Classic Plays Slowly Disappearing From London National Theatre Schedule

The schedule for the new season of National Theatre repertory is out. The lack of classical plays in the new list has disappointed some critics who feel the theater is not going ahead in the right direction.

According to The Guardian, the National Theatre's new program list consists of 12 plays, out of which 6 are performed by women. Annie Baker, Lucy Kirkwood, Yaël Farber and Nina Raine are some of the names that are going to be enlightening the stage with their presence. The main problem cited with the plan, according to critics like Micheal Billington, is the lack of classic repertory. Other than a remake of Tony Kushner's Angels in America (1991-2) and Stephen Sondheim's Follies (1971), there is nothing that the theater goers can call as pure "classical" drama.

Interestingly mere ten years ago, the directors were more traditional, often matching and mixing plays by Euripides, Shakespeare, Etherege, Gorky, O'Neill, Brecht, Shaw, Beckett and Pinter with that of Penhall, Kwame-Kwei Armah, Ayub Khan Din, Nicholas Wright and Matt Charman along with War Horse and Kneehigh's A Matter of Life and Death. It was the same scenario even a decade prior to that and it has always been the National Theatre's legacy to include timeless classics with new generation literary works until the current season repertory was announced.

According to What's On Stage, National Theatre has responded to the allegations with the list of classical pieces they had offered just last year including Ibsen, Chekhov, Rattigan, O'Casey, Shaffer, Brecht, Wilson, Hansberry and Kane. On encouraging newer works, the theater clarified that if there are only the same types of plays throughout the years, then it is not going to attract new and diverse theater lovers, which will give rise to an even more alarming situation.

Since Billington's views, the National Theatre and the world in general have come a long way in the past few months. It has seen a delirious business tycoon rise to power in the strongest democracy of the world. It has seen a phenomenon, like Brexit. The theater always reflects the times we live in. To resonate with the current problems of the world, the theater also has the duty of staging more contemporary plays than old classics.

A fresh new approach, with a look into the new age problems, can make the theater's ability to reach the widespread audience. With its roots firmly in the past, the theater should also concentrate on the present and future.

TagsNational Theatre, London, Michael Billington, Rufus Norris, William Shakespeare