You're planning your first Donmar season...

Wouldn't it be great if just programmed a season of Whitehall / Aldwych farces? Just as a change of pace?

Ah, the old star casting game. Personally and I realise nobody else would be with me, I’d go for a new James Graham and a new Conor Mc Pherson. I’d get SRB, Cumbers, a couple of dames and one or two of the young 'uns I’ve spotted recently in a Chekhov and then something intimate, a two hander or more of that fab one person stuff they do sometimes like Stephen Dillane ( was it him?) reciting the Four Quartets. And maybe a weekend of studio stuff letting the experimentals in. So just toss that lot round the pan and season well.

New play by Sarah Ruhl.

Unrevived modern classic, Stoppard's The Invention of Love, with Ian McDiarmind as older Housman and Archie Madekwe or Lucas Hedges if we can afford him as younger Housman.

Musical: a revival of Sondheim's A Little Night Music, with Janet McTeer as Desirée. If she's busy let's go with Vanessa Williams.

I'd like Phyllida Lloyd to add a play to her trilogy, maybe Titus Andronicus.

Vanessa Williams in 'A Little Night Music' would be totes amazeballs!

The play or the musical? I would LOVE to see either (and Dame J would be perfect) but I think there are major rights problems with the play.

The musical. It would fit nicely in the Donmar and Dame Judi would be glorious as Claire.

Considering they once held the rights...i'd definitely stage Next To Normal.

I've heard numerous differing reasons for this not coming to our shores yet - but the original reason was "apparently" that Mochael Grandage held the rights during his donmar days, and when he left it took them so long to workout whether he held them personally, or the theatre held that that by the tuime it was figured out they'd expired and the original rights holders then decided it it wasn't the original production it wasn't going to happen. 

I was lucky enough to see if in numerous different incarnations, including NYMF as Feeling Electric, off broadway with Brian Darcy James (including a 45 minute cuddle with the B man as he held my friend as she sobbed and introduced us to assitant director Anthony Rapp who then made me sob) and again on Broadway when it finally triumphantly transferred... but there are so many incredible british actors who i'd love to see get their teeth into that score (mostly Jenna Russell...) 

Sam Mendes began his tenure with the UK premiere of Sondheim's Assassins; Michael Grandage opened his regime with a revival of Noel Coward's The Vortex; and Josie Rourke started with Farquhar's The Recruiting Office. So if Michael Longhurst wants to mark himself out as different from his predecessors - then a brand new work would be the way to do it - though a brave and risky move for a venue not particularly known for new writing. That said long term I'd rather that those theatres with a specific new writing remit actually started to deliver lots of good new writing from established and up and coming writers (Hampstead Theatre - I'm looking at you).

In terms of star actors - Longhurst has twice worked with Jake Gyllenhall in NYC so we can hope he can persuade him to make another appearance in the West End (maybe in a new Nick Payne), and maybe Sally Hawkins in Caryl Churchill's The Skriker or Far Away (or indeed Serious Money if it still feels relevant).

I agree that it's about time that the musical Next to Normal made the leap across the Atlantic - and the Donmar would be the perfect venue (as mentioned it was rumoured almost a decade ago). I've always wanted Jenna Russell to play Diana, and I understand it's a role she's really interested in - but post Company can't help but wonder how Rosalie Craig would fare, with Hadley Fraser playing Dan of course, and they've both previously been in a Donmar musical. I loved the musical in its many incarnations, but having not seen it since 2010 I can't decide whether the changes in attitude and approach to mental health over the last 10 years would make it more or less timely. I guess there's only one way to find out!

I also hope that the Donmar establishes links with regional theatres around the UK - building on the success of The York Realist with Sheffield Crucible.

Also on my wish list:
The UK premiere of A Doll's House Part 2 - with Janet McTeer
A revival of A Raisin in the Sun with Noma Dumezweni moving from Ruth to Lena (ok she's too young but she'd act the hell out of it) and Daniel Kuluya as Walter (Letitia Wright as Beneatha and Cynthia Erivo as Ruth are perhaps two wishes too many)
A stage adaptation of some of John Le Carre's Smiley novels - or even a one man version - staring Simon Russell Beale - he was so good in the radio version
Keeley Hawes in anything by Rattigan or Coward (I'd like her and Josh O'Connor in The Vortex - but I guess that's not for the Donmar)
And of course, as every producing house should do a dance based production - I look forward to the tap dancing version Three Sisters starring Scarlett, Summer and Zizi Strallen (with Sasi as Natasha).

Pretty much anything I'd like to see on stage I'd like to see at the Donmar - except for things which genuinely need an epic sweep as sometimes bigger is better.

Finally - given that it's been some time since DONald and MARgaret Albery have had anything to do with the theatre (having been dead for a while) - would Longhurst dare risk a name change. Not in Kiln fashion - but rather like the Novello and Noel Coward (also previously named after members of the Albery family) and Gillian Lynne - named after a great theatre creative. Given the amount of his work done there since it reopened in 1992 maybe this is actually the true venue for the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.

Re. Nick Payne - Incognito, which I think was his follow up to Constellations had a short run at the Bush and also at Hightide where I saw it and thought it was brilliant. Definitely ripe for a proper WE run (& hopefully they could get Sargon Yelda back for it).

Donmar works as a brand and call it the Sondheim would mean losing its identity not to mention Sondheim Theatre isn't exactly search engine friendly due to their being a theatre called that on Broadway. 

I think there are plenty of British talents who have graced London's glitzy West End in the past who deserve having a theatre named after them before Stephen Sondwho gets one.