A series of new productions have been announced as part of National Theatre Nationwide, a new networking of leading theatres in nine regions of England dedicated to ensuring parity of access to art and culture, enriching people’s lives wherever they live.
The National Theatre Nationwide partnership brings together the expertise and reach of: Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, Birmingham Hippodrome, Leeds Heritage Theatres, Leicester Curve, The Lowry in Salford Quays, the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Norwich Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Southampton Mayflower, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Theatre Royal Nottingham.
This announcement centres on the partners’ shared deep commitment to boosting the touring ecology. This includes touring National Theatre productions direct from its London stages with the original cast with venues in all English regions, supported by Arts Council England. This is alongside subsidised ticketing and new schools touring productions across the country.
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice will be the first National Theatre production to tour as part of NT Nationwide. Jim Cartwright’s modern classic, which will be directed by Deputy Artistic Director Robert Hastie, is a celebration of music, ambition and the courage it takes to be heard featuring iconic music from the likes of Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey and more.
Francesca Mills will star in the title role of Little Voice, alongside Jill Halfpenny as Mari Hoff and Paul Chuckle as Mr Boo. Further casting will be announced soon.
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice runs at the Dorfman Theatre, National Theatre from 2nd December 2026 until 23rd January 2027. It then starts its tour on 3rd February 2027 at Newcastle Theatre Royal before visiting Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre, Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre, The Lowry in Salford Quays, the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre and Theatre Royal Plymouth.
The first schools touring production will a production of Bacchae following its debut at the National Theatre as part of Indhu Rubasingham’s inaugural season. Writer Nima Taleghani joins director Hannah Hauer-King to create an adapted version of the main stage production. The show is a modern retelling of Eurpides’ ancient Greek tragedy and will be brought to life through rhythm, movement and music,
In addition, in a co-production with the Unicorn Theatre, The Last Wild will go on a national tour in 2027 following a run at the Unicorn Theatre from 30th January to 7th March 2027. This will be a new version for primary school and family audiences adapted by Jude Christian from the award-winning eco-thrilled by Piers Torday. The Last Wild is an epic adventure about courage, friendship and fighting for a world worth saving.
“Touring plays a crucial role in our cultural landscape, ensuring people can access the very best art and culture close to where they live. This innovative new partnership bringing work directly from the renowned National Theatre stages to major theatres across every English region, alongside an extensive programme engaging young people in theatre through schools productions does just that, which is why we are so pleased to be supporting it. Our research shows a decline in drama touring in recent years and we hope this significant investment, in addition to our own work of reimagining how best we can support touring, including the development of a new Touring Service, will work to combat that and grow audiences for the future.” – Hannah Lake, Director of Touring Transformation for Arts Council England
