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The Polonsky Foundation and developing new productions

Faith Hope and Charity

The Polonsky Foundation and developing new productions

The Polonsky Foundation supports the dissemination of cultural heritage and innovation in the arts, and supports the commissioning and development of new productions in our New Work Department.

The New Work Department is the engine room of the National Theatre, and is responsible for identifying and nurturing emerging and established theatre-makers, and commissioning and developing new projects. Many of our most popular productions have been developed with the support of the New Work Department, including War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Lehman Trilogy and One Man, Two Guvnors.

There are 40-50 projects under commission at any given time, all at different stages of their development. With support from our team of dramaturgs, a playwright will deliver a first draft, which is then developed through workshops with creative teams and actors and may be programmed at the NT or elsewhere.

The most recent production supported by The Polonsky Foundation was Alex Zeldin’s Faith, Hope and Charity (pictured), which was developed throughout 2019 and ran in our Dorfman Theatre later that year.

Upon the outbreak of COVID-19, The Polonsky Foundation gave us an additional grant to support our work, for which we are very grateful.

Find out more about the New Work Department 

To discuss how you can support the development of new productions or other areas of our work, please contact Matt Armstrong, Head of Trusts and Foundations on 020 7452 3227 or at [email protected]

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