All articles tagged with #theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s new all-male production of As You Like It opened in Stratford-upon-Avon on October 7, 2026, featuring Jonathan Groff as Rosalind. Despite a significant technical delay during the opening night, critics praised the performance, design, and thematic focus on identity and belonging.
Kimberly Belflower's John Proctor Is the Villain will be the top-produced new play of the 2026-27 season (aside from A Christmas Carol), with August Wilson as the leading playwright. The season’s top-10 list—compiled from 1,634 productions—also marks debuts for Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Bess Wohl, while ensembles continue to dominate casts.
Sacha Baron Cohen is reportedly set to star as the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s first stage play, The Popinjay Cavalier, a 1830s‑set comedy to open in the West End in early 2027 with Tarantino directing and jointly produced by Sonia Friedman Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment; casting has not been publicly confirmed.
Sacha Baron Cohen will star as the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s swashbuckling stage play The Popinjay Cavalier, scheduled for a West End run in spring 2027. The production, a co-production from Sonia Friedman Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment, is described as a rambunctious comedy of deception set in 1830s Europe.
A major Tehran production, Arash, removed leading actor Navid Mohammadzadeh after his pro-Palestine post drew intense backlash, with producers citing audience disinterest alongside other controversies; the case marks a rare instance of state-aligned sentiment becoming a liability for popular culture in Iran and underscores evolving tensions over political messaging in the arts.
Jonathan Bailey has pulled out of London’s Sunday in the Park With George revival at the Barbican, a decision announced via his Instagram Stories after Ariana Grande previously exited; producers say the production will continue, with casting discussions under way and the creative team reshaped around a new company while preserving the musical’s artistic integrity.
Jonathan Bailey has withdrawn from the London production of Sunday in the Park With George after Ariana Grande’s departure; the producers say the show is reshaping around a new company, with casting and production details to be announced, and the Barbican run remains planned for summer 2027.
Jonathan Bailey has withdrawn from the West End revival of Sunday in the Park with George, following Ariana Grande’s exit; with neither Bailey nor Grande in the cast, producers have yet to announce replacements or a revised opening plan for the London production, which was previously aiming for a summer 2027 debut.
85-year-old actor Peter Marinker, diagnosed with Alzheimer's, is preparing a solo performance of Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape in London, with rehearsals, prompts via autocue and an earpiece, and a supportive team; profits from the run go to the Alzheimer's Society.
Broadway's Six: The Musical will play its final Broadway performance on January 3, 2027 at the Lena Horne Theatre, closing a run that began on Broadway in 2021 after a 2020 shutdown; the show has logged 2,178 performances, making it the Lena Horne's longest-running production. The current cast includes Khaila Wilcoxon, Chloe Tucker Caine, Natalie Paris, Olivia Donalson, Aimie Atkinson, and Stephanie Jae Park, with the production also continuing on U.S. and U.K. tours and a West End engagement; a live capture film of the show was released in 2023.
Broadway-bound musical adaptation of the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You features music/lyrics by Carly Rae Jepsen and Ethan Gruska and a book by Lena Dunham and Jessica Huang, with Christopher Wheeldon directing and choreographing; performances begin August 17, 2027, with casting and theater to be announced.
Disney’s The Greatest Showman stage musical will open in spring 2027 at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London’s West End under director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw, with much of the Bristol Hippodrome cast returning (including Oliver Tompsett as P.T. Barnum and Samantha Barks as Charity Barnum). The show is adapted from the 2017 film with a book by Tim Federle and a score by Pasek and Paul, plus new material, produced by Disney Theatrical Group alongside The Seelig Group after a sell-out UK premiere earlier this year.
The Royal Shakespeare Company opens Game of Thrones: The Mad King in Stratford-upon-Avon, a 3h45m stage epic with a 36-strong cast featuring younger versions of Ned Stark, Lyanna Stark, Rhaegar Targaryen and Aerys II; George RR Martin was closely involved and attended the premiere. Critics broadly praise the spectacle (Telegraph, Guardian) but are mixed on pacing and dramatic poetry (Times), with some saying it works best for hardcore fans. The production aims to echo Shakespearean history and could extend beyond Stratford if successful.
Anonymous threatening texts that led Essex Community Players to cancel its Rocky Horror Show were traced to the production’s musical director, Kenneth Grenier, who admitted creating a self-sent account to justify stepping away from the show due to tensions with the cast. He received a misdemeanor citation for false reports, and the case is being handled by the Chittenden County Community Justice Center. The troupe plans a new show in October: Crime and Punishment, A Comedy.
Ariana Grande says she will step back from public-facing work after finishing her Eternal Sunshine Tour due to endless scrutiny, pulling out of the 2027 Barbican revival of Sunday in the Park With George where her role will be recast; the tour will finish as planned and Grande will take a much-deserved break from public life.