Richard Eyre directs a new play by Moira Buffini, WELCOME TO THEBES, continuing the Travelex £10 Tickets season in the Olivier Theatre and opening on 22 June.  Faced with an impoverished population, a shattered infrastructure and a volatile army, the first democratic president of Thebes, Eurydice, promises peace to her nation. Without the aid of Theseus, the leader of the vastly wealthy state of Athens, she doesn’t stand a chance. But Theseus is arrogant, mercurial and motivated by profit.
 
Will Eurydice and her government get what they need for their fledgling state – on terms that they can live with? A swaggering opposition circles, impatient for insurrection. The body of the former dictator lies unburied. A boy soldier is carelessly murdered.
 
Set in the present day, but inspired by ancient myth, Moira Buffini’s WELCOME TO THEBES offers a passionate exploration of an encounter between the world’s richest and poorest countries, set in the aftermath of a brutal war.

Nikki Amuka-Bird makes her National Theatre debut as Eurydice.  Her many television credits include Survivors, Small Island, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and Torchwood;  her stage work includes The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC) and Doubt (Tricycle).

David Harewood’s previous roles at the National include Hotspur in Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, Lord Asriel in His Dark Materials and the title role in Othello;  recent stage work includes Martin Luther King in the Olivier award-winning The Mountaintop.  His extensive television and film appearances include Mandela in Winnie Mandela, Robin Hood, The Vice, Babyfather, A&E and Blood Diamond.

Richard Eyre was Director of the National from 1988 – 1997.  His recent work includes Private Lives (West End), The Observer and The Reporter at the NT, Hedda Gabler (Almeida and West End, winning Olivier Awards for Best Director and Best Revival); and the films Iris, Stage Beauty and Notes on a Scandal.
 
Travelex have renewed their sponsorship of £10 Tickets for three more years from 2010.  Half of all the tickets for the Travelex £10 shows in the Olivier Theatre are £10 (the rest are £15 and £30).    

Travelex £10 Tickets, Olivier Theatre