LONDON, April 27, 2015 — /REAL TIME PRESS RELEASE/ — Two of London’s best theatres are currently undergoing a change at the top with Rufus Norris taking over the artistic directorship of the National Theatre in April 2015 and Matthew Warchus succeeding Kevin Spacey as Artistic Director of The Old Vic in autumn 2015.

Rufus Norris opens his debut season at the National with ‘Everyman’ starring Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) running from 22nd April 2015 in the Olivier Theatre, anticipated as one of the best London events for spring.

Highlights of his inaugural season at the National Theatre include ‘Three Days in the Country’ by ‘Closer’ playwright Patrick Marber who directs his new adaptation in the Lyttelton Theatre from July. ‘Our Country’s Good’ by Timberlake Wertenbaker directed by Nadia Fall which opens in the Olivier Theatre in August. And ‘People, Places and Things’, a new play by Duncan Macmillan presented in a co-production with Headlong, directed by Jeremy Herrin, opening in the Dorfman Theatre in August.

Sally Cookson’s five star production of Charlotte Brontë’s masterpiece Jane Eyre, originally played at the Bristol Old Vic, comes to the National’s Lyttelton Theatre in September 2015, Anne-Marie Duff leads the cast in ‘Husbands and Sons’ beginning in October, and Polly Findlay directs Shakespeare’s comedy ‘As You Like It’ in the play’s first main stage production at the NT since 1980 in the Olivier Theatre in November. In the same month Rufus Norris directs ‘wonder.land’, a new musical by Damon Albarn and Moira Buffini inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

Other highlights at the National Theatre include Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director of the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, directing the UK premiere of Broadway hit ‘The Motherf**ker With the Hat’ from 10th June 2015 with a cast which includes Ricardo Chavira – Carlos Solis in US comedy-drama series, Desperate Housewives.

The National’s Temporary Theatre (previously The Shed) will host a tenth anniversary revival of Tim Crouch’s An Oak Tree from 23rd June which will see Crouch playing opposite a different actor each night, who has not seen a word of the play beforehand.

Ralph Fiennes, Timothy Spall and Rob Brydon will all take to the stage of The Old Vic for Matthew Warchus’ first season as Artistic Director of the famous London venue. The programme includes Ibsen’s ‘The Master Builder’ in a new adaptation by David Hare starring Ralph Fiennes due in 2016, and the world premiere of a new musical, ‘Groundhog Day’ reuniting the creative team of ‘Matilda the Musical’ with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin.

The Old Vic new season will open on 1st September 2015 with ‘Future Conditional’, a new play by Tamsin Oglesby starring Rob Brydon and featuring a young cast of 23, directed by Matthew Warchus. There will be new commissions including a new dance thriller, ‘Jekyl and Hyde’, and the Christmas production will be a new stage adaptation of Dr Seuss’s The Lorax.

More good news for theatre lovers, Kenneth Branagh recently announced a new West End season of five plays, starring Dame Judi Dench, Lily James and himself in a year-long residency which begins on 17th October 2015 at the Garrick Theatre, with associates Rob Ashford and Olivier Award-winner Christopher Oram.

For more information on these and other great London theatre events, go to LondonTown.com where a wide choice of London hotels to suit all budgets is given as well as information on restaurants, attractions and all the latest London happenings.

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