Barbican Theatre unveils 2026 spring season, with its two main spaces undergoing refurbishment work

The Barbican has unveiled its spring 2026 theatre and dance season, dubbed “Scene Change.”

The venue will be staging work in spaces across the Centre and at partner venues while the Barbican Theatre and The Pit undergo maintenance. The programme brings together artists from the UK, Belarus, the Republic of Ireland and North America, and explores how audiences and performers can connect in everyday environments.

Running from January to April, the season opens with Dante or Die’s I Do, which transforms six hotel rooms into parallel stories set in the moments before a wedding. The show marks the site-specific company’s 20th anniversary and plays at Malmaison London from 20 January to 8 February.

In February, experimental company Fevered Sleep presents This Grief Thing, a pop-up shop installation on Level G of the theatre that invites visitors to reflect on loss and grief. The space includes a themed collection of clothing and objects available on a Pay What You Want basis, alongside facilitated conversations called Grief Gatherings.

March sees the UK premiere of Theatre for One, produced by Landmark Productions and Octopus Theatricals. Installed in the Barbican Hub, the travelling performance space seats one audience member at a time for six new short plays by Irish writers including Enda Walsh and Marina Carr. Each five-minute piece is performed live by a single actor inside the intimate booth.

Belarus Free Theatre returns on 31 March and 1 April with Kitchen Revolution, a supper-club style event featuring dinner and debate in the Barbican Conservatory. Inspired by Soviet-era kitchen gatherings, the event explores contemporary questions around freedom and democracy, with Belarusian fusion food served alongside contributions from guest moderators Carole Cadwalladr and Stephen Sackur.

Barbican Artistic Associate Boy Blue will revive Cycles later in 2026 following its world premiere in 2024.