Announcing the 2026/27 season at Wokingham Theatre
Our Artistic Director Thomas Atkinson-Joy has revealed what plays are in store for the 2026/27 Season at Wokingham Theatre, which runs from September 2026 to July 2027.
Announcing my first season as Artistic Director of Wokingham Theatre is a hugely exciting and humbling moment for me, and I am beyond excited to finally be able to share it. We read over 80 plays in the process of putting this programme together, and what has emerged is something I believe is genuinely bold, genuinely ambitious, and genuinely thrilling.
At the heart of the season is a desire to bring together the very best of theatre’s rich traditions with the freshest, most exciting voices working today. Shows that have stood the test of time sit alongside Tony and Olivier Award-winning plays that crackle with relevance, and we are incredibly proud to be among the first community companies anywhere in the world to stage several of the productions in our programme this year.
There is something here for everyone, whether you are a long-standing member of our brilliant, faithful audience or someone who has never set foot inside Wokingham Theatre before.
This season is an invitation, and we want more people than ever to be part of it.
I am also incredibly excited to introduce Studio Nights, a brand new strand of week-long, studio-style productions that will push our creative boundaries, offer audiences a completely different kind of theatrical experience, and begin paving the way for the launch of our own studio theatre. It is a huge moment for Wokingham Theatre, and it feels like the start of something truly special.
I hope you are as excited as I am. I cannot wait to see you there.
Thomas Atkinson-Joy
Artistic Director, 2026-27
The 2026-27 season
HANSARD | 9 – 19 September
by Simon Woods | directed by Jerry Radburn
On general sale: Monday 13 July
Summer, 1988. The sun is shining over the picture-perfect Cotswolds, but inside the Hesketh household, the temperature is rising.
Robin Hesketh, charming, assured, and a devoted Conservative MP, returns home expecting a quiet weekend. Instead, he finds himself face-to-face with his wife Diana: sharp, perceptive, and increasingly disillusioned. What follows is far from restful.
As political tensions seep into personal lives, what begins as playful, intellectual sparring quickly escalates into something far more dangerous. Old wounds are reopened, long-buried secrets surface, and the fragile foundations of a 30-year marriage begin to fracture.
Set against the backdrop of the passing of Section 28, a law that silenced discussion of homosexuality in schools, Hansard is a fiercely intelligent and darkly funny exploration of power, politics, and the private lives we try to keep hidden.
Simon Woods’ gripping debut play premiered at the National Theatre in 2019 in a celebrated production starring Alex Jennings and Lindsay Duncan. Now, this searing two-hander invites you into a marriage at breaking point, where words are weapons, and silence can be just as destructive.
THE WELKIN | 14-24 October
by Lucy Kirkwood | directed by Margery Jackson
On general sale: Monday 17 August
Rural Suffolk, 1759. As the country looks skyward in anticipation of Halley’s Comet, a very different kind of judgement is about to take place.
Sally Poppy has been sentenced to hang for a brutal murder. But at the eleventh hour, she claims to be pregnant, forcing the court to pause her execution and summon a jury of twelve local women to decide her fate. Ordinary women, pulled from their quiet lives, suddenly find themselves holding a life in their hands.
What follows is anything but straightforward.
With only the sharp-minded midwife Lizzy Luke willing to defend her, and a restless crowd gathering outside, the matrons must navigate conflicting testimonies, personal prejudices, and the weight of a system that was never designed for them to question. As tensions rise, alliances shift and suspicions grow… because the greatest danger may not lie with the accused, but within the room itself.
Lucy Kirkwood’s The Welkin is a thrilling and darkly comic exploration of justice, power, and the voices history has too often ignored. Premiering at the National Theatre in 2020 in a landmark production directed by James Macdonald, it’s a bold, gripping drama that places twelve women centre stage – and asks who gets to be heard, and who gets to decide.
DEATH AND THE MAIDEN | 11-14 November (Studio Night)
by Ariel Dorfman | directed by Kieran Pearson
On general sale: Monday 14 September
A remote beach house. A chance encounter. A past that refuses to stay buried.
Years after the fall of a brutal regime, Paulina lives a quiet, fragile existence with her husband Gerardo, a human rights lawyer tasked with uncovering the truth about past atrocities. But the past is closer than either of them realise.
When a stranger arrives unexpectedly one night, Paulina is certain she recognises him. She never saw her captor’s face, but she remembers his voice. His manner. The smallest details that time has failed to erase. Convinced this man is responsible for her torture, she takes justice into her own hands.
