The new boss of the National Theatre has a big job on her hands. The combination of Covid, funding cuts and rising costs has left it struggling financially. Audiences remain stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels, with plenty of theatregoers complaining about high ticket prices for mediocre productions. Bubbling away is the eternal question of the National’s role as the country’s pre-eminent stage venue in helping to tell the nation a story about its cultural and political life at a time of growing fragmentation.