Sheffield Theatres announces 2026/2027 season

Sheffield Theatres has announced details of its 2026/27 season.

The season includes two Shakespeare productions presented as a double bill in the Crucible. King Lear will be directed by Titas Halder and will feature Ian McDiarmid in the title role, staged in association with Michael Grandage Company. Twelfth Night will be directed by Jamie Glover, with Mathew Horne appearing as Malvolio. The two shows will run this autumn.

Five world premieres form part of the programme. These include The Ballroom, created and staged by Jonathan Butterell, Kevin Clifton and Anna Hope, based on Hope’s novel and set in Yorkshire – the show sees Butterell back after his direction of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

Also on the bill are Never Look Back by John Rwothomack, produced with associate company Roots Mbili Theatre; and 12 Letters to My Name by Sheffield playwright Lettie Precious, co-produced with English Touring Theatre and Graeae. An adaptation of Sunjeev Sahota’s novel The Year of the Runaways, adapted by Stephanie Street and directed by artistic director Elizabeth Newman, will also receive its premiere. The season additionally includes The Trip, a production created and performed by members of Sheffield Theatres’ Youth Theatre.

Jonathan Church will return to Sheffield Theatres to direct Singin’ in the Rain, which will play the Crucible during the festive period.

Sapling by Georgina Duncan, the winner of the Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2025, will be produced as part of the season in a co-production with Paines Plough and the Women’s Prize for Playwriting.

Expect an interview with Newman in the next few days.