Great Britain (play)

Great Britain
Theatre Royal Haymarket production poster
Written by	Richard Bean
Date premiered	30 June 2014 (2014-06-30)
Place premiered	Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, London
Original language	English

Great Britain is a satirical play written by Richard Bean. It received its world premiere at the Royal National Theatre, London on 30 June 2014, before transferring to the West End's Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Great Britain is written by English playwright Richard Bean. In May 2013, it was revealed Bean was working on a new play based on the phone hacking scandal, having been commissioned by National Theatre artistic director Sir Nicholas Hytner, whilst still working on his play One Man, Two Guvnors. Speaking about the play he revealed that it would be set in a tabloid newsroom and is a play about the state-of-the-nation, press, politics and police in bed with each other. In March 2014, it was revealed that an undisclosed Bean play would premiere as part of the National Theatre 2014-15 season, Hytner's last as the National's artistic director. In May 2014, it was revealed that Billie Piper and Oliver Chris were taking part in workshops for the play and that the cast and crew had signed non-disclosure agreements for the as yet untitled production.

On 25 June 2014, the play was officially announced as Great Britain and that it would premiere without a preview period on 30 June, at the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre. It is a satire about the press, police and politics, and stars Billie Piper as a newspaper editor, Paige Britain. The play is directed by Nicholas Hytner, with design by Tim Hatley, lighting design by Neil Austin, video design by Leo Warner, music by Grant Olding, sound design by Paul Arditti and Clive Coleman acting as a story consultant. The launch was slightly delayed by concerns over legal issues which might have been caused by running at the same time as R v Coulson, Brooks and others.