FACTORY INTERNATIONAL, IMPROBABLE AND NICA BURNS PRESENT
THE WEST END PREMIERE OF
TAO OF GLASS
BY PHILIP GLASS AND PHELIM MCDERMOTT
OPENING @SOHOPLACE FROM 24 JULY 2026
Factory International, Improbable and Nica Burns today announce the West End premiere of Tao of Glass, composed by Philip Glass, written by Phelim McDermott. The production originally opened at Manchester International Festival and will run at@sohoplace theatre, 24 July – 12 September 2026.
An exploration of life, loss and a single question: Where does true inspiration come from?
Composer Philip Glass and performer-director Phelim McDermott (Improbable) have worked together on acclaimed opera productions in London, New York and beyond, and Tao of Glass is their most personal collaboration yet. Inspired by a dream, this West End premiere marries ten meditations on life, death and Taoist wisdom with ten brand new pieces of music from Glass, presented by McDermott with an ensemble of musicians and puppeteers.
Part-concert, part-performance, Tao of Glass is a storytelling tapestry, soundtracked by Glass’s mesmerising music and shot through with Improbable’s trademark theatricality.
Philip Glass said, “I am pleased that Tao of Glass will receive its London premiere this summer. It’s always a pleasure to work with Phelim. Tao of Glass is a true theater collaboration, the culmination of many years of deep admiration and respect for each other.”
Phelim McDermott said, “Bringing Tao of Glass to @sohoplace feels like completing a full circle. This show was devised through a deeply collaborative process — Philip and I playing together in downtown New York, riffing and discovering how music, story, and image could grow from the same source.
To now share his specially composed music in such a beautiful space — designed for intimacy, sound, and connection — feels perfect. @sohoplace has that rare combination of openness and focus that invites the audience into the dream with us: a place where imagination, storytelling, and sound can truly resonate.”
Nica Burns said, “An utterly original, fascinating piece of theatre with the most beautiful music, by world famous composer Philip Glass, performed by the exceptional Phelim McDermott accompanied by a talented ensemble of musicians and puppeteers. Perfect in the beautiful, intimate auditorium of @sohoplace. What an extraordinary and exciting collaboration by two internationally celebrated artists.”
John McGrath, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Factory International said: “Tao of Glass was a massive hit when it premiered at Manchester International Festival in 2019, and we’re really proud to have produced it and taken it around the world with Improbable. We’ve always wanted the show to be seen in London, and we are thrilled that it will be opening in the West End @sohoplace. Philip and Phelim are artists we are so proud to work with, and this is one of their most extraordinary creations.”
The creative team are Composer: Philip Glass, Writer & Co-Director: Phelim McDermott; Co-Director: Kirsty Housley; Designer: Fly Davis; Lighting Designer: Colin Grenfell; Sound Designer: Giles Thomas; Musical Director: Chris Vatalaro; Puppet Designer & Puppet Maker: Lyndie Wright.
Tickets are on sale now via sohoplace.org.
Commissioned by Factory International, Manchester, Improbable, Perth Festival, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, Hong Kong New Vision Arts Festival and Carolina Performing Arts – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in association with Naomi Milgrom AO. Tao of Glass originally premiered at Manchester International Festival 2019.
Philip Glass | Composer
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Philip Glass is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Juilliard School. In the early 1960s, Glass spent two years of intensive study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and, while there, earned money by transcribing Ravi Shankar’s Indian music into Western notation. By 1974, Glass had a number of innovative projects creating a large collection of new music for The Philip Glass Ensemble and for the Mabou Mines Theater Company. This period culminated in Musician Twelve Parts and the landmark opera Einstein on the Beach, for which he collaborated with Robert Wilson. Since Einstein, Glass has expanded his repertoire to include music for opera, dance, theater, chamber ensemble, orchestra and film. His scores have received Academy Award nominations (Kundun, The Hours, Notes on a Scandal) and a Golden Globe (The Truman Show). Glass’s memoir Words Without Music was published by Liveright Books in 2015. Glass received the Praemium Imperiale in 2012, the U.S. National Medal of the Arts from President Barack Obama in 2016, and 41st Kennedy Center Honors in 2018. Glass’s recent works include a circus opera Circus Days and Nights, Symphony No.13, and Symphony No14.
