Hytner calls for right-wing plays

From Lalayn Baluch in The Stage:

National Theatre artistic director Nicholas Hytner has issued a call for “offensive” plays challenging liberal values that he could stage at the flagship South Bank venue.

The statement follows comments made last year when Hytner said he would like to see a “good, mischievous, right-wing play”, which he could put on at the NT.

Speaking at the Soho Theatre this month, Hytner suggested that truly progressive work should challenge the beliefs of regular theatre-going audiences.

He said: “I would seriously like to feel that somebody will deliver me a play that will really get up your noses. I would love to deliver a play that ended up in a position that, for instance, was highly sceptical about abortion rights. I would like to see a play about the white working class communities that were completely displaced by waves of immigration. These are the offensive plays we’re not doing."