Shakespeare’s Globe announces winter season

Shakespeare’s Globe has announced its winter 2026/27 season.

Artistic director Michelle Terry described the programme as “a season of debuts”, with Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull receiving its first Globe staging, Julius Caesar and King John making their Sam Wanamaker Playhouse premieres, and Timberlake Wertenbaker unveiling a brand new work.

Opening the season on 6 November is Julius Caesar, directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins, who returns to the Globe following Ghosts. Shakespeare’s political tragedy of ambition, conspiracy and civil war will be staged in the intimate Sam Wanamaker Playhouse for the first time, running until 14 February.

Chekhov’s The Seagull follows from 15 January to 10 April, reuniting director Caroline Steinbeis and translator Rory Mullarkey after their acclaimed production of Three Sisters at the Globe in 2025. Inspired by Hamlet, the play explores artistic ambition, love and disillusionment.

Running from 20 February to 11 April, King John will be directed by Olivier Award nominee Jaz Woodcock-Stewart, making her Globe debut with Shakespeare’s infrequently staged history play.

The season also includes the world premiere of Wertenbaker’s The Animals Come to the Table, running from 11 December to 24 January. Developed from the Globe’s anonymous new writing initiative Burnt at the Stake, or the Whole of the Truth, the play imagines representatives of the animal kingdom confronting humanity over environmental destruction.

Returning for the festive season is the Globe’s musical adaptation of Pinocchio, directed by Sean Holmes, with book and lyrics by Charlie Josephine and music and lyrics by Jim Fortune. Following its acclaimed premiere in 2025, the production runs in the Globe Theatre from 28 November to 3 January.

Alongside the theatre programme, the Shakespeare and Race Festival returns throughout October with performances, discussions and research events. Highlights include a new work by Anne Odeke, Pineapple, presented by the Globe Young Company, a work-in-progress staging of Samurai Othello by New Earth Theatre, and a programme of talks examining Shakespeare, race and global performance.

The Globe also announced an expanded programme of higher education courses for professional theatre-makers, family events including the return of Telling Tales, featuring authors including Joseph Coelho, Sita Brahmachari, Rob Biddulph and Terry Deary, as well as workshops for young people and guided tours.

Michelle Terry said: “This new season of plays in our candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is a season of debuts. The premiere of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s new play, the first time Chekhov’s The Seagull has been performed at the Globe, and the first time the epic history plays Julius Caesar and King John have been performed in the intimate indoor playhouse. And we are thrilled to once again bring families together outside in our Globe Theatre for the return of our enchanting musical Pinocchio. This collection of brave and brilliant plays promise us nothing less than a winter of politics, provocation, passion, and pleasure.”

Tickets go on sale to patrons on 30 June, friends on 8 July and general booking opens on 14 July.