Ride the Cyclone to return to London

Exclusive: Ride the Cyclone will play a summer season in London.

Written by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell, the show follows six teenagers who are killed in a rollercoaster accident. Trapped in limbo, they are offered a chance to return to life – if they can convince an enigmatic figure that they are the one most deserving of a second chance.

The 90-minute musical premiered at Atomic Vaudeville in British Columbia in 2008 before gaining a broader audience with its American debut at Chicago’s Shakespeare Theater in 2015. It later transferred Off-Broadway to the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 2016.

Since then, the show has had productions in cities including Seattle, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Sydney and Buenos Aires. Now classed as a cult sensation, the 2021 world premiere cast recording has amassed hundreds of millions of streams on music platforms.

It received its UK premiere last year, where our WhatsOnStage critic called it “utterly exhilarating.”

Ride the Cyclone will return to Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 19 June to 22 August 2026. There will be an additional matinee performance on 18 August at 2:30pm, a captioned performance on 29 July at 7pm, and a BSL performance, with dates to be announced. Tickets will go on sale on 18 March.

The production is directed and choreographed by Lizzi Gee with musical direction and supervision by Ben McQuigg, set and costume design by Ryan Dawson Laight, lighting design by Tim Deiling, video design by Nina Dunn for PixelLux, sound design by Tom Marshall, illusion design by Richard Pinner, casting by Harry Blumenau and associate direction by Eva Sampton. Production management is by Toby P Darvill for Production Solutions Group, with general management by Jack Maple Productions.

It is produced by Kevin McCollum, Morris Berchard, and Jack Maple. Of the return, they said: “We couldn’t be more excited to bring Ride the Cyclone back for another ride. We were delighted that we sold out our initial run, and are thrilled to be returning to Southwark in 2026 to give those who missed out on tickets the first time around a chance to ride the cyclone.”

The show is licensed by Concord Theatricals. Casting is to be announced.