What follows is a gripping and deeply unsettling battle of memory, truth, and power.
As accusations fly and loyalties are tested, Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden asks impossible questions: How do we confront the horrors of the past? Can justice ever truly be served? And what happens when the line between victim and perpetrator begins to blur?
Premiering at the Royal Court in 1991, this modern classic remains as urgent and electrifying as ever – a tense, psychological thriller where every word carries weight, and silence can be just as dangerous.
This amateur production of DEATH AND THE MAIDEN is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French, Ltd
ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS | 9-19 December
by Richard Bean | directed by Lloyd White
On general sale: Monday 12 October
Brighton, 1963. Skiffle bands are on the rise, the drinks are flowing, and Francis Henshall is out of work… and out of luck.
Desperate for cash, Francis stumbles into a job working for a small-time gangster. But when the opportunity arises to double his wages, he takes on a second job with another employer, without either of them finding out.
There’s just one problem: his two guvnors can’t ever meet.
What follows is a gloriously chaotic farce of mistaken identity, split loyalties, and increasingly desperate improvisation, as Francis juggles two jobs, two bosses, and a mounting list of lies (while trying, above all else, to get a decent meal!)
Richard Bean’s One Man, Two Guvnors is a riotous reimagining of Carlo Goldoni’s classic comedy, The Servant of Two Masters, transporting the action to 1960s Brighton with music, mayhem, and plenty of audience interaction. Premiering at the National Theatre in 2011 to huge acclaim, it’s a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud comedy that delights in its own absurdity… and keeps you guessing right to the very end.
ONE MAN TWO GUVNORS is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on
behalf of Samuel French, Ltd.
THE SWELL | 20-30 January 2027
by Isley Lynn | directed by Bailey McMenamin
On general sale: Monday 23 November
Annie and Bel are building a life together. Wedding plans are underway, the future feels certain, if not entirely uncomplicated. Then Flo walks back into their lives.
Annie’s oldest friend, restless, magnetic, and impossible to pin down, Flo brings with her a history that neither woman can ignore. As she settles in, old dynamics resurface and new desires begin to take shape, drawing the three women into a charged and increasingly fragile triangle.
But this is only part of the story.
Moving between past and present, The Swell unravels the tangled histories that bind Annie, Bel and Flo together, revealing how first loves, formative choices, and long-buried tensions continue to echo across time. As their younger and older selves collide, the truth emerges piece by piece… and nothing is quite as it first appears.
Isley Lynn’s thrilling romantic drama The Swell is a gripping story spanning decades of love, sacrifice and betrayal, which was shortlisted for The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2020.and received its world premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre in 2023.
Wokingham Youth Theatre presents AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS | 18-20 February
by Jules Verne, adapted by Laura Eason | directed by Indigo Hogg
On general sale: Monday 7 December
Phileas Fogg has a plan.
Meticulous, unflappable, and fabulously wealthy, he wagers his entire fortune on a seemingly impossible feat: to circumnavigate the globe in just eighty days. With his loyal (and often bewildered) valet Passepartout by his side, he sets off on an extraordinary journey across continents, cultures, and climates.
But the clock is ticking.
From the fog of Victorian London to the heat of India and the vast expanse of the American West, their journey is a whirlwind of narrow escapes, unlikely encounters, and ever-more inventive modes of transport: trains, steamships, sledges… even an elephant.
Hot on their heels, danger and delay threaten at every turn. Because this is more than an adventure, it’s a race against time itself.
Laura Eason’s exhilarating adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic novel is a theatrical tour de force, transforming a handful of actors into a world of unforgettable characters. Fast-paced, inventive and full of charm, Around the World in 80 Days is a joyful celebration of storytelling, where imagination knows no bounds, and anything is possible.
TILL THE STARS COME DOWN | 17-27 March
by Beth Steel | directed by Rachel Pearson
On general sale: Monday 18 January
It’s Sylvia and Marek’s big day. And everyone is invited.
Family and friends gather on a sweltering summer afternoon to celebrate, welcome, and raise a glass to the future. There’s music, dancing, too much food, and even more vodka. For a moment, everything feels exactly as it should.
But beneath the surface, something is shifting.
As the day unfolds, old grievances resurface, loyalties are tested, and the fault lines within a tight-knit family begin to crack. Marek is stepping into Sylvia’s world, but not everyone is ready to make room. And as the celebrations spiral into something more volatile, the question becomes unavoidable: what does it really mean to belong? By the time night falls, the happiest day of their lives may have changed everything.
