Leeds Playhouse unveils full season, completing Tom Wright’s inaugural programme with major visiting productions

Leeds Playhouse today reveals the full programme for its Autumn – Winter 26/27 season, completing Artistic Director Tom Wright’s first programme with an exciting range of visiting productions alongside its own ambitious new work.

Whether you’re looking for a big night out, a family adventure or something completely unexpected, audiences can explore a programme packed with drama, dance, musicals, comedy and live events, spanning large-scale productions to intimate studio performances. From internationally acclaimed productions and bold new voices to much-loved stories and hilarious comedy, the season reflects Leeds Playhouse’s commitment to creating ambitious, accessible and entertaining live experiences for all.

Alongside these newly announced shows, tickets are already on sale for three Leeds Playhouse productions this autumn and winter – Fences, Peanut Butter & Blueberries and Dr Seuss’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical – as part of Tom Wright’s inaugural season.

Artistic Director Tom Wright said: “My first season begins with a simple idea – that theatre should entertain and challenge in equal measure, and speak directly to the world we’re living in. Together, these productions bring bold new voices, landmark plays and ambitious spectacle to our stages, making Leeds Playhouse a place where some of the most exciting conversations in British theatre are happening.”

Highlights of the newly announced visiting programme include:

Daniel Kitson’s THRUM is an inventive, lyrical performance blending storytelling, music and humour to explore memory, time and loss. (Quarry Theatre, 19 September)

A new staging of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, adapted by Terence Rattigan and John Gielgud and directed by Michael Fentiman, tells an epic story of love and sacrifice set against the French Revolution. (Quarry Theatre, 22 – 26 September)

Gary Delaney returns with a brand-new show Gary Delaney: Gary on Laughing filled with razor-sharp one-liners and brilliantly filthy jokes, following his hugely successful last tour. (Quarry Theatre, 29 September)

Performance artist Bryony Kimmings’ brings her critically acclaimed show Bog Witch, a personal and darkly comic exploration of motherhood, survival and the search for happiness. (Courtyard Theatre, 30 September – 1 October)

Back on tour for the first time in a decade, Alan Davies brings a brand-new stand-up show, Think Ahead, packed with sharp observations and self-deprecating humour. A familiar face from QI and one of the UK’s best-loved comedians. (Quarry Theatre, 1 October)

Ballet Nights is a vibrant showcase of world-class dance and live music, uniting international ballet stars, contemporary innovators and exceptional musicians in a uniquely curated evening spanning classics and new work. (Quarry Theatre, 2 October)

Roots to Rhythm: 40 Years of Black Music Festival celebrates four decades of Black music heritage in Leeds through an exhibition and live panel discussion. (Bramall Rock Void, 2 – 3 October)

Nish Kumar, the UK’s leading political comic, returns with a new sharp, provocative stand-up show, Angry Humour from a Really Nice Guy, blending personal chaos with biting commentary. Expect existential angst and political disquiet. (Quarry Theatre, 3 October)

Historian and comedian Paul Coulter presents 5 Mistakes That Changed History, a sharp and entertaining look at how small moments shape the world. (Courtyard Theatre, 3 October)

Leeds International Festival of Ideas returns with a bold programme of talks and performances exploring belonging, climate, parenting and disability, featuring speakers including Louis Theroux, Elizabeth Day, Evelyn Glennie, Harriet Harman, James O’Brien, Chris Packham and Tim Minchin. (6 – 10 October)

Brighton ‘84, a gripping drama by Leeds playwright Philip Stokes, recreates the lead-up to the Grand Hotel bombing in a tense real-time thriller. (Bramall Rock Void, 15 – 17 October)

Leeds Conservatoire presents Mary Zimmerman’s visually inventive adaptation of The Odyssey, bringing fresh energy and humour to Homer’s epic. (Quarry Theatre, 15 – 18 October)

Martin Shaw stars in Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons, directed by Jonathan Church, exploring power, integrity and conscience in the court of Henry VIII. (Quarry Theatre, 20 – 24 October)

