REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE
ANNOUNCES 2026 SEASON
- WORLD PREMIERE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, A NEW MYSTERY BY JOEL HORWOOD, DIRECTED BY SEAN HOLMES AND STARRING JOSHUA JAMES AS SHERLOCK HOLMES
- A LIFE IN FOUR SEASONS: VIVALDI’S MASTERPIECE REIMAGINED IN AN ELECTRIC NEW DANCE WORK, CREATED BY TINUKE CRAIG AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY ALEXZANDRA SARMIENTO
- WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, DIRECTED BY ATRI BANERJEE
- CREATIVES JOINING DREW McONIE IN THE PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED NEW PRODUCTION OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S CATS
- ANANSI THE SPIDER BY JUSTIN AUDIBERT, DIRECTED BY ROBIN BELFIELD, IN A UNICORN THEATRE AND REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE PRODUCTION
- THE RETURN OF FAMILY TAKEOVER DAY, LIVE MUSIC WEEK AND VARIOUS ARTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre today announce Drew McOnie’s second season, opening with the world premiere of Sherlock Holmes, a new mystery by Joel Horwood, directed by Sean Holmes, with Joshua James (Cyrano) as Sherlock Holmes (2 May – 6 June).
In A Life in Four Seasons, Vivaldi’s masterpiece is reimagined in an electric new contemporary dance work created by Tinuke Craig with choreography by Alexzandra Sarmiento and a recorded musical score by composer DJ Walde (11 – 14 June).
This is followed by the return of an Open Air Theatre favourite in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (20 June – 18 July), in a new production directed by Atri Banerjee and composed by Maimuna Memon.
The season continues with the previously announced brand-new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s global sensation, CATS (25 July – 12 September), produced with Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals. The musical will leap into the magical outdoor setting of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie.Lead creatives alongside McOnie include Casting Director Will Burton; Makeup Designer and Supervisor Guy Common; Set, Costume and Wigs Designer Sami Fendall; Sound Designer Adam Fisher; Lighting Designer Jessica Hung Han Yun and Musical Supervisor Alex Parker.
In August, Anansi the Spider by Justin Audibert, directed by Robin Belfield, will play on the Theatre Lawn for ages 4+ and their families, in a Unicorn Theatre and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production.
The 2026 season also sees the return of the Live Music Week presented in partnership with Communion ONE and Family Takeover Day, as well as a series of one-off Sunday night events. Further details to be announced in the spring.
This year, as part of the theatre’s adaptation plans to help improve its long-term resilience in response to the impacts of climate change, midweek and Saturday matinee performances in June and July, for A Life in Four Seasons and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, will move from 2pm to the earlier start time of 12.30pm. The theatre’s hope is that this trial will help reduce exposure to peak afternoon temperatures for the comfort of audiences, performers and staff alike.
Following the success of their inaugural year in 2025, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s artist development programmes will run for a second year. These include Open Room, an entry-level observership programme for aspiring creatives, Theatre Dance Lab, an artist development programme that offers early-career musical theatre choreographers a paid residency at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre culminating in a showcase performance of their work on our main stage; and the Treehouse Project which offers up to six early-career creatives space to develop their craft and shape their practice.
Applications for Open Room are now open. To apply visit: www.openairtheatre.com/open-room. Further details on how to apply for this year’s Theatre Dance Lab and Treehouse Project will be announced later this spring.
Beyond Regent’s Park, CATS will embark on a major UK tour through to May 2027, opening in Plymouth following its run at the Open Air Theatre. The award-winning Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstarwill play at the iconic London Palladium from June, starring Sam Ryder as Jesus. At the same time, the production will continue its international tour, visiting Manila in May and Singapore in August, with further dates to be announced. Originally produced by Roald Dahl Story Company, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and Leeds Playhouse, Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile will complete its tour of the US in February before embarking on a further UK tour through to August 2026, including a run at the Lyric Hammersmith from the 28 July – 22 August.