Beth Steel’s heartbreaking and hilarious portrayal of a larger-than-life family struggling to come to terms with a changing world opened at the National Theatre, London, in January 2024 before transferring to the West End.
CONSTELLATIONS | 7-10 April (Studio Night)
by Nick Payne | directed by Rosalind Robins
On general sale: Monday 8 February
A chance meeting at a barbeque.
Marianne is a quantum physicist. Roland is a beekeeper. They meet, they connect… or perhaps they don’t. A single moment branches into many: each choice opening up a different path, a different future, a different version of the same relationship.
What if you said yes instead of no? What if you stayed? What if you left?
As their story unfolds across multiple realities, moments repeat, shift, and collide – tender, funny, and heartbreaking by turns. Because in a universe of infinite possibilities, even the smallest decision can change everything.
A beautifully crafted exploration of love, fate, and free will, reminding us that every relationship contains countless versions of itself, each just a choice away, Constellations premiered at the Royal Court in 2012 before transferring into the West End, where it won the Evening Standard award for Best New Play, and the Olivier Award for Best Revival in 2022.
This amateur production of CONSTELLATIONS is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French, Ltd.
MORE LIFE | 5-15 May
by Lauren Mooney and James Yeatman | directed by Thomas Atkinson-Joy
On general sale: Monday 8 March
The year is 2075. Bridget wakes up.
Fifty years ago, she died in a car accident. Now, through a radical technological breakthrough, she has been brought back- her memories intact, her consciousness restored… but in a body that is no longer her own. Synthetic. Engineered. Unfamiliar.
She’s still Bridget. Isn’t she?
As she tries to reconnect with the life she lost, unsettling questions begin to surface. What does it mean to be human when the body can be replaced? What happens to grief, to love, to identity, when death is no longer inevitable? And if we can live forever… what might we lose along the way?
Lauren Mooney and James Yeatman’s More Life is a haunting, genre-blending exploration of technology, mortality, and the limits of the self. Both intimate and unsettling, it asks not just whether we can outrun death, but whether we should. It premiered at the Royal Court in 2025.
OPPENHEIMER | 9-19 June
by Tom Morton-Smith | directed by Jess Edwards
On general sale: Monday 12 April
As fascism spreads across Europe and the shadow of war looms large, a breakthrough in atomic fission sends shockwaves through the scientific community. Suddenly, the unimaginable becomes possible: a weapon with the power to destroy on a scale never seen before.
At the centre of it all is J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Brilliant, driven, and deeply conflicted, Oppenheimer is drawn into a race against time to harness this new science, leading a team of extraordinary minds in the most ambitious and secretive project in history. But as the stakes grow higher, so too does the cost.
Haunted by his past, navigating fraught relationships with his wife, his lover, and his colleagues, Oppenheimer must confront the moral weight of what he is creating. Because this is no ordinary weapon, and once unleashed, it cannot be contained.
Tom Morton-Smith’s Oppenheimer is a gripping, fast-paced drama that charts the birth of the atomic bomb and the man behind it. Epic in scope and intimate in detail, it asks a question that still resonates today: what responsibility do we bear for the consequences of our discoveries? It opened to universal acclaim at the RSC in Stratford in 2014 before transferring to the West End.
NOISES OFF | 14-24 July
by Michael Frayn | directed by Alan Long
On general sale: Monday 17 May
The show must go on… even when everything else falls apart.
What begins as a straightforward sex farce soon unravels into something far more chaotic. As a hapless company of actors attempt to tour their production of Nothing On, missed cues, forgotten lines, and offstage rivalries start to creep in. Doors slam, trousers drop, props go missing, and that’s just the beginning.
Because what’s happening behind the scenes is even more dramatic than what’s happening on stage.
As the tour descends into total disarray, the boundaries between performance and reality collapse. Characters exit one farce only to stumble into another, until, by the time they reach their final performance, everything spirals into one glorious, unstoppable meltdown.
Michael Frayn’s Noises Off is a masterclass in comic timing and theatrical mayhem. Opening in 1982 in the West End, it won both the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Comedy, expect a riotous, affectionate celebration of theatre at its most unpredictable, and its most hilarious!
Huge thanks to Thomas and his playreading committee for all their work curating us such an exciting new season. We’ll be sharing news of how to get involved with these shows in due course, or if you can’t wait til then, becoming a WT member gets you early access to everything.