Leeds Playhouse recently announced Tom Wright’s inaugural season of shows as Artistic Director, with new productions running from autumn 2026 to summer 2027 in the Quarry Theatre and Courtyard Theatre.
The Leeds Playhouse holds a special place in my heart. Under its former name of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, it was one of my regular theatre haunts between 1995 and 2007, starting with The Crucible and ending with Northern Ballet Theatre’s A Midsummer Night‘s Dream.
It is where I consumed the first body of work outside London that was varied, exciting, and, on occasion, star-studded.
The most exciting conversations in British theatre are happening right here in Leeds
Tom Wright, Artistic Director at Leeds Playhouse
Now it is simply the Leeds Playhouse, under new management and including a revival of August Wilson’s Fences (co-produced by Headlong, Lyric Hammersmith and HOME Manchester), the wonderful Kiln Theatre production of Peanut Butter and Blackberries revisited, and Associate Artistic Director Jamie Sophia Fletcher directing her first Playhouse-produced work with the musical Little Shop of Horrors.
This exciting season also includes Leeds-born adaptor/director Jeff James in Frankenstein (co-produced with Rose Theatre Kingston); Tom Wright’s new production of How The Grinch Stole Christmas The Musical and his own play, Sirens (co-produced with Belgrade Theatre).
I cannot recommend this venue enough. The Quarry and the Courtyard are old friends: they are now supplemented by a new space, the Bramall Rock Void, dedicated to work from emerging artists and visiting companies.
Tom Wright says, “My first season begins with a simple idea – that theatre should entertain and challenge in equal measure, and speak directly to the world we’re living in. Across the programme are four new works – including two original stories and two bold adaptations – alongside landmark plays, reimagined classics and large-scale theatrical spectacle.“
Check out the full season now at https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on/.