Drew McOnie, Artistic Director said today “I’m hugely excited to announce the full 2026 season and to share the brilliant shows that will be joining our new production of CATS this summer. I can’t wait to work with these talented creative teams and see their visions come to life on our beautiful open air theatre stage. I’m also immensely proud of our inaugural season of artist development programmes and thrilled that these initiatives will continue for a second year, providing support and platforms for early-career creatives across a variety of disciplines.”
James Pidgeon, Executive Director said today, “Following the success of our 2025 season which played to just under 177,000 people, together with our record-breaking UK & Ireland tour of Fiddler on the Roof which closed earlier this month, we are so looking forward to welcoming both new and returning audiences to the Open Air Theatre this summer. I am particularly delighted that for the third year running we’re maintaining our accessibly priced Monday performances where tickets do not exceed ?35, and that across this year’s season over 46,000 tickets – 24% of total available capacity – are priced at ?25 or under.”
Further creative teams and casting for all productions to be announced.
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Memberships are now on sale, and Members’ priority booking for the 2026 summer season opens at 12 noon today, with public booking opening at 12 noon on Thursday 5 February 2026.
Visit openairtheatre.com for more information.
A Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production
SHERLOCK HOLMES
A new mystery by Joel Horwood
Creatives include Lisa Aitken (Co-Costume Designer & Supervisor); Jherek Bischoff (Composer); Charlotte Broom (Movement Director); Stuart Burt CDG, CSA (Casting Director); Ryan Day (Lighting Designer); Carole Hancock (Wigs, Hair & Make Up Designer & Supervisor); Sean Holmes (Director); Elena Pe?a (Sound Designer) and Grace Smart (Set & Co-Costume Designer).
Saturday 2 May – Saturday 6 June 2026
‘Solve this, Sherlock. It may be a game to you; it isn’t to me.’
London, 1890, a city rapidly expanding, devouring all in its path. Fresh off the success of his first big case, Sherlock Holmes misuses his time, until an unknown woman and a mysterious jewel arrive at 221b Baker Street.
As the chase begins, and with lives on the line, can Holmes and Watson pull back the curtain on the big show and reveal the mastermind behind this deadly conspiracy.
From writer Joel Horwood (The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre, West End & Tour) and directed by Sean Holmes(Pinocchio, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare’s Globe), comes a thrilling new adventure, hurtling through the streets of London and down the River Thames to the heart of Regent’s Park.
Cast includes Joshua James as Sherlock Holmes.
Supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a Donor Advised Fund, held at The Prism Charitable Trust.
By agreement with the Conan Doyle Estate.
Joel Horwood | Writer
Theatre includes: Gatsby (Uppsala Stadsteater); The Ocean At The End of the Lane (National Theatre/West End/UK Tour); The Great Elephant Chase (Burgtheater, Vienna); Berberian Sound Studio (Donmar Warehouse); The Little Match Girl & Other Happier Tales (Shakespeare’s Globe/Bristol Old Vic); I Want my Hat Back (National Theatre); Wolves Are Coming For You (Pentabus Theatre); This Changes Everything (Tonic Theatre); A Series of Increasingly Impossible Acts (Secret Theatre at the Lyric, Hammersmith).
Sean Holmes | Director
Theatre includes: Pinocchio, Merry Wives of Windsor, Romeo & Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Comedy of Errors, The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Metamorphoses, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry VI (Globe); The Seagull, Terror, Shopping and Fucking, Bugsy Malone, Herons, Secret Theatre Shows 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7, Cinderella, Desire Under the Elms, Morning, Have I None, Saved, Blasted, A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky, Three Sisters, Comedians (Lyric Hammersmith); Ghost Stories (Lyric Hammersmith/Duke of York’s/Liverpool Playhouse/Panasonic Theatre, Toronto/Arts Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lyric Hammersmith/UK Tour/Manchester Royal Exchange/Brisbane Festival/Dublin International Festival); The Plough and the Stars (Abbey Theatre, Dublin/Ireland and US Tour).