Red Ladder and Silent Uproar present Close Enough to Touch – a play about sex, heartbreak… and toilets. Henry Roberts’ darkly funny one-person show explores hidden desires, secrecy and identity, following a young man whose double life begins to unravel. (Bramall Rock Void, 23 – 24 October)

Wrongsemble brings Rapunzel, Bethan Woollvin’s bold, witty retelling to life in a magical family adventure packed with music, mischief and a heroine determined to take control of her own story. (Bramall Rock Void, 30 – 31 October)

Once Upon a Time in Sokoto by award-winning playwright Inua Ellams tells a powerful story of friendship and freedom set against Nigeria’s formation. (Courtyard Theatre, 11 – 14 November)

Philosophy of the World offers an irreverent, music-filled exploration of cult band The Shaggs. (Courtyard Theatre, 17 November)

Cabaret duo Fag Packet present DYKE Systems Ltd, a glittering and subversive take on corporate culture and identity. (Bramall Rock Void, 20 – 21 November)

LUNG Theatre’s Woodhill combines documentary, movement and testimony to explore the UK prison crisis. (Courtyard Theatre, 24 – 25 November)

A special live poetry event sees celebrated poets Harry Baker and Hollie McNish share an evening of work, marking ten years of collaboration. (Courtyard Theatre, 28 November)

Paranormal Activity returns to Leeds Playhouse following its journey from the venue to the West End and Broadway, with a brand-new supernatural story. (9 – 24 December)

For younger audiences, Red Robin’s Winter Song is a gentle, festive tale celebrating friendship, courage and belonging from Leeds-based theatre company Tutti Frutti. (Bramall Rock Void, 12 – 23 December)

Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep present a new staging of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, based on the internationally celebrated novel. (Quarry Theatre, 26 – 30 January)

Produced work in Autumn – Winter 2026 includes:

Morgan Rose’s little girls alone in the woods is a whip-smart adaptation of The Bacchae, putting a contemporary lens on the Greek legend of Dionysus. Performed by Leeds Playhouse Youth Theatre, it dares us to go deep into the woods unsure of what quiet terrors we may find. (Bramall Rock Void, 3 – 5 September)

August Wilson’s Fences – a landmark play which returns in a vital new production exploring ambition, family and legacy in 1950s America. Casting includes Ray Fearon as Troy Maxson, Madeline Appiah as Rose, Michael Ahomka‑Lindsay as Lyons and Josh Tedeku as Cory. Directed by Daniel Bailey, this co-production is presented with Headlong, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and HOME Manchester. (Courtyard Theatre, 11 – 26 September)

Peanut Butter & Blueberries is Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan’s acclaimed new play exploring love, identity and connection in contemporary Britain, directed by Sameena Hussain following its premiere at Kiln Theatre. (Courtyard Theatre, 22 October – 7 November)

Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical is the Playhouse’s spectacular musical and brings its festive spectacle and Seussian charm to the Quarry stage, directed by Artistic Director Tom Wright. (Quarry Theatre, 19 November 2026 – 16 January 2027)

Further productions in Spring – Summer 2027 include:

Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s timeless story of love and conflict, reimagined in a new co-production with Leeds Playhouse, ETT, Royal Lyceum Theatre and Nottingham Playhouse and directed by award-winning director Chelsea Walker; Sirens, a gripping new play written and directed by Tom Wright, set in a London pub cellar during the Blitz where strangers are thrown together as tensions rise. It is a Leeds Playhouse production produced in association with the Belgrade Theatre; and The Secret Garden, a bold new adaptation by Linda Marshall Griffiths, directed by Amy Leach, reimagining the classic in contemporary Leeds through a young refugee’s journey.

The season continues with Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s iconic tale in a striking new adaptation by Jeff James and co-production with Leeds Playhouse and Rose Theatre Kingston exploring creation, humanity and the ethics of artificial intelligence, and Little Shop of Horrors, the cult musical returning in a vibrant new staging blending dark comedy with B-movie horror, directed by Associate Artistic Director Jamie Sophia Fletcher and is a Leeds Playhouse production in association with Oxford Playhouse.