National Theatre announces reopening date next month and Christmas pantomime

The National Theatre will reopen on 21 October for performances of Death of England in a newly configured Olivier space, with plans revealed for a pantomime!

Over 200 tickets will be available at £20 for every performance of Death of England, which will be played in-the-round in the National's largest auditorium, allowing 500 attendees to sit and watch for each night. Tickets go on sale at the beginning of October.

Set and costume designers are Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ, with lighting design by Jackie Shemesh, sound design by Pete Malkin and Benjamin Grant.

The second production the NT will stage as part of the Olivier in-the-round season will be a new version of Jude Christian and Cariad Lloyd's Dick Whittington, directed by Ned Bennett.

The festive show, which is to reveal cast and dates, has set and costume designs by Georgia Lowe, and lighting designed by Jessica Hung Han Yun. Denzel Westley-Sanderson is associate director.

Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre said: "We're both delighted and relieved to be reopening the National Theatre with the Olivier in-the-round season, which will allow us to present live work to as many people as possible while social distancing remains in place. It is dynamically appropriate to begin the season with Death of England: Delroy, an extraordinarily important and timely piece of work by the hugely talented Clint Dyer and Roy Williams, and we are also proud and privileged to be presenting DIck Whittington this Christmas, helmed by the inspirational Jude Christian, Cariad Lloyd and Ned Bennett.

"Pantomime is an essential part of the living fabric of our nation, and it is devastating that so many theatres across the country have had no choice but to postpone their pantos this year because of the unprecedented financial impact of Coronavirus. We'll do all we can to keep the flame alive: brilliant theatre artists will serve up a slice of joy to families on the South Bank, and we'll be asking everyone to support their local theatres by booking ahead for their 2021 pantomimes. Of course, we hope that it will be possible for theatres to perform safely to fuller audiences long before then."