Duncan Sheik-Steven Sater Musical, Cillian Murphy Solo Show & More on Tap For the National Theatre’s 2012-13 Season

A new musical from Spring Awakening team Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater joins new plays by Stephen Beresford, Lisa D’Amour, James Graham and Lucy Prebble during London's National Theatre’s 2012-13 season, along with previously announced new Alan Bennett play People.

New rock musical Alice by Heart, by Sping Awakening scribes Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, will be presented as part of the 2012 Connections Festival of specially commissioned plays for young people. One hundred eighty young theatre companies will mount productions in their home venues and at 20 youth theatre festivals with partner theatres across the U.K. and Ireland; one example of each play will be performed in the Cottesloe and Olivier Theatres in June.

Kicking off the season in the National’s Olivier Theatre is Jamie Lloyd’s production of Oliver Goldsmith’s classic comedy She Stoops to Conquer, currently in previews and opening on January 31. The cast includes David Fynn, Harry Hadden-Paton, John Heffernan, Cush Jumbo, Katherine Kelly, Steve Pemberton and Sophie Thompson. Sophocles’ Antigone, in a version by Don Taylor and directed by Polly Findlay, then begins performances May 30. July will bring Timon of Athens, directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Simon Russell Beale as Timon. Tirso de Molina’s Damned for Despair, in a version by Frank McGuinness, directed by Bijan Sheibani will follow in October. In November, Timothy Sheader will direct Richard Bean’s new adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.

The Olivier will also house two return engagements for the National. In May, Nicholas Hytner’s production of Collaborators by John Hodge will return, with Alex Jennings and Simon Russell Beale reprising their roles from an earlier run at the Cottesloe. In addition, Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork’s London Road will be revived by Rufus Norris for a short season beginning in July.

Opening the season in the National’s Lyttelton Theatre will be solo show Misterman on April 18, written and directed by Enda Walsh and starring Cillian Murphy. In June, Howard Davies directs Julie Walters, Rory Kinnear and Helen McCrory in a new play, The Last of the Haussmans by Stephen Beresford. Next up will be Bernard Shaw’s The Doctor’s Dilemma directed by Nadia Fall and opening in July. Two-time Tony winner Alan Bennett’s new play, People, will open in the Lyttelton in late October, directed by Nicholas Hytner. Finally, in March 2013, Howard Davies will direct Gorky’s Children of the Sun.

The National’s Cottesloe Theatre season will begin with Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, by Errol John. The production will open on March 14, directed by Michael Buffong, and the cast includes Jude Akuwudike, Jade Anouka, Jenny Jules and Danny Sapani. In April, Inua Ellams will present in his new show, Black T-Shirt Collection, which will be followed in May by the U.K. premiere of Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit, directed by Austin Pendleton. In July, War Horse-helmer Marianne Elliott directs The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, based on the novel by Mark Haddon and adapted by Simon Stephens. The cast includes Una Stubbs, Luke Treadaway and Nicola Walker. A new play by James Graham, This House, will be directed by Jeremy Herrin in September, and Rupert Goold will direct a new play by Lucy Prebble in November.