David Tennant as Macbeth and the European Premiere of CLYDE'S Conclude Donmar Warehouse's 2023 Programme

With the sold-out production of Noël Coward's Private Lives currently running until 27 May, Artistic Director Michael Longhurst and Executive Director Henny Finch have announced the final two shows in the programme for 2023, and the conclusion of Donmar's 30th birthday season. The European première of Clyde's reunites double Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and director Lynette Linton as a follow up to their Donmar smash hit Sweat which transferred to the West End. The production opens on 19 October, with previews from 13 October and runs until 2 December.

The season concludes with William Shakespeare's Macbeth starring David Tennant in the title role, directed by Donmar Associate Director Max Webster, which opens on 15 December, with previews from 8 December, and runs until 10 February 2024.

Michael Longhurst's final season of shows before he steps down as Artistic Director next year will be announced in Autumn 2023.

Also announced today is the schools' tour of William Shakespeare's Henry V, directed by Donmar's former Resident Assistant Director Dadiow Lin. Inspired by the critically acclaimed 2022 Donmar Warehouse production directed by Max Webster, and supported by headline partner Howdens and Westminster City Council, the production tours for four weeks in June and July, with performances offered free of charge reaching up to 3000 young people in Camden and Westminster.

Later this year, the Donmar will host the launch of a new paper by Climate Dramaturg and Donmar Associate Artist Dr Zoë Svendsen. This report represents the culmination of an 18-month research period during which Zoë and the Donmar, together with freelance artists, have worked to create a new, climate-conscious model for production, which they intend to make freely available to the industry along with key resources to share their learnings and new ways of working.

Donmar Warehouse also announces today the second cohort of playwrights who will receive The Theatre Royal Haymarket Writers Award, in partnership with Access Entertainment, owner of the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

The Award commissions two new writers each year to support the development of their careers on main stages. Each writer will receive a full commission to write a play as well as access to the Donmar's creative talent who will offer support for the research and development of the writers' ideas, through readings and workshops with professional actors. The 2023 recipients of the Theatre Royal Haymarket Writer's Award are Mufaro Makubiku and Hannah Shury-Smith.

This season is generously supported by Charles Holloway, Season Supporter.

Michael Longhurst says today "For my penultimate season announcement I am thrilled to share two more productions to round off our 30th birthday year. First, we have the European première of Lynn Nottage's hilarious and uplifting CLYDE'S directed by Lynette Linton, fresh from her Critics' Circle Best Director win. CLYDE'S follows their astonishing production of SWEAT staged at the Donmar, and the West End, in 2019. And I am so excited to witness David Tennant's portrayal of Macbeth, in what will be an unmissable production directed by Max Webster. We are also proud to share an adapted version of our last Shakespeare production HENRY V with young people in Camden and Westminster in our next Schools' tour, created by artists from our training programme. With the continued cuts to schools' arts provision, touring productions like this are essential, to help nurture the next generation of audiences and theatre makers. Finally I am delighted to have Mufaro Makubiko and Hannah Shury-Smith under commission, thanks to our Theatre Royal Haymarket Writers Award"

Forbes McNaughton, Howdens Company Secretary said, "We are delighted to be sponsoring the Donmar's Henry V Schools Tour this year, building on last year's successful support of their 'Take the Stage' programme. Supporting local communities, and inspiring young people within them, is one of Howdens' key values. Access to inspiration should be available to all, and our ongoing support of this exciting initiative means that young people, who may not have previously considered a career in performing arts, for cultural, geographical or socio-economic reasons, have access to some of theatre's leading creative minds."

As part of its continued 30th birthday celebrations, and with generous support from Associate Sponsor Barclays, the Donmar continues to offer £10 tickets on all of its productions in 2023 for audiences under the age of 30. Six tickets will be available for every performance of Clyde's and ten on every performance of Macbeth.

Speaking about supporting the Donmar to continue to offer these discounted tickets on Macbeth, Tom Corbett, Managing Director, Sponsorship, from Barclays said: "We are incredibly proud of our long-standing affiliation partnership with The Donmar Warehouse and anticipate that this production of Macbeth will be a must-see event. We are delighted to be able to offer audiences aged under 30 the opportunity to experience the show for just £10."

