According to press materials, on 15 September 2008, capitalism came to a grinding halt. As sub-prime mortgages and toxic securities continued to dominate the headlines, the National Theatre asked Hare to write an urgent and immediate work to be staged this autumn that sought to find out what had happened, and why.

Afer meeting with many of the key players from the financial world, he has created this work, which is described as "not so much a play as a jaw-dropping account of how, as the banks went bust, capitalism was replaced by a socialism that bailed out the rich alone."

Hare has previously written 14 original plays for the National, including Gethsemane, Stuff Happens, The Permanent Way (a co-production with Out of Joint), Amy’s View, Skylight, The Secret Rapture, The Absence of War, Murmuring Judges, Racing Demon, Pravda (written with Howard Brenton) and Plenty. He recently performed his companion pieces Berlin and Wall – meditations on Germany’s restored capital and theIsrael/Palestine separation barrier – at the National and Royal Court respectively, before taking them to New York.

Angus Jackson has directed Elmina’s Kitchen and Fix Up, both by Kwame Kwei-Armah, at the National; his productions also include Wallenstein, Funny Girl, The Waltz of the Toreadors, The Father and Carousel at Chichester, where he is Season Associate Director.

To book tickets, contact the box office at 020 7452 3000 or visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk.