09.06.2026
New ETT Season 26/27
English Touring Theatre (ETT)’s Artistic Director Richard Twyman and Executive Producer Sophie Scull, today announce their new season comprising five plays featuring world premieres of new writing, adaptations, and a major revival. Further productions in the season are to be announced at a later date.
Richard Twyman, Artistic Director and joint CEO and Sophie Scull, Executive Producer and joint CEO today said, “We’re very proud to announce our season of work from Autumn ’26 until Spring ’27. This is a season of ambitious new work, classic titles re-imagined and bold adaptations. In response to the twin crises in British theatre: significant declines in new writing and a wide scale reduction in touring drama; this season sees ETT reassert its commitment to telling urgent stories that resonate nationally and are accessible to audiences in their local theatre.
“Since the beginning of 2026 to the end of this season ETT will have produced nine shows, eight of which will be new plays or adaptations. We would like to thank the incredible artists and production teams that will realise this work and our partners and tour venues including Bristol Old Vic, Factory International, Graeae, Leeds Playhouse, MMXX, New Wolsey, Nottingham Playhouse, Northern Stage, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Sheffield Theatres, Theatre De La Ville Luxembourg, Theatre Royal Stratford East and Yvonne Arnaud.”
The autumn season opens with Application 39, written by Palestinian writer Ahmed Masoud and directed by Cressida Brown, a satirical and resonant take on life in Gaza featuring lived testimony. The production will open in September 2026 at Bristol Old Vic, before travelling to Theatre Royal Stratford East, and then embarking on a UK tour.
This is followed by Lanny, in association with Bristol Old Vic, where the production will run. Directed by their Artistic Director Nancy Medina, this world premiere is a stage adaptation of Max Porter’s much loved novel adapted for the stage by West Country playwright Bea Roberts.
Chelsea Walker continues her association with ETT having previously directed A Streetcar Named Desire and Cougar, returning to direct a new production of Romeo and Juliet in a co-production with Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, Leeds Playhouse, and Nottingham Playhouse. The production opens in Edinburgh early next year, before embarking on a tour to Leeds Playhouse, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, and concluding its run on 8 May 2027 at Nottingham Playhouse.
Chelsea Walker, Director of Romeo and Juliet, commented, “I am thrilled to join forces with ETT, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Leeds Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse to direct Romeo and Juliet. It’s a play I’ve always wanted to direct, and it feels more urgent and moving now than ever before, in a world where decisions are made in the blink of an eye and people are forced to grow up younger and younger. I can’t wait to bring our visceral, contemporary take to audiences across the UK.”
ETT’s Artistic Director Richard Twyman will then direct the world premiere of Pericles, Prince of Lebanon a new play by Sami Ibrahim, inspired by Shakespeare’s play. Set in modern day Lebanon, Turkey, Greece and Libya, Ibrahim’s version brings Shakespeare’s ancient story of displacement into urgent contact with the present, where today’s defining crisis is found hiding inside his most compassionate play. Featuring an international cast, Pericles is co-produced with long term collaborators Bristol Old Vic and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, and made in association with MMXX.
Sami Ibrahim, writer of Pericles, today said, “I’m so excited to bring Pericles to the stage with ETT and particularly with Richard as director. We’ve been wrestling with the text for years and it’s been a thrilling challenge to mix the original Shakespeare with modern dialogue and a modern story, tracking the journeys of people fleeing across continents. It’s a play about migration and the way families are both torn apart and reunited over decades. I’m aware of how personal a piece it is for both me and Richard so to work on the play together is a privilege and I know it’s in very safe hands. Of course, Pericles also features colossal shipwrecks and wrong turns so it’s only fitting that the piece should travel across countries to be performed. I can’t wait to share it with audiences.”
Finally, the world premiere production of Lettie Precious’ 12 Letters to My Name – in a co-production with Sheffield Theatres and Graeae – will be staged in Sheffield. Originally developed through ETT’s Nationwide Voices programme, supported by the John Ellerman Foundation,
Continuing their pledge in supporting new work, ETT also announces The New Classics. This partnership between Guildhall and English Touring Theatre seeks to develop urgent contemporary adaptations of classic plays and novels. These plays seek to address the gap identified by drama school and industry sectors for diverse adaptations that bring the canon into the present moment. There will be a series of commissions over the coming years to be performed first by Guildhall students before embarking on professional tours. In the first cohort, Hannah Khalil and Dipo Baruwa-Etti are bringing these enduring narratives up to date, creating deeply resonant stories for a new generation of theatremakers and audiences alike.
For more information, please contact:
Cameron Currie 07944 539058 / cameron@katemorleypr.com
