For his whole adult life, David Hare has been visiting the city which so many young people regard as the most exciting in Europe, Berlin. But there is something in Berlin’s elusive character which makes him feel he is always missing the point.

Now, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, Hare reads a 55-minute meditation about Germany’s restored capital – both what it represents in European history and the peculiar part it has played in his own life.

Hare is one of the most lauded British playwrights of the 20th and 21st centuries, having written pieces including Pravda, Amy’s View, The Secret Rapture, Racing Demon, The Permanent Way, Stuff Happens, The Vertical Hour and his most recent piece, Gethsemane. He has worked extensively with the National Theatre throughout his career; Berlin will be his latest piece to be delivered on one of the National’s stages.

Berlin is directed by Stephen Daldry, whose previous productions at the National include the hugely successful An Inspector Calls. A previous Artistic Director of the Royal Court, Daldry’s other directorial credits include Hare’s Via Dolorosa and hit West End musical Billy Elliot The Musical.