Nottingham Playhouse unveils 2027 spring and summer season – including Be My Baby musical

Exclusive: Hot on the heels of a bumper 2026, Nottingham Playhouse has announced its spring/summer 2027 programme.

The season is led by the world premiere of Be My Baby: The Musical by Amanda Whittington, based on Whittington’s play of the same name. It will be directed by Adam Penford and features a score built around 1960s songs including “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, “Alfie”, “The Locomotion” and “I Only Want to Be With You”. The production follows four young women sent to a mother-and-baby home during the era of forced adoption and will run from 31 May to 26 June 2027.

The venue will also stage the regional premiere of Expendable by Nottingham writer Emteaz Hussain, directed by Esther Richardson. The play previously premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2024 and follows two sisters dealing with the impact of a sexual abuse scandal on their community, placing Pakistani women’s experiences at the centre of the story. The production runs from 4 to 13 March 2027.

A new production of Romeo & Juliet will be directed by Chelsea Walker as a co-production between Nottingham Playhouse, English Touring Theatre, Leeds Playhouse and the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh. The production will run from 20 April to 8 May 2027.

The season opens with the return of James Graham’s Olivier Award-winning Punch ahead of its UK and Ireland tour. Other visiting productions include Tristan & Yseult, Twelve Angry Men, The King’s Speech, Albert’s Boy starring Griff Rhys Jones, and Birmingham Rep’s production of A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Announcing the season Penford said: “After producing work by three local playwrights this year, I am thrilled to be welcoming two more homegrown talents in our next season. Amanda Whittington’s play, Be My Baby, has become a modern classic over the last 25 years. It has always had the cultural explosion of the 1960s at its heart and was crying out to become a musical. It’s such a potent and life-affirming story and sadly, still so relevant, with the narrative of the government policy of forced adoption regularly in the news.”

Whittington added: “I’m thrilled to share the news of Be My Baby: The Musical. I’ve been developing the show with Adam Penford for some years now, reimagining the play I wrote at the beginning of my career about the injustice of forced adoption.

“To create a musical with my home theatre of Nottingham Playhouse is a ‘full circle’ moment yet also, a new and exciting journey. The iconic Sixties songs which inspired Be My Baby are now at the heart of the story, their lyrics giving powerful voice to those who were silenced for so long.”