Royal Exchange Theatre announces 2023 shows including ”untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play”

The Royal Exchange Theatre has revealed details for its forthcoming spring/summer 2023 season.

Amidst the ongoing story surrounding Sheffield Theatres’ revival of Miss Saigon and the New Earth/Storyhouse cancellation of its touring production’s visit to the Crucible next summer, the Royal Exchange will present the world premiere of 2019 International Bruntwood Prize winner Kimber Lee’s untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play.

Produced in partnership with Manchester International Festival, the Young Vic and Headlong, the piece will run from 24 June to 22 July 2023 before transferring to the Young Vic in the autumn.

Under the helm of co-artistic director Roy Alexander Weise, the play follows Kim, who is having a “terrible, very bad, no-good kind of day”.

The season will also include David Eldridge’s Beginning, directed by Bryony Shanahan, the Royal Exchange’s other co-artistic director, which was previously staged at the National Theatre and in the West End in 2018.

The two-hander, which explores the complexity of beginning a new romantic relationship, runs from 16 February to 11 March 2023.

A brand-new production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will run from 24 March to 29 April with Weise once again at the helm, revisiting Big Daddy and the complex family dynamics of the 1955 drama.

The UK premiere of No Pay? No Way!, a new version of Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s original farce by Australian playwright Marieke Hardy, will run from 12 May to 10 June. Directed by Shanahan, the political comedy follows Antonia and Margherita and examines the reality of rising inflation and falling wages.

Shanahan and Weise commented: “This season we get to work with some extraordinary theatre makers from all over the world. From partners who are based right here in our home city to writers from London, Australia and New York. It’s so exciting to be able to bring these international and universal stories to Manchester, to develop and create them here in our stunning theatre and to share with our audiences.”

Sign up to our newsletter for more