New plays to see in 2026

Let’s face it, without new writing theatre would be an incredibly dull place! We’ve picked out 20 shows that have piqued our interest over the coming 12 months – many of whom feature rising star playwrights alongside some well-known figures.

Here There Are Blueberries

Conceived and directed by Tony nominee Moisés Kaufman, this Pulitzer Prize-nominated play makes its UK debut. Based on a true story, it follows an archivist at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum who receives a mysterious album containing photographs of Nazi officers at play near Auschwitz. The cast includes Geraldine Alexander, Scott Barrow, and Os Leanse.

Stratford East, from 31 January to 28 February

Dracula

A radical one-person adaptation directed by Kip Williams. Cynthia Erivo stars after spending the last two years wowing big-screen audiences, playing all 23 roles in a production that utilises live video and pre-recorded film, similar in style to Williams’ acclaimed The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Noël Coward Theatre, from 4 February to 31 May

The Last Picture

A brand-new play by Catherine Dyson, directed by John R Wilkinson for English Touring Theatre (ETT), York Theatre Royal, and An Tobar and Mull Theatre. This thought-provoking work explores empathy, imagination, and collective memory when a group of year nine students and their emotional support dog are drawn into the story of 1939 Europe.

Begins on 6 February at York Theatre Royal

Deep Azure

Written by the late, great Chadwick Boseman, this lyrical drama receives its UK premiere under the direction of Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu. The play explores grief and justice through the story of a young woman searching for hope after the death of her fiancé.

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe, from 7 February to 11 April

The Manningtree Witches

A world premiere adaptation of AK Blakemore’s novel by Ava Pickett. Set in 1643, the play follows Rebecca West as she is caught in the path of the self-appointed Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins. It is a co-production with Frantic Assembly.

Mercury Theatre, Colchester, from 28 February to 14 March

John Proctor is the Villain

The UK premiere of Kimberly Belflower’s contemporary play, directed by Danya Taymor. Set in a rural high school in Georgia, a group of students studying The Crucible begin to question the traditional hero-narrative of John Proctor amidst their own modern-day scandals.

Royal Court Theatre, from 20 March to 25 April

The Authenticator

A gothic psychological thriller by Winsome Pinnock, directed by Miranda Cromwell, with the pair reuniting following their production of Rocket and Blue Lights. After inheriting a stately home, an artist discovers hidden diaries and enlists academics to verify them, uncovering dark family secrets.

Dorfman Theatre at the National Theatre, from 26 March to 9 May

Atlantis

A new play by Emily White regarding a Welsh coastal community designated as Britain’s first climate refugees. The story follows four generations of one family over 25 years as their town is abandoned to the sea.

Theatr Clwyd, Mold (from 6 June to 4 July), before transferring to Chichester Festival Theatre

Please Please Me

Written by Tom Wright and directed by Amit Sharma, this new play charts the meteoric rise of The Beatles and the simultaneous personal struggle of their manager, Brian Epstein. Set in the early 1960s, it focuses on the “Fifth Beatle” as he navigates the complexities of his hidden personal life while transforming four Liverpool lads into a global phenomenon. It’s a big year for fraught relationships between bands – with The Battle also opening at Birmingham Rep in February.

Kiln Theatre, from 16 April to 23 May

Jaja African Hair Braiding

Jocelyn Bioh’s hit Broadway comedy receives its UK premiere – at the same venue where Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play was a stand-out success. Set in a Harlem hair salon, the play offers a vibrant look at the lives and dreams of West African immigrant braiders.

Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, from 18 March to 25 April 

Even These Things

A world premiere by multi-award-winning playwright Rory Mullarkey (Pity, The Wolf from the Door), directed by James Macdonald. This epic “homecoming” play spans three centuries of Manchester’s history, focusing on three specific moments in time – one of which is the day of the 1996 IRA bombing.

Royal Exchange, Manchester, 15 May to 15 June

The Long Drop

A darkly stylish new play adapted from Denise Mina’s novel by Linda McLean and directed by Dominic Hill. It explores the minds of men shaping a city where truth and power are constantly shifting – and is billed as “equal parts psychological thriller and pitch-black comedy.” Juicy!

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, from 5 to 20 June 

Driftwood

The debut play by Martina Laird, directed by Justin Audibert. Set in 1950s Trinidad, it follows the power struggles within a Port of Spain gentlemen’s club as the island moves toward independence. It’ll travel down the M40 from Stratford-upon-Avon to London.

RSC’s The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon (17 April to 30 May) and Kiln Theatre (3 June to 4 July) 

Springwood

From one wood to another! A world premiere by Richard Nelson, directed by none other than Stanley Tucci. Set in 1939 during a Royal visit to the US, the play focuses on the private interactions and political tensions at the Roosevelt family home.

Hampstead Theatre, from 19 June to 25 July

Archduke

A darkly comic historical drama by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph, directed by Lyndsey Turner. Set in Belgrade in 1914, it follows three young men recruited to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, tracing the absurd and tragic path toward the start of World War I.

Royal Court, from 20 June to 25 July 2026

The Story

Marvel star Letitia Wright makes her National Theatre debut in this newsroom thriller by Tracey Scott Wilson. Wright plays an ambitious reporter who risks her career for a volatile scoop, interrogating the intersection of race and media power.

Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre, exact dates TBA

Heart Wall

We’d not be able to do a new writing list without a reference to the fabled Bush Theatre in west London! Written by Kit Withington and directed by Katie Greenall, this tender drama explores grief and memory centered around a local pub. It is a co-commission with Oldham Coliseum.

Bush Theatre, from 7 April to 16 May

The Silence of the Lambs

The world stage premiere of Thomas Harris’s psychological thriller, adapted by Gina Gionfriddo and directed by Nikolai Foster. The production begins a ten-city UK tour following a run in Leicester.

Opens at Curve, Leicester, where it runs from 1 to 15 August 2026 before a UK and Ireland tour

I’ll Be Seeing You

A major world premiere written by legendary playwright Martin Sherman (Bent) and directed by Alan Cumming. This surreal “fantasia” stars Simon Russell Beale as the flamboyant entertainer Liberace and Fra Fee as a young playwright struggling to write a play about him – until the icon unexpectedly appears to the writer.

The Studio, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, 12 September to 11 October

The Afronauts

Written by Olivier Award nominee Ryan Calais Cameron (For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy), this epic drama is inspired by the “true-ish” story of the Zambian Space Program. Set in 1964 as the nation celebrates its independence, the play follows a schoolteacher, Edward Mukuka Nkoloso, as he gathers a group of “misfit dreamers” to join the global space race.

Royal Court, from 14 November to 19 December