Stratford East unveils 2027 season with Noises Off, Winsome Pinnock and more

Stratford East has announced its 2027 season.

Lisa Spirling, artistic director and co-CEO of Stratford East, will direct Michael Frayn’s seminal comedy Noises Off, which runs from 5 February to 13 March 2027. The production will star Paterson Joseph as Lloyd and Tameka Empson as Dotty, with further casting to be announced. Jatinder Chera is casting the production, which marks 45 years since the comedy was first staged. It follows a theatre company attempting to keep a production on the road as problems develop both on stage and backstage.

“Having directed a huge amount of comedy, it’s always been the play for me of what is that pinnacle,” Spirling explained while speaking to WhatsOnStage yesterday. “The thought of Tameka as Dotty and Paterson as Lloyd – the rest of the cast we’re building around it will be a who’s who of comedy across all generations. The fact that we can introduce Noises Off to a whole new generation of theatregoers feels very exciting.”

Addressing the mechanics of directing the comedy, Spirling noted: “So much of my work has been in new writing, but the thought of working on something that is so structurally and mechanically tested – realistically we’re all just working out how to get the sardines out, how to make the doors work. There’s the reality that thousands of people have done it before you, so just don’t mess it up.”

Next, Stratford East associate artistic director Jade Lewis will direct the first revival of Winsome Pinnock’s Talking in Tongues since its premiere at the Royal Court in 1991. Running from 1 April to 1 May 2027, the production will star Tamara Lawrance as Claudette and Kayla Meikle as Leela, with further casting to be announced. The play follows friends and lovers between London and Jamaica as they navigate questions of identity, loyalty and belonging.

“I knew it of old and I read this play again and was going, ‘Well, obviously it’s been revived lots.’ And then I could not believe it hadn’t been revived,” Spirling explained. “When you read about it, lots of people go, ‘It’s her best work, it’s the one we prefer.’ One of the things Winsome said was, ‘Well, who would do it? Who would dare to do it?’ in terms of the provocations within it around Black female sexuality, questions about race, and their success. It feels like such a perfect play to have here.”

A co-production with Bristol Old Vic, David Lan’s English translation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya will run from 19 May to 19 June 2027. Directed by Bristol Old Vic associate artistic director Rikki Henry, the production relocates Chekhov’s story to a rundown modern office. It follows Vanya, his niece Sonya and the local doctor Astrov as their lives are disrupted by the arrival of Sonya’s father and his new wife.

The season will also include the world premiere of The Fingerprint Bureau, a new play by Sonali Bhattacharyya, directed by Milli Bhatia. A co-production with Kali Theatre Company, the production explores the history of fingerprint identification in British-occupied India, following mathematicians Azizul Haque and Chandra Bose as their scientific work becomes a tool of colonial surveillance. Dates are to be announced.

“So much of our focus at Stratford is about giving mid-career artists the main stage, the big house, the five-week run,” Spirling reflects. “It reads like a thriller, it’s based on real history, and it’s about something that is so part of our culture since the 1890s that we take for granted.”

Stratford East’s 2027 pantomime will be Jack and the Beanstalk, written and directed by Vikki Stone and Tonderai Munyevu. The pair previously collaborated on Mama Goose in 2025. The production runs from 20 November to 31 December 2027.

Alongside the mainstage season, Stratford East will launch a free national schools’ project bringing a recording of Here There Are Blueberries, created by Amanda Gronich and Moisés Kaufman with Tectonic Theater Project, to classrooms across the UK. The project will take place during the week of Holocaust Memorial Day, from 25 to 29 January 2027, and will include access to the recording, teacher training and educational resources. The theatre’s South Asian Season will also return in May 2027, celebrating South Asian stories and artists.

Stratford East says more than 2,000 tickets across the new season will be available for £10, with a further 2,000 tickets offered through its Pay What You Can scheme, starting at £6. Priority booking for members and customers with access requirements opens today, with general booking opening at 12pm on 4 November.

Stratford East will also continue its community and participation programmes, including Newham Neighbours, which offers free tickets to first-time theatregoers from the borough, and opportunities for young people through its Young Ensemble.

Reflecting on the season as a whole, Spirling concluded: “Any show that makes it to the stage, or makes it to the announcement and then makes the stage at the moment, feels like some sort of miracle in terms of what it takes in terms of partners, actors, creatives, individuals, and the stars to align. Every year you’re trying to build on something, create, and connect.”

Spirling also emphasised the industry’s need to develop future leadership beyond creative roles: “There’s always people that want to artistically direct and lead an organisation, but where are our future executive directors, where are our future general managers, our executive producers?” she questioned. “Those roles are in some ways more needed than our artistic directors, and they are the ones that are really changing the landscape. Without them, no building is standing.”