CLYDE'S

By Lynn Nottage

Directed by Lynette Linton

13 October - 2 December 2023

Press night: Thursday 19 October

Designer: Frankie Bradshaw
Lighting Designer: Oliver Fenwick
Sound Designer: George Dennis
Movement Director: Kane Husbands

Composer: Duramaney Kamara

Casting to be announced.

It's kind of a ritual, we speak the truth. Then, let go and cook.

In the bustling kitchen of a run-down Pennsylvania truck stop, the formerly incarcerated staff have been given a second chance. Under the tyrannical eye of their boss Clyde, this unlikely team strives to create the perfect sandwich, as they dream of leaving their past mistakes behind for a better life.

Double Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lynn Nottage (Ruined, Sweat, The Secret Life of Bees) and director Lynette Linton (Critics' Circle Best Director for Blues for an Alabama Sky) reunite for the European premiere of the hilarious and hopeful CLYDE'S, the follow up to their Donmar five star production of SWEAT which transferred to the West End.

"Lynn Nottage is remarkable and uniquely exhilarating." The Washington Post on Clyde's

"Lynette Linton's superbly calibrated production excels from start to finish" ***** The Guardian on Sweat

Lynn Nottage is a playwright and a screenwriter, and the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Recent work includes the book for MJ the Musical (Broadway), the libretto for the Intimate Apparel Opera (LCT), and Clyde's (Broadway, 2ST, Goodman Theater), and co-curating the performance installation The Watering Hole (Signature Theater). Past work includes Sweat, Ruined, the book for The Secret Life of Bees; Mlima's Tale; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; Intimate Apparel; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por'knockers; and POOF!. She has also developed This is Reading, a performance installation in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ms. Nottage is a member of the Theater Hall of Fame, and the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship (among other awards). She is also an Associate Professor at Columbia University School of the Arts and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Lynette Linton is the Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre. She was previously Resident Assistant Director at The Donmar Warehouse. For the Donmar, her credits include Sweat (also West End; Best Director, Black British Theatre Awards). Her other productions include August in England, House Of Ife and Chiaroscuro (Bush Theatre), Blues for an Alabama Sky (National Theatre, Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Director and Critics Circle Award for Best Director), Richard II (co-directed with Adjoa Andoh, marking the first ever company of women of colour in a Shakespeare play on a major UK stage) (Shakespeare's Globe), Assata Taught Me (Gate Theatre) Function (National Youth Theatre) This Is (Arts Educational School), Indenture (Dark Horse Festival), Naked (Vault Festival), This Wide Night (Albany Theatre). She was also co-director on Chicken Palace (Theatre Royal Stratford East). As assistant/associate director her credits include The York Realist, Belleville, The Lady from The Sea and Knives in Hens (Donmar Warehouse), Torn (Royal Court), Image of An Unknown Young Woman, The Christians (Gate Theatre), Gutted (Theatre Royal Stratford East), and The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Noel Coward Theatre). As a writer her productions include Hashtag Lightie (Arcola Theatre), and Chicken Palace and Step (Theatre Royal Stratford East). For television, her credits include My Name is Leon; and as writer: Look At Me.

MACBETH

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Max Webster

8 December 2023 - 10 February 2024

Press night: Friday 15 December

Sound Designer: Gareth Fry
Movement Director: Shelley Maxwell

Cast: David Tennant

"O, full of scorpions is my mind"

A spellbinding story of love and murder, the renewing power of nature, and of the internal struggles of a damaged man as he tries to control his destiny. This bracingly fresh production of the Scottish play places us inside the mind of Macbeth, asking are we ever really responsible for our actions?

Shakespeare's most extraordinary psychological drama is led at the Donmar this winter by David Tennant, who plays the title role for the first time in his illustrious stage career. Donmar Associate Director Max Webster (Henry V, Life of Pi) directs.

