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Summerfolk

 
Olivia Thompson Review by Olivia Thompson 3 Published: 19 Mar 2026 National Theatre Show Dates: 6 Mar 2026-29 Apr 2026

Gorky’s Summerfolk breezes into the National Theatre this season with a new adapted script from sibling duo Nina and Moses Raine. It is Russia, 1905, and the country’s intelligentsia have escaped to their summer homes to enjoy the good weather. Between them, marital scraps and emotional affairs ensue, whilst the long-suffering Varvara (Sophie Rundle) wonders whether this aimless enjoyment of the middle classes will come to an end. The summer rolls on endlessly, whilst the working-class servants lurk ominously to the side of the festivities, ready to clear up the inevitable mess.

An entertaining and enjoyable exploration into the world of the Russian bourgeoisie

The first act serves as a dense introduction to this world. Numerous conversations among various combinations of characters (Summerfolk boasts a cast of twenty-three) paint a clear picture of this languid lifestyle. Still, despite an array of entertaining performances, there is little engaging material in this long opening salvo. The tides eventually turn when the young clerk Vlass (Alex Lawther) reveals his hidden love for the ageing doctor Maria Lvovna (Justine Mitchell). Their resulting tryst injects some much-needed stakes into the plot and is soon followed by a thrilling series of arguments, gossip and tension across the entire social group.

The second act is where the party really starts. A highlight of Peter McKintosh’s stripped-back set design, characterised by plenty of white wooden beams, is a trip to the forest in which the characters frolic in an onstage river. It captures the vastness and beauty of the outdoors in a manner that feels truly liberating, even if this sense of possibility is short-lived. Later, a long outdoor dinner table provides the infrastructure for a delicious showdown between the titular ‘summerfolk’ as they grapple with their place within a society approaching the tipping point of revolution.

Overall, Robert Hastie’s production is an entertaining and enjoyable exploration into the world of the Russian bourgeoisie, and will surely please audiences with an interest in Maxim Gorky.

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The Blurb:

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?

Deputy Artistic Director Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky’s Edge) directs Maxim Gorky’s razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial, revived for 2026 in a new adaptation from Nina Raine (Consent) and Moses Raine (Donkey Heart).