Sean was an Associate Director of the Oxford Stage Company (2001 – 2006) and has also worked at the National Theatre, RSC, Tricycle, Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse, Chichester Festival Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Sean is currently Associate Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe. Prior to this, he was the Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith.
Joshua James | Sherlock Holmes
Training: Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Theatre includes: Titus Andronicus, Bringing Up The Bodies, Wolf Hall (RSC); Stranger Things: The First Shadow (Phoenix Theatre); Some Demon (Arcola); Shooting Hedda Gabler (Rose Theatre Kingston); The Vortex, Platonov/The Seagull (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Glass Menagerie (Royal Exchange); Yellowfin (Southwark Playhouse); Anna X (The Vaults); Wife (Kiln Theatre); Lady Windmere’s Fan (Vaudeville Theatre); King Lear, Gabriel, The Tempest (Globe); Life of Galileo (Young Vic); The War Has Not Started Yet (Theatre Royal Plymouth); Here We Go, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Treasure Island (National Theatre); Fathers and Sons (Donmar Warehouse); The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas, No Quarter, Love and Information (Royal Court).
TV includes: Down Cemetery Road (60Forty/Apple TV+); The New Look (Apple); Black Mirror: Demon 79, Black Mirror (Netflix); Andor (Disney+); Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (Birdbox); The Ipcress File, Identity (ITV); Industry, Raised By Wolves (HBO); Life (Drama Republic/BBC); Absentia 2 (Sony); McMafia (BBC/AMC); Utopia (Channel Four); Whites, Silent Witness (BBC).
Film includes: Cyrano, Darkest Hour, Criminal, Summer in February.
A Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production
A LIFE IN FOUR SEASONS
Vivaldi’s masterpiece reimagined in an electric new dance work
Creatives include Will Burton (Casting Director);Tinuke Craig (Created by); Ryan Dawson Laight (Set & Costume Designer); Alexzandra Sarmiento (Choreographer) and DJ Walde (Composition & Arrangements, based on Vivaldi’s original work).
Thursday 11 June – Sunday 14 June 2026
‘Everyone is made to forget their cares and to sing and dance
By the air which is tempered with pleasure.’
Three Friends. One Life. Four Seasons.
Three friends spring across a vibrant city, life is new, exciting and undiscovered. As summer speeds towards them they grasp the metropolis and push, push, push through to autumn. What will be discovered and what will life bring as they reach the depths of winter?
This pulsating new version of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons is created by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Associate Artistic Director Tinuke Craig (Noughts & Crosses; A Raisin in the Sun, UK Tour) with choreography by Alexzandra Sarmiento (Scissorhandz, Southwark Playhouse; 42 Balloons, West End) and a recorded musical score by award-winning composer DJ Walde (The Importance of Being Earnest, National Theatre & West End; Sylvia, Old Vic).
An audacious evening of contemporary dance set to an electric re-working of one of the world’s musical masterpieces.
Supported by The Thistle Trust.
Tinuke Craig | Created by
Training: LAMDA; National Theatre Studio.
For Regent’s Park: Noughts & Crosses (2025).
As Director: A Raisin in the Sun (Headlong Tour); The School for Scandal (Royal Shakespeare Company); The Big Life (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Blue (ENO, London Coliseum); Trouble in Butetown (Donmar Warehouse); Jitney (Leeds Playhouse, Old Vic); Last Easter (Orange Tree Theatre); Crave, random/generations (Chichester Festival Theatre); Hamlet For Young Audiences (Dorfman/National Theatre Tour 2020 and 2022); Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith); Vassa (Almeida Theatre); The Color Purple (Leicester Curve/Birmingham Hippodrome and UK Tour); I Call My Brothers (Gate Theatre); dirty butterfly (Young Vic).