David Tennant returns to the Donmar to play Macbeth - he previously appeared in Lobby Hero (Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor). His other theatre credits include Good (Harold Pinter Theatre, Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor); Don Juan in Soho (Wyndham's Theatre, winner of WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor); Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndham's Theatre); Richard II (RSC/Barbican/BAM, winner of WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor); Hamlet (winner of Critics Circle Award for Best Shakespearean Performance); Love's Labour's Lost; Romeo and Juliet; Comedy of Errors; The Rivals; As You Like It; The Herbal Bed; The General from America (RSC); Look Back in Anger (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh/Theatre Royal Bath, CATS Award); The Pillowman; What the Butler Saw (National Theatre); Push Up (Royal Court); Comedians (Exeter/Oxford); King Lear; An Experienced Woman Gives Advice (Royal Exchange Theatre); Vassa (Albery); The Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy (Comedy Theatre); Hurlyburly (Queen's Theatre); Long Day's Journey into Night; The Glass Menagerie (Dundee Rep). TV includes Doctor Who (BAFTA Wales Best Actor, TV Times award, four National Television Awards and three TV Choice awards for Best Actor); Des (International Emmy Award for Best Actor, Broadcasting Press Guild Award for best actor, and National Television Award, Most Popular Drama Performance); Litvenenko; Good Omens; Inside Man; Staged; Around the World in 80 Days; Criminal; Deadwater Fell; There She Goes; Jessica Jones; Camping; Broadchurch (three TV Choice awards for best actor, Crime Writers Association award for Best Actor); W1A; Gracepoint (People's Choice Award); The Escape Artist (BAFTA Scotland Award); The Politician's Husband; Spies of Warsaw; Playhouse Presents: The Minor Character; True Love; Twenty Twelve; This is Jinsy; United; Single Father (TV Choice Award for Best Actor); The Sarah Jane Adventures; Hamlet; The Catherine Tate Show; Einstein and Eddington; Extras; Learners; Recovery (Royal Television Society Award nomination for Best Actor); The Chatterley Affair; Secret Smile; The Quatermass Experiment; Casanova; Blackpool; He Knew He Was Right; Terri McIntyre; Posh Nosh; Trust; Foyle's War; People Like Us; Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased); The Mrs Bradley Mysteries; Love in the 21st Century; Duck Patrol; The Tales of Para Handy; Dramarama; Rab C Nesbitt; Takin' Over the Asylum; and for film, Mary Queen of Scots; Bad Samaritan; You, Me & Him; Mad to Be Normal; What We Did on Our Holiday; Fright Night; The Decoy Bride; Glorious 39; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Bright Young Things; Being Considered; The Last September; LA Without A Map; Jude.

Max Webster is an Associate Director at The Donmar Warehouse where he has directed Henry V. Max's other work as a theatre director includes Life of Pi (Sheffield Crucible/West End/Boston/Broadway, Olivier Award nomination for Best Director); Antigone; As You Like It; Twelfth Night (Regent's Park Open Air); The Lorax (The Old Vic/Children's Theatre, Minneapolis/Old Globe, San Diego), Fanny and Alexander and Cover My Tracks (The Old Vic), The Sea of Fertility and Mary Stuart (Parco, Japan), The Jungle Book and King Lear (Royal & Derngate, Northampton/UK Tour), The Winter's Tale (Lyceum, Edinburgh), The Twits (Curve, Leicester), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare's Globe/World Tour), James and the Giant Peach and My Generation (WYP), Orlando, To Kill a Mockingbird and My Young and Foolish Heart (Royal Exchange, Manchester), The Chalk Circle (Aarohan Theatre, Kathmandu) and Carnival Under the Rainbow and Feast Kakulu (Hilton Arts Festival, South Africa). Film Credits include The Lorax: In Camera (Old Vic) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Musical (Sky Arts/NBC). Opera credits include La Bohème (Goteborg Opera, Sweden) and The Merry Widow (ENO). Nominated for the Olivier Award, Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Director.

Henry V Schools' Tour Creative Team:

Inspired by The Donmar Warehouse production of HENRY V directed by Max Webster
Director: Dadiow Lin
Designer Roisin Jenner
Movement Director: Liam Francis
Fight Director: Philip d'Orléans
Sound Designer and Composer: Dom Coyote
Assistant Director Alessandra Davison
Education Pack: Jordana Golbourn & Studio Certain

The Theatre Royal Haymarket Writers Award:

Hannah was awarded the 2022 Alfred Fagon Award for her play GO BACK HOME! and received the 2022-3 Sky Arts RSL Writers Award for Playwriting. She is also an alumnus of the Royal Court Introduction to Playwriting Group and a graduate of the 2020-1 4Screenwriting scheme, on which she wrote her first TV pilot LIMBO.

Mufaro's first play, SHEBEEN, opened at the Nottingham Playhouse in June 2018 and then transferred to the Theatre Royal Stratford East. SHEBEEN was the winner of the Alfred Fagon Award for best new play 2017. His most recent play, MALINDADZIMU, opened at the Hampstead Theatre in September 2021.

Photo Credit: Charlie Gray

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