Summerfolk
Olivier Theatre (National Theatre)
- Opens: Friday, 6 March 2026 -
Booking until: Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Summerfolk description
Catch this fresh version of Maxim Gorky's Summerfolk by Nina Raine and Moses Raine.
It might feel like a long, hot summer of pleasure, but there's bad weather on the way and change on the breeze. The place is Russia, the year is 1905, and as usual, the wealthy have retreated from the heat to chill out at their posh country estates, swim, drink and enjoy affairs. Varvara can't relax. She's plagued by the feeling that they're on borrowed time. How long can the bourgeoisie ignore the signs? Themes of idleness, social decay, and the impending Russian revolution play out against a setting where gossip, love-making, bitching, adultery, and unhappy romantic alliances rule. Brilliant!
National Theatre Deputy Artistic Director Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky's Edge) directs Maxim Gorky's searing 1904 exploration of class, privilege, and denial. Adapted by sibling powerhouse playwrights Nina Raine (Consent, Tribes) and Moses Raine (Donkey Heart), it's great to see this beautifully observed play back in town.
The Set and Costume Designer Peter McKintosh joins Lighting Designer Paul Pyant, Sound Designer Alexandra Faye Braithwaite, Composer Nicola T. Chang, Movement Director Thomas Herron, and Casting Director Bryony Jarvis-Taylor CDG to create the magic. The Associate Set Designer is Joseph Bisat Marshall and the Staff Director is Lilac Yosiphon.
Buy Summerfolk tickets to watch a set of Chekhov-like characters play out their personal dramas on a social, political and cultural knife edge.
