Summerfolk Revival
Closing: April 29, 2026Summerfolk - 2026 West End History , Info & More
National Theatre (Olivier)
(Waterloo) South Bank London
A summer of pleasure. A storm on the horizon.
It’s a hot, beautiful summer in 1905, and Russia’s elite retreat to the countryside to swim, sip champagne and start affairs.
When they’re having this much fun, why care about anything else? But Varvara just can’t shake the feeling that their holiday idyll is built on borrowed time.
As the party continues, how long can they ignore the storm on the horizon?
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Glorious Gorky is touching, funny and looks stunning
10 / 10
Modern phrases such as “number crunching” are scattered here and there. As with the translation that Nick Dear provided for Nunn a quarter of a century ago, there’s a fair amount of swearing but it’s never gratuitous. Gorky directed his ire at what he saw as the fecklessness of the middle classes, yet given what we now know about the brutal system that was about to sweep them away, it’s hard to pass judgment on them. And the moments when they talk about the sense of rootlessness that haunts them even after they have risen in the world are almost unbearably poignant. This is a play that blends laughter with tears.
Nina and Moses Raine’s adaptation of Maxim Gorky’s play, directed by Robert Hastie, runs in the Olivier theatre until 29 April
8 / 10
Gorky’s point is political. These lawyers, doctors and engineers are the children of the poor. They have clawed their way up to wealth and respectability, yet now they have achieved superiority they pay no heed to those still struggling. The doctor Maria Lvovna (Mitchell), is the sole voice of the liberal conscience, constantly needling the others about doing good. Her friend, Varvara (Sophie Rundle, wonderfully passive yet seething) sees the fatal ennui and waste but finds herself trapped within the misogynistic and limited world represented by her husband Bassov (Ready, charming, alarming and very funny).
Category
by Aliya Al-Hassan - March 18, 2026
It’s a hot, beautiful summer in 1905, and Russia’s elite retreat to the countryside to swim, sip champagne and start affairs. When they’re having this much fun, why care about anything else? But Varvara just can’t shake the feeling that their holiday idyll is built on borrowed time. As the party continues, how long can they ignore the storm on the horizon?
by Gary Naylor - March 18, 2026
Splendid new adaptation of a play that can be seen as a respectful response to The Cherry Orchard
by Stephi Wild - March 17, 2026
The National Theatre has released photos of Nina Raine and Moses Raine’s new version of Maxim Gorky’s Summerfolk, a razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial.
by Stephi Wild - February 11, 2026
The National Theatre has released rehearsal images for Nina Raine and Moses Raine’s new version of Maxim Gorky’s Summerfolk, a razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial. Check out the photos here!
Summerfolk History
Other Productions of Summerfolk
| 2026 | West End |
West End |
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