Mrs Dalloway and The Memory of Water stagings announced for spring 2026 – with Coronation Street’s Helen Flanagan to make stage debut

Two stage productions have been announced for spring 2026, bringing new interpretations of British writing to northern English stages.

Storyhouse Chester will host the world premiere of a new version of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, while the Liverpool Everyman and Octagon Theatre Bolton join forces for a 30th anniversary revival of Shelagh Stephenson’s The Memory of Water.

A co-production between Storyhouse, Harlow Playhouse and CutToTheChase Productions, Mrs Dalloway runs in Chester from 29 May to 6 June 2026 before embarking on a UK tour. Woolf’s modernist novel is reimagined by award-winning director Jen Heyes and Olivier Award-winning writer and performer Kit Green, who also takes on the role of Clarissa Dalloway alongside a host of other characters.

Heyes explained: “With Mrs Dalloway, I wanted to capture the daring, radical energy at the heart of Virginia Woolf’s novel and make it vividly alive for today. It’s entertaining, visually exciting, emotionally charged, and deeply human – a Mrs Dalloway that speaks to the questions, joys, and struggles of our times.”

Meanwhile, the Everyman and Octagon are set to mark three decades of The Memory of Water, Stephenson’s Olivier Award-winning comedy about three sisters reunited after their mother’s death. The revival, directed by Lotte Wakeham, opens in Bolton from 29 January to 21 February 2026 before transferring to the Liverpool Everyman from 25 February to 14 March.

The cast includes Vicky Binns, Victoria Brazier, Helen Flanagan and Polly Lister, with further names to be announced. Set in the winter of 1996, as the Spice Girls topped the charts and Dolly the Sheep made headlines, the play blends humour and heartbreak as old resentments surface.

Wakeham said: “The Memory of Water is one of those rare plays that makes you laugh out loud and then catches you off guard with its emotional truth. I’m thrilled to be directing this special 30th anniversary revival, and to be collaborating once again with our wonderful friends at Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse.”

Nathan Powell, creative director of Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, added: “This is a beautiful story about family – full of love, laughter, and the kind of chaos that feels instantly familiar. Stephenson captures how we all remember things differently, and how those memories shape who we are.”

Tickets for both Mrs Dalloway at Storyhouse and The Memory of Water at the Octagon and Everyman are now on sale.