longhurst acknowledges both the National and the Donmar are tackling the topic of the NHS’s birth at the same time (the National with the Michael Sheen-led Nye), but states that “both plays are taking very different approaches and coming to the subject very differently.” 

Two fantastic further offerings round out the season – with Longhurst having coaxed award-winning director Benedict Andrews (who he met by accident while on holiday in Iceland, he explains) to the venue to present his take on Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, while completing his season will be the European premiere of Primary Trust, an off-Broadway hit now helmed by star director Matthew Xia. 

Longhurst’s tenure at the Donmar has not been an easy one – the long shadow of Covid hangs over every venue, producing house or visiting house, while last November brought the deeply unwelcome news of the Donmar losing its National Portfolio status following a funding decision by the Arts Council. Longhurst acknowledges the turbulence, but takes great pride: “Covid and the after-effects of Covid held on to us as an industry a lot longer – probably a year longer – than we all thought they would. But I’m proud to have found a groove with programming and as an artistic director, despite knowing that doesn’t happen instantly.” 

In spite of a rocky period, the venue has continued to thrive – and reaffirmed its commitment to its local areas, doubling its school and community outreach work since 2019. 

As for the Arts Council decision: “The government’s levelling up agenda has been incredibly problematic…. I think the Donmar should be part of the portfolio. With its status in the industry etc. But as a team, we’ve worked incredibly hard to both build up and continue to work with an amazing network of supporters and donors. So I know the Donmar will be okay – it’ll go from strength to strength.”

Tasked with taking the venue from strength to strength will be Timothy Sheader, who travels down from Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre to the much more intimate confines of the Donmar. Does Longhurst have any tips for his successor? He laughs: “I had a very nice dinner with him and it was all very exciting. I also think theatres should regenerate. Each artistic director brings a new set of creatives they want to give opportunities to, so turnover in artistic director allows that to happen.” 

It won’t be easy, he admits: “There is a focus that we have post-Arts Council in terms of what we need shows to do, in terms of both the financial and box pressures, – those are higher than ever.”

Speaking of regeneration, next up, a new staging of instant sell-out Macbeth with starry leads David Tennant and Cush Jumbo – which Longhurst had just seen in the rehearsal room. His excitement for Max Webster’s show, as with all the productions that came and went during his half-decade at the space, is infectious.