In 2014, Tinuke won the Genesis Future Director Award. She was the Gate’s Associate Director 2015-2016. From 2021-2023 She was Baylis Director at the Old Vic. Tinuke works extensively with Young People and with emerging artists.
A Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
By William Shakespeare
Creatives include Atri Banerjee (Director); Naomi Dawson (Set Designer); Anjali Mehra (Movement Director); Maimuna Memon (Composer); T?mas Palmer (Costume Designer); Joshua Pharo (Lighting Designer); Max Pappenheim (Sound Designer) and Jacob Sparrow (Casting Director).
Saturday 20 June – Saturday 18 July 2026
‘Are you sure
That we are awake? It seems to me
That yet we sleep, we dream.’
When a bitter dispute erupts in the fairy kingdom, four fleeing lovers and an unsuspecting weaver called Bottom find themselves adrift in an enchanted forest, down a path of chaos and delusion conjured by the mischievous Puck.
With desire turned upside down, hearts are won, lost, and won again in a realm of dreams where worlds intertwine and the impossible becomes a distant memory.
In a blissful new production directed by Atri Banerjee (The Glass Menagerie, Royal Exchange; Julius Caesar, RSC), underscored with folk-infused melodies composed by Maimuna Memon (Portia Coughlan, Almeida; The Grapes of Wrath, National Theatre), experience Shakespeare’s most spellbinding comedy as it blossoms once again in our magical outdoor setting.
Atri Banerjee | Director
Training: University of Cambridge (BA in English, MPhil in Medieval & Renaissance Literature); Birkbeck, University of London (MFA in Theatre Directing); National Theatre Directors’ Course.
As Director credits include: Julius Caesar (RSC); Look Back in Anger (Almeida); The Glass Menagerie (Royal Exchange/Rose, Kingston/UK Tour); SHED: EXPLODED VIEW, Hobson’s Choice (Royal Exchange); Britannicus (Lyric Hammersmith); Kes (Octagon, Bolton/Theatre by the Lake); HARM (Bush); Scenes from the Climate Era (Gate); Into the Woods (Bristol Old Vic Theatre School); Europe (LAMDA).
Film includes: HARM (Bush/BBC/Angelica Films); This Room, Now (Gate).
Play translations include: Antigone Power, Carbon, All Saints.
Atri is Artistic Lead at the Gate Theatre. He won The Stage Debut Award for Best Director and was nominated for the UK Theatre Award for Best Director in 2019 for Hobson’s Choice (Royal Exchange), and was awarded a 2022-24 Peter Hall Bursary from the National Theatre. Atri sits on the Boards of the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury and the Regional Theatre Young Directors’ Scheme and was formerly Trainee Director at the Royal Exchange and a Resident Director at the Almeida.
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
with Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals presents
CATS
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
Creatives include Will Burton (Casting Director); Guy Common (Makeup Designer & Supervisor); Sami Fendall (Set, Costume and Wigs Designer); Adam Fisher (Sound Designer); Jessica Hung Han Yun (Lighting Designer); Drew McOnie (Director & Choreographer) and Alex Parker (Musical Supervisor).
Saturday 25 July – Saturday 12 September 2026
‘Another day is dawning.’
From Euston station to Victoria Grove, the strays and rebels of London gather under the Jellicle moon in the hope they’ll be the chosen one. And each of them asks, because each of them dares, who will it be?
With a legendary score featuring Old Deuteronomy, Macavity: The Mystery Cat, The Jellicle Ball and the chart-topping hit Memory, this brand new production of CATS, directed and choreographed by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Artistic Director Drew McOnie (Brigadoon, Jesus Christ Superstar), is sure to be one of the theatrical events of 2026.
By arrangement with LW Entertainment.
Andrew Lloyd Webber | Music
Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed the scores of some of the world’s most famous musicals. His shows have run continuously in London’s West End for 50 years and ran for 43 uninterrupted years on Broadway.
