JERMYN STREET THEATRE ANNOUNCES
FULL PROGRAMMING FOR
SPRING 2026 SEASON
ALSO ANNOUNCED, NEARLY 30% OF TICKETS UNDER £26
Highlights include
Jerome Kilty’s Dear Liar, directed by Artistic Director Stella Powell-Jones
World premiere of Flora Wilson Brown’s new adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s The Waves, directed by Júlia Levai
Revival of Lyle Kessler’s Orphans, starring Forbes Masson, Chris WalleyandFred Woodley Evans
One-night performance of The Greeks, featuring BAFTA Award-winning Siân Phillips
A new production of Teresa Deevy’s Wife to James Whelan, presented in partnership with Mint Theater Company
With the world premiere of Katherine Moar’s Ragdollbreaking box office records, and the new adaptation of David Copperfield in rehearsals, Jermyn Street Theatre’s Artistic Director Stella Powell-Jones, Co-Artistic Director and Executive Producer David Doyle, and Executive Director Penny Horner, today announce full programming for the 2026 Spring season – with five plays, including one world premiere and two major revivals. There will also be a series of one-night wonders including Sian Phillips’ The Greeks, a series of Kenneth Williams performances – Kenneth Williams: A Centenary Celebration and Cult Figure: Kenneