The final Leeds Playhouse season under under award-winning artistic director and joint CEO James Brining features two world premieres, notable joint productions, some of the best available visiting shows and a packed programme in the Playhouse studio.
As he prepares to step down in April 2025, after 13 years at the helm, Brining said: “It’s been a huge privilege to serve this incredible theatre in this great city. A theatre is nothing without its audience and we’re lucky to have the warmest and most generous here at the Playhouse.”
Highlights of the new season include:
Through It All Together by Chris O'Connor (June 23-July 19). This premiere focuses on an ordinary Yorkshire couple’s extraordinary passion for football, as well as exploring living with dementia and the bonds that unite families and fans. The show has been developed with people living with dementia from Leeds Up and Go DEEP Group.
Brainstorm (July 10-12). Created in collaboration with the theatre's youth theatre groups, the show explores how the 86 billion neurons in a teenager’s brain affect their thoughts and feelings, and how these change on the journey to adulthood.
The House Party (February 21-March 1), is an adaptation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie, which continues the Playhouse’s partnership with Headlong Theatre Company. This Chichester Festival Theatre and Headlong co-production, in association with Frantic Assembly, will launch its UK tour in Leeds.
Animal Farm (March 12-29), from the novel by George Orwell, is a co-production with Stratford East and Nottingham Playhouse.
Coraline – A Musical (April 11-May 11), the world premiere of a spooky new musical ahead of a national tour. It's a co-production with the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Birmingham Rep and HOME Manchester. The show has been adapted by award-winning playwright and screenwriter Zinnie Harris, with music and lyrics by British musician and songwriter Louis Barabbas.
Sisters 360 (May 7-10), a new play by Bradford playwright Asif Khan, inspired by real-life skateboarding sisters Layna, Maysa and Amaya, and their Olympian hero Sky Brown.
Tambo and Bones (May 14-24), by spoken word poet and playwright Dave Harris. An exploration of the intersection between race, capitalism and performance.
A Thousand Splendid Suns (May 28-June 14), set in war-ravaged Afghanistan, where orphaned Laila is left alone in an increasingly threatening world.
Other touring shows include Tracy-Ann Oberman's The Merchant of Venice 1936 (February 18-22); Phoenix Dance Theatre (March 6-8); Kim's Convenience (March 12-15); Driftwood (March 18-19); Horrible Histories (May 15-17) and Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet (June 18-21)
There's also a packed selection of studio productions, from Shellshocked, by Leeds playwright Philip Stokes (February 5-8), to The Noisy Dinosaur has lost its Roar (April 22-24).
Tickets are on sale now.
More info and tickets here