When the original Sunset Boulevard joined School of Rock, CATS, and The Phantom of the Opera he equalled Rodgers & Hammerstein’s record of four shows running simultaneously on Broadway. He is one of the select group of artists with EGOT status, having received Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.
Lloyd Webber owns six London theatres including the iconic London Palladium and Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Reopened in July 2021, the latter was completely restored and renovated at a cost of over ?60 million. This was one of the biggest projects ever undertaken by a private theatre owner in recent times. His mantra is that every penny of profit made from his theatres is ploughed back into the buildings for their conservation and development.
Lloyd Webber is passionate about the importance of musical education and diversity in the arts. Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation provides 30 performing arts scholarships every year for talented students with financial need, and supports a range of projects such as the Music In Secondary Schools Trust (MiSST).
In academic year September 2025 – 2026, 14,885 children are being given free musical tuition and instruments as part of MiSST’s Andrew Lloyd Webber Programme. The Foundation also commissions research into diversity in theatre.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has composed music for globally significant moments. Most recently, he was asked to compose “Make a Joyful Noise”, the anthem for the Coronation of King Charles III.
Andrew Lloyd Webber was knighted in 1992, created an honorary life peer in 1997, and made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter by King Charles III in 2024. He is the only person in the arts ever granted this personal honour by a monarch.
Drew McOnie | Director & Choreographer
For Regent’s Park as Director/Choreographer: Brigadoon, On The Town (Director & Choreographer); Jesus Christ Superstar, Carousel (Choreographer).
For McOnie Company: The Artist (Theatre Royal Plymouth – UK Theatre Award Winner for Best Direction); Nutcracker (Southbank Centre – National Dance Award Winner for Best Independent Company); Jekyll and Hyde (Old Vic Theatre – Broadway World Award Winner for Outstanding Achievement in Dance); DRUNK (Bridewell Theatre); Making Midnight (Jermyn Street Theatre/Latitude Festival).
As Director/Choreographer: King Kong (Broadway Theatre – Broadway); Strictly Ballroom (Piccadilly Theatre – West End – What’s On Stage Award Nominee, Best Theatre Choreography); The Wild Party (The Other Palace); Torch Song Trilogy (Turbine Theatre).
As Choreographer: In the Heights (Southwark Playhouse/Kings Cross Theatre – Olivier Award and Offie Award Winner for Best Theatre Choreography); Hairspray (Broadway World Award Winner for Best Theatre Choreography); Oklahoma (UK National Tour); Bugsy Malone (Lyric Hammersmith/UK National Tour); The Lorax (Old Vic Theatre); Sound of Music, Chicago (Curve Leicester).
Film includes: Greatest Days – The Official Take That Movie (Choreographer).
Ballet includes: Merlin (Northern Ballet – National Tour); XYZ (Classical Creative Project); Little Red (NYB, Hackney Empire); Old Man of Lochnagar (NYB, Sadler’s Wells).
Drew McOnie became the Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in January 2024. He is also the Artistic Director of The McOnie Company and a proud Associate Artist of The Old Vic Theatre.
A Unicorn Theatre and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production
ANANSI THE SPIDER
By Justin Audibert
Creatives include Robin Belfield (Director).
Saturday 15 August – Sunday 6 September 2026
The Greatest Tales Ever Spun.
People say that in a time long, long ago, animals walked on two feet and spoke with words, like we do. And back then, everyone knew that the cleverest of all the animals in the kingdom was a spider – the infamous Anansi – the original trickster and the master spinner of yarns.
But sometimes Anansi could be a little too clever for his own good…
Following sold-out runs at the Unicorn Theatre in 2023 and 2025, these classic West African and Caribbean folk tales about the mischievous spider who triumphs over larger foes are brought vividly to life by Unicorn Associate Director Robin Belfield.
Originally produced by the Unicorn Theatre and Birmingham Rep in 2025/2026
BOX OFFICE INFORMATION
Box Office 0333 400 3562* | openairtheatre.com
Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4NU
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