In the Hytner Era, the National Theater Hit Its Mark

LONDONâ€"At last, a date has been named. I’m referring not to the next general election but to a handover to come that may loom larger in the minds of culturally minded Britons. Nicholas Hytner has announced that he will step down at the end of March, 2015 as artistic director of the National Theater, a position he has filled with considerable glory since 2003, over time repositioning the primacy of the three-auditorium complex as arguably the defining theatrical address in the English-speaking world.

That may be a lofty claim, but it is borne out by Mr. Hytner’s track record, both critically and commercially â€"and this coming from a softspoken director of theater, opera and film who, before taking on the National, had never run anything in his life.

Mr. Hytner had barely settled at his desk when he programmed “Jerry Springer: The Opera,” a deliberately rude, scabrous musical that would have been unimaginable under the auspices of his predecessor, Trevor Nunn. The production went on to transfer to the West End and suggested that the National under its new leader might not be business as usual. Nor has it been, as the ensuing decade has proved.

Mr. Hytner still has two more years to go, so there’s the potential for many a further ace up his sleeve. Interest looms especially high in “The Light Princess,” directed by Marianne Elliott (“War Horse”) and opening later this year in the mid-sized Lyttelton. That show marks the musical theater debut of the American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, whose absorption within the ad hoc family of National creatives bears testament to Mr. Hytner’s desire to fling the doors of his building wide open.

Such healthy eclecticism is evidenced by a quick scan of the productions that the National has sent to Broadway over the past decade. Those range from Tony-winning hits like “War Horse,” “The History Boys” and “One Man, Two Guvnors” to brave misfires (in commercial terms, that is) like the director Melly Still’s production of “Coram Boy” and Simon Russell Beale and Essie Davis in a revival of Tom Stoppard’s “Jumpers.”

Closer to home, the National’s gift for feeding the West End is currently at an all-time high with four of its productions running concurrently in London’s commercial thoroughfare. Among those, Ms. Elliott’s staging of Simon Stephens’splay “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” nominated for eight 2013 Olivier Awards, is tipped to be the next National venture to cross the Atlantic. Expect a Tony or two to follow.

With respect to the National repertory under his watch, Mr. Hytner shook things up by proclaiming that he wasn’t necessarily going to play to his established strengths. That’s to say that the man who directed arguably the finest revival of a classic musical in my experience - his 1992 “Carousel” for the National, a production subsequently seen on Broadway - has yet to dip into the canonical musical ranks during his National regime. That, again, exists in stark contrast to Mr. Nunn’s occupancy of the same job.

Instead, Mr. Hytner’s chosen musicals have tended toward the defiantly quirky and new (“Jerry Springer,” “London Road”) or British premieres of New York shows that needed the cushion of a subsidized playhouse to get ahead overseas - “Fela!”, for instance, or “Caroline, or Change,” the second of which made a clean sweep of all three London theater awards during the 2006-7 season.

Nor has Mr. Hytner’s National championed any narrow definition of the word “play.” Sure, there have been the expected collaborations with Alan Bennett, Mr. Hytner’s longtime friend and colleague, on plays ranging from the sublime (“The History Boys,” the undervalued “Habit of Art”) to the ridiculous (the current “People”), while classic revivals have encompassed both the familiar (“Hamlet,” “The Cherry Orchard,” “Saint Joan”) and the exotic (Ibsen’s epic “Emperor and Galilean,” with a cast of 50).

But such titles have co-existed pretty much throughout with experimental pieces like “The Animals and Children Took to the Streets,” which was first seen at south London’s Battersea Arts Center before shifting homes to the weighty imprimatur that came with its new address. Ditto the National’s support of Shunt, a site-specific performance troupe that has performed at a variety of unusual locales around the capital. Mr. Hytner’s gifts as advocate, too, cannot be ignored, the director often acting as spokesperson for the necessity of theater nationwide in a country that over time has watched more than a quarter of its regional theaters vanish for funding reasons.

It would be fatuous to claim that every one of the 200-plus shows that Mr. Hytner has curated has struck gold. Those who made it through - and many did not - even such recent offerings as “The Captain of Kopenick,” “Travelling Light,” and “Damned by Despair” can testify to the essential fallibility of any institution that programs as many as 25 shows a year. But the successes have tended to resound more loudly than ever, their global import strengthened by the creation under Mr. Hytner’s directorship of NT Live, which has enabled the National’s output to be screened worldwide. That project was begun in 2009 with Mr. Hytner’s own revival of Racine’s “Phedre,” starring Helen Mirren in the title role. At the same time, an initiative sponsored by Travelex has helped keep seat prices affordable (and enabled its sponsor, Lloyd Dorfman, to get the smallest of the National’s houses named for him in due course).

What next The British press is abuzz with double-page spreads speculating on Mr. Hytner’s successor, with names ranging from the high-profile (Sam Mendes, Stephen Daldry) to more definite dark-horse entries (the actor-turned-director Daniel Evans, for instance). Ms. Elliott seems to be the preferred name of choice, though she has gone on record saying she doesn’t want the job.

Then again, so did Mr. Hytner at various points way back when. And look what happened to him.

Matt Wolf is the theater critic for the International Herald Tribune.