Nicholas Hytner's departure from the artistic directorship of the National Theatre will, without doubt, be the seismic event of 2015 in London's theatreland. Since he and his executive producer Nick Starr took the reins ten years ago, the National has enjoyed one of its most excitingly creative and profitable periods, overseeing hits including War Horse and One Man, Two Guvnors. Hytner will bow out in March. His last production, which opens this January, will be Tom Stoppard's new neuroscience play The Hard Problem. This, typically, represents something of a coup for Hytner - it's the first play Stoppard has written since Rock 'n' Roll in 2006 and his first for the National since The Coast of Utopia in 2002. Once he leaves the National, Hytner has already announced that he and Starr will be setting up their own company.
His successor will be Rufus Norris. Hytner is a daunting act to follow, but Norris's ecstatically reviewed production of Behind The Beautiful Forevers - the extraordinary David Hare play that takes the audience inside the life of a Mumbai slum - bodes well for the National's future. This production - which can be seen till the end of January - is just one example of the huge interest London theatre is taking in global affairs this year. In January, the National also presents Dara - a play originally performed in Pakistan - which whisks the audience to seventeenth century Mughal India to witness the historically defining struggle between two heirs to the empire and their different interpretations of religion.