Hull Truck Theatre announces 2027 season of new writing

Hull Truck Theatre has announced a new season featuring four new productions by Northern women writers, alongside a new staging of Romeo & Juliet and a programme of visiting work. The season marks ten years since Hull was UK City of Culture in 2017.

The programme opens with Spiders, a new play by Martha Godber (Jesse North is Broken), directed by Tom Saunders. Set against the backdrop of Hull nightclub Spiders, the production follows teenagers Meg and Gabi as they navigate adulthood, female friendship and coercive control. The play will run in the Godber Studio from 28 January to 20 February 2027. The run has been extended following ticket sales, with the announcement coinciding with news of the nightclub’s imminent closure.

Next is Breaking Mum, the debut play by Hull-based writer Hannah Scorer. Directed by Mark Babych, the comedy-drama follows single mother Rex as she tries to give her daughter Orla the best possible start in life. When an unexpected change turns their world upside down, long-buried truths begin to emerge. The production explores motherhood, friendship and family, and runs from 25 February to 20 March. An earlier version of the play was presented at Middle Child’s Fresh Ink Playwriting Festival in July 2024.

Lydia Marchant, a BBC screenwriter and Hull Truck Youth Theatre alumnus, returns to the theatre with No Balls, following her debut play Mumsy in 2023. The comedy-drama centres on a fictional grassroots women’s football team in West Hull and explores women’s health, including endometriosis. Developed over four years and informed by conversations with people from Hull and East Yorkshire, the production will be co-directed by Mark Babych and Deborah Pugh. It runs from 4 to 26 June, ahead of the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The season concludes with Slim Club! The Musical, a new community production by Maureen Lennon (Guts! The Musical). Set in a local slimming club that has gone rogue, the musical will feature a community cast of around 50 participants. Directed by Tom Saunders, it runs from 17 to 24 July.

Mark Babych, artistic director and joint CEO of Hull Truck Theatre, said: “Our spring summer 2027 programme reflects Hull Truck Theatre’s continuing role as a producing theatre with national reach: nurturing distinctive voices, developing homegrown talent and building on Hull’s creative legacy. The UK City of Culture project opened doors for us in 2017, creating new connections and enabling us to pursue our creative ambitions with confidence. This season builds on that momentum, and I’m delighted to be directing and co-directing a selection of these exciting new productions next year.”

The theatre’s partnership with Octagon Theatre Bolton and Derby Theatre will also continue with a production of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, directed by Iqbal Khan. The production forms part of the venues’ annual curriculum programme for GCSE students, following the success of Macbeth in 2026. It will run from 7 to 24 April, with performances for schools and general audiences.

Janthi Mills-Ward, executive director and joint CEO at Hull Truck Theatre, added: “As costs rise and co-productions become increasingly prevalent, regional theatres have a vital role to play in supporting not only new writing – championing distinctive local voices but telling the stories of our communities. This commitment to local talent and creative ambition underpins our contribution to the wider theatre sector, placing regional perspectives at the heart of a national conversation.”