The UK’s National Theatre is one of the world’s most prestigious playhouses, and a stint working there is a great boost to any acting career. Founded by Laurence Olivier in 1963, its boards have subsequently been trodden by a mighty roll call of top actors: Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Sophie Okonedo, Timothy West, Olivia Colman, and Chiwetel Ejiofor among them.
If you’re hoping to follow in their footsteps, it’s essential to understand how to navigate the audition process. Here’s a look at how it works.
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Officially known as the Royal National Theatre (but commonly referred to as “the National” or “the NT”), the London-based National Theatre houses three auditoriums: the 1,100-seater Olivier Theatre, the 890-seater Lyttelton, and the 450-seater Dorfman. Between them, they stage hundreds of performances every year.
The theatre is on the South Bank and showcases everything from innovative, groundbreaking new plays to revivals of classics and family-friendly musicals. Many of its productions have transferred to the West End and Broadway, as well as gone on international tours. Its plays are sometimes broadcast in cinemas around the world via NT Live too.
The theatre receives an annual grant from the UK government, allowing it to keep seat prices as low as possible and for it to take creative risks.
It is a hub for both established stars and emerging talent, and it’s always actively searching out new blood. Lucky early-career actors regularly land roles there, so it’s worth investing time understanding how its process works, especially if you’re new to the game.
The New Work department is where each new project gets workshopped and shaped, while its studio employs more than 1,000 freelance artists across all theatre-making disciplines every year.
The casting department is kept busy, with the NT selecting around 350 actors per year over an average of 25 productions. That means they’ll be meeting more than 2,500 performers annually.
The process is overseen by a five-strong in-house team and can vary greatly, taking up to a year for a big musical, but just weeks or months for a play with a small cast.
It primarily relies upon a mix of agent submissions, direct invitations, and scouting. While open auditions are seldom held, you can find out about upcoming productions on its social media channels (X, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube) and via press releases on its website.
When you find details of something you’d like to be involved with, ask yourself whether your skills and physical attributes align with the production’s needs. For example, are there roles requiring specific physicality, accents, or skills?
The casting team is eager to discover new actors, scouting talent for around 500 productions each year. “As a department, we regularly go to see productions across the breadth of London theatres, as well as regional work, which helps keep us informed and engaged with new talent,” casting associate Naomi Downham tells Backstage.
They visit West End shows, subsidised venues, fringe and pub theatre performances, and even drama school showcases. Trips to smaller productions are often the result of being invited by an actor. If you’ve got a production you’d like them to see, the team welcomes email invites to casting@nationaltheatre.org.uk.
Although having an agent can help with getting recognition and auditions, it’s not vital. “We work with unrepresented actors on a regular basis and are very happy to hear from actors directly via our casting inbox, which is checked and distributed amongst the team every week,” says Downham.
Start by making sure your acting CV, show reel, and headshots are up to date, and email these to the casting department. Securing representation helps, but if you don’t have an agent, attending industry events and networking might lead to a helpful connection.
Attend workshops or open calls for specific productions, which are occasionally advertised on the NT’s social media and website. The theatre holds Young People’s workshops for those aged 13–25, focusing on all aspects of theatre, including performing.
Another way into the National Theatre is to consider ensemble or understudy roles, or working in the theatre’s education or outreach programmes. These can offer invaluable experience as well as connections while you work towards landing an acting role.
Once you’ve landed an audition, you will typically receive a full copy of the script and be told which sections to prepare for. (This might vary if the work is new writing or confidential.)
“They would then either be invited to tape, Zoom, or, most likely, meet us at the NT, wherein we would have a chat about the play, read through the allocated scenes together with either the assistant or associate director – often called staff directors – in first rounds, and then potentially rework scenes to explore where that flexibility might take us,” says Downham.
It’s important to do your research before the big day: Find out what you can about the writer, the context of the play, and the production. See how you can bring versatility to the role. You may be asked to provide different interpretations of the same scene, so be prepared so that you can adjust your performance.
“Always make sure that you’ve prepped as much as possible, and don’t be afraid to ask us questions,” says Downham. “Our aim is to make sure actors enter the room as comfortable and confident as possible so that they can do their best work.”
Reassuringly, the theatre works in accordance with the Casting Directors’ Guild’s Code of Conduct. And it is committed to “ensuring equal opportunities for all actors, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, age, physical ability, faith, or economic background. We understand the importance of visibility and representation onstage, and we want to reflect the diversity of the population in our work.”
Although the casting department doesn’t have the resources to provide feedback to every actor it auditions, if you’ve gotten this far, you will at least hear whether it is a “yes” or a “no.” If you haven’t heard anything after a couple of weeks, email casting@nationaltheatre.org.uk to politely ask for the verdict.
Although it is disappointing to hear a “no,” bear in mind that every actor has tales of rejection. Judi Dench was told “very, very early on that [she] would never make any films” because she had “everything wrong with [her] face.” While Chiwetel Ejiofor revealed that as a teenager attending drama school, he was told that unless he changed his name, “it’s going to be quite difficult for you to make any money as an actor.”
Continuing to hone your craft and persist is the best response, bringing you one step closer to landing a role.