National Theatre unveiled its 2026 season – and it’s a start studded spectacle

three images spliced together of Cate Blanchett, Letitia Wright, and Sandra Oh. From L-R it shows Cate Blanchett at The Fashion Awards 2025, Sandra Oh attending KALH Honors 2025 at Sofitel Hotel Los Angeles, and Letitia Wright posing for a portrait session at the Filmmaker Afternoon Teas during the 69th BFI London Film Festival at the Sea Containers on October 10, 2025 in London, England.

(Image credit: Max Cisotti/ Shane Anthony Sinclair / Joe Scarnici via Getty Images)

It’s been an exciting time for theatre-lovers this week, as the fresh 2026 season is officially kicking off, with some incredible new shows already underway, including a host of big names, new plays and even The Traitors getting in on the theatrical action.

Yesterday, we had The Globe’s 2026 summer season announced, with Shakespearean classics as well as a couple of new faces. Now, it’s the National Theatre’s turn – and boy, did they deliver. Cate Blanchett, Sandra Oh, and Letitia Wright are all heading to London’s Southbank.

Our cherry-picked recommendations for the best shows heading to London theatres in 2026

Under new management since autumn 2025, when Indhu Rubasingham’s artistic directorship began, she’s seriously raised the stakes with the names attached to the next couple of months.

First up to bat is the legendary Sandra Oh, who will be making her UK stage debut in a production of Moliere’s classic comedy The Misanthrope. Directed by incumbent artistic director Rubasingham, the play has been given a glow-up by playwright Martin Crimp, and also stars Abigail Cruttenden and Paul Chahidi. It won’t be on for long, though, as the production will be running from June 16th until August 1st at the Lyttleton Theatre.

an image of sandra oh as part of the promotional imagery for the national theatre's 2026 production of the misanthrope

Also on the docket is Cate Blanchett – no stranger to treading the boards, having starred in the sadomasochism drama When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other back in 2019 at the Dorfman Theatre. For 2026, Blanchett will be heading to the bigger Lyttelton Theatre, performing a new show Electa/Persona – a theatrical mash-up of Sophocles’ Electra and Ingmar Bergman’s Persona. Not exactly a recognisable family favourite, but it will be a hell of a piece, set to debut sometime in August.

an image of the promotional poster for the story play at the national theatre 2026

Black Panther star Letitia Wright is also making a National Theatre debut in a production of The Story – Tracey Scott Wilson’s pacy, brilliant newsroom drama. Running from August 27th until October 24th at the Olivier Theatre, the play also stars Ashley Thomas and Lorraine Toussaint, directed by former NT artistic director Clint Dyer. It follows the story of a white teacher killed in a black neighbourhood, and the four journalists who race to get the headline at any cost. But when shocking new evidence pulls them into the dark heart of the case, they are each forced to confront what they’re prepared to risk to tell their version of the truth.

Tickets for The Misanthrope and The Story are going on general sale on 12th February at 10am, with the rest of the shows set to go on sale later in the year.

Speaking of other shows, whilst we don’t have casting confirmed for the rest of the announced plays, we do know some of the plays which are set to hit the stage. From May 16th until July 30th, War Horse will be returning to the Olivier theatre, Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9 will be at the Lyttleton, and a new, sparkling adaptation of The Jungle Book will be heading to London, expected to run in the autumn / Christmas slot.

Also on the lineup are: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, a new play called Some Women by Helen Edmundson, and another new drama from Carmen Nasr titled Samira.

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Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.

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