Acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love, Arcadia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead) returns to the National Theatre with his highly-anticipated new play The Hard Problem, directed by Nicholas Hytner (Othello, Hamlet, One Man, Two Guvnors). Hilary, a young psychology researcher at a brainscience institute, is nursing a private sorrow and a troubling question at work, where psychology and biology meet. If there is nothing but matter, what is consciousness? This is ‘the hard problem’ which puts Hilary at odds with her colleagues who include her first mentor Spike, her boss Leo and the billionaire founder of the institute, Jerry. Is the day coming when the computer and the fMRI scanner will answer all the questions psychology can ask? Meanwhile Hilary needs a miracle, and she is prepared to pray for one.
| Writing | Tom Stoppard | Theatre Play |
| Directing | Nicholas Hytner | Stage Director |
| Art | Bob Crowley | Set Designer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Bob Crowley | Costume Design |
| Lighting | Mark Henderson | Lighting Design |
| Sound | Paul Arditti | Sound Designer |
| Sound | Johann Sebastian Bach | Music |
| Production | David Sabel | Executive Producer |
| Production | Emma Keith | Producer |
| Production | Julia Nelson | Associate Producer |
| Production | Flo Buckeridge | General Manager |
| Production | Sam Psyk | Associate Producer |
| Production | Fliss Williams | Production Manager |
| Lighting | Bernie Davis | Lighting Director |
| Sound | Conrad Fletcher | Sound Supervisor |
| Directing | Judy Chesterman | Script Supervisor |
| Production | Tom Giles | Unit Manager |
| Camera | Tony Freeman | Camera Supervisor |
| Camera | Peter Edwards | Camera Operator |
| Camera | Paul Freeman | Camera Operator |
| Camera | Giuseppe Ingrao | Camera Operator |
| Camera | David Neill | Camera Operator |
| Camera | Wayne Ratcliffe | Camera Operator |
| Sound | Tracy Campbell | Sound Mixer |
| Sound | Matthew Scott | Music Arranger |
| Production | Paul Handley | Production Manager |
| Production | Wendy Spon | Casting |
| Production | Charlotte Sutton | Casting |
| Costume & Make-Up | Giuseppe Cannas | Wig Designer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Giuseppe Cannas | Hair Designer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Giuseppe Cannas | Makeup Designer |
| Lighting | Paul Knott | Lighting Supervisor |
| Directing | Tom Stoppard | Director |
