Birmingham Rep announces new 2026 to 2027 season including Sweeney Todd and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time revivals

Birmingham Rep has unveiled a new programme for 2026 and into 2027.

The first from artistic director Joe Murphy, the season includes fresh takes on classics as well as new commissions.

Opening the season will be an adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Small Island by Helen Edmundson. Set during the Windrush generation, it is a story of hope and belonging. The co-production with Leeds Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse, in association with Actors Touring Company, plays at the Rep from 1 to 18 April 2026 and will be directed by Matthew Xia.

Murphy, alongside deputy artistic director Madeleine Kludje, will then co-direct Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Set in a neon rave in an enchanted forest, the revival will be designed by Carl Davies with sound design by Claire Windsor. It plays from 25 April to 24 May 2026.

Over the summer, a new production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will run in Birmingham. You can find out more about the revival here.

Next up will be a new version of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It will be the first major production since the National Theatre’s Olivier Award-winning piece, and will also head out on tour after playing in Birmingham in September.

Meanwhile, in the Studio, a script-in-hand concert production of the new musical Sweet Henry V will take place. Seiriol Davies’ tale features a live band and over thirty original numbers, unravelling the romance saga between Henry V and the Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndŵr. Murphy directs the piece on 23 and 24 January 2026.

Following that, the world premiere production of The Battle will start its life at the Rep from 11 February to 7 March. The Oasis vs Blur Britpop play will tour the UK.

Into Christmas, Peter Pan will fly into the main house. Murphy once more directs this new adaptation by Phil Porter, with music by Ruth Chan. It’ll play from 18 November 2026 to 17 January 2027.

Younger audiences can also enjoy Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale The Ugly Duckling from 3 December 2026 to 10 January 2027, by Katherine Chandler and directed by Caroline Wilkes.

2027’s season includes the return of Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, adapted for the stage by Ursula Rani Sarma, following its 2025 sell-out run. Additionally, the re-staging of former Birmingham Poet Laureate Casey Bailey’s GrimeBoy, which premiered at the Rep in 2022 and will be directed by Kludje.

A new production of Chains, by Birmingham writer Rem Conway, will play in a co-production with Legacy Centre of Excellence. It sees a father-son relationship examined when the two men are chained together.

Further highlights include a stage adaptation of Q&A. Vikas Swarup’s novel inspired the Oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire, and is being written by East is East author Ayub Khan Din. Iqbal Khan will direct.

Whilst writer Rachel De-lahay will be adapting Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel Jane Eyre in a brand-new production.

Finally, Birmingham author Kit de Waal, together with her brother Dean O’Loughlin, are adapting her best-selling book My Name is Leon, which is set in 1980s Birmingham and was previously adapted for a BBC film.