Royal Exchange announces new season with Guys and Dolls, Beverley Knight and more

The Royal Exchange Theatre has announced its 2027–28 season.

The programme is the second season announced by artistic director Selina Cartmell and follows the theatre’s 50th anniversary. It also marks the reopening of the Royal Exchange’s studio space in spring 2027 and the launch of a new Bruntwood Prize for North West Playwriting.

Listen to an exclusive podcast with Cartmell here:

The season opens with Brian Friel’s Faith Healer, directed by Emma Baggott, which runs from 20 March to 18 April 2027. Abbi Greenland’s Talking to Boys, directed by Sam Pritchard, will receive its world premiere in the Studio from 8 April to 8 May, becoming the first production in the space since March 2020.

Daisy Miles’ R Lady’s, winner of the 2025 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting North West – Original New Voice Award, will also receive its world premiere in the Studio. Directed by Elin Schofield, the play is set in a Catholic primary school in Stockport and runs from 13 May to 5 June 2027.

The UK premiere of RIOT, by Jennifer Jennings and Phillip McMahon, will run from 27 May to 6 June. Produced by THISISPOPBABY, the production combines theatre, circus, acrobatics and dance. It stars Panti Bliss, Emmet Kirwan, Lords of Strut and The Sirens, with a guest performer appearing each night.

Cartmell will direct the world premiere of The First Blue Thing, a new play by Simon Stephens that reimagines the Greek myth of Phaedra in modern-day Stockport. Presented as part of Manchester International Festival 2027 in association with Factory International, it runs from 18 June to 25 July.

Michael Buffong will direct a new production of Much Ado About Nothing, co-produced with Talawa Theatre Company. Beverley Knight will play Beatrice in a version set in Trinidad shortly after the Second World War. The production runs from 17 September to 24 October 2027.

The season also includes a new production of Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls, directed by Natalie Abrahami and running from 19 November 2027 to 9 January 2028. The much-loved musical follows the lives of gamblers, showgirls and missionaries in 1950s New York.

Cartmell will return to the director’s role for Munichs, a stage adaptation by Ben Power of David Peace’s novel about the Munich Air Disaster and its aftermath. The world premiere will mark 70 years since the disaster and runs from 28 January to 12 March 2028.

The programme follows the previously announced production of Tolu Okanlawon’s Shooters, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, which will close the theatre’s 50th anniversary year in February 2027.

The Royal Exchange has also announced that it will use the name Royal Exchange Theatre Company as it begins this next phase of its work, with a programme focused on new writing, established plays and musical theatre.