Phelim McDermott | Writer & Co-Director
Phelim is a founder member of Improbable and the company’s co-artistic director. In addition to Tao of Glass Improbable credits include: 70 Hill Lane; Lifegame; Animo; Coma; Spirit; Sticky; Cinderella; The Hanging Man; Theatre of Blood (in collaboration with the National Theatre); Panic; Beauty and the Beast (in co-production with ONEOFUS); The Tempest (a co-production with Northern Stage and Oxford Playhouse); Opening Skinners Box (a co-production with Northern Stage and West Yorkshire Playhouse); Lost Without Words (a co-production with the National Theatre), My Neighbour Totoro (RSC and Nippon TV at Barbican) winner of six Olivier Awards including Best Director and Best Entertainment of Comedy Play and five WhatsOnStage Awards also including Best Director. Opera credits with Improbable include: Philip Glass’s Satyagraha (ENO, LA Opera); The Perfect American, the Olivier and Grammy Award-winning Akhnaten, Mozart’s Cos? fan tutte (ENO and Metropolitan Opera, NY); Aida (ENO) and; BambinO, an opera for babies (originally co-produced with Manchester International Festival and Scottish Opera, now with LA Opera); The Hours (Metropolitan Opera). Other productions as director include: the Olivier Award-winning Shockheaded Peter; Alex (The Arts Theatre); The Ghost Downstairs (Leicester Haymarket); Dr Faustus, Improbable Tales (Nottingham Playhouse); The Servant of Two Masters, The Hunchback of Notre Dame; The Government Inspector (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Artistic Collaborator on She’s Leaving Home (produced by 20 Stories High). Phelim is a recipient of the International Society for the Performing Arts’ Distinguished Artist Award, NESTA Fellowship and OBIE Award Winner for Outstanding Achievement in Off Broadway Theatre for 70 Hill Lane.
Kirsty Housley | Co-Director
Kirsty is a director, writer and dramaturg working across theatre, film and digital. Recent work includes RISE (opening of Bradford City of Culture with Dynamo/Steven Frayne); Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth (National Theatre Connections, as writer) Public Interest (Common/Wealth, as dramaturg); Cutting The Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics and Art (Arcola Theatre/Edinburgh International Festival); ECHO (Royal Court, as dramaturg), Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead (Co Director, Complicit?); Jekyll & Hyde (National Theatre tour); Horse (Matthew Herbert/Edinburgh International Festival/Barbican); Hope (Clean Break), Can I Live? (Complicit? Theatre, as Dramaturg); Extinct (Theatre Royal Stratford East); The Long Goodbye Livestream (Riz Ahmed/MIF/BAM), Avalanche: A Love Story (Barbican/Sydney Theatre, as dramaturg) Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran (Traverse Theatre/Sundance Film Festival/Under The Radar fest NYC); Mephisto: A Rhapsody (Gate Theatre); Tao of Glass (Manchester International Festival/Royal Exchange); I’m A Phoenix, Bitch (Battersea Arts Centre); The Believers are But Brothers (Javaad Alipoor Company), Misty (Bush/West End, as dramaturg). Myth (RSC, also as co writer) and The Encounter (co director with Simon McBurney for Complicit?).
Instagram: sohoplace
Facebook: sohoplace
X: sohoplacelondon
BOX OFFICE INFORMATION
Box Office
0330 333 5961
4 Soho Place | London | W1D 3BG
Access Bookings/Customer Ticketing Enquiries: 0330 333 5962
Group Bookings: 0330 333 5963
@sohoplace
24 July – 12 September 2026
Ticket prices
From ?25
Groups and education rates available
Fair access: 50% off across all bands
Access @sohoplace
BSL interpreted and Audio Described: Saturday 15August, 2.30pm
Captioned performance: Friday 21August, 7.30pm
Chilled performance: Saturday 29August, 2.30pm
Audio Described performance: Thursday 3September, 7.30pm
@sohoplace has wheelchair access on stalls level and wider seats available for patrons with access needs.
Ticketing @sohoplace
@sohoplace has contactless ticketing for every performance. Tickets will be issued electronically 48 hours prior to the performance.
Cloakroom @sohoplace
The theatre has a large cloakroom that can be used by all patrons free of charge. Out of respect for patrons and the auditorium, we request that large bags are checked into the cloak room.
Feedback @sohoplace
We welcome all feedback on patrons’ experience with the venue and encourage patrons to email us feedback@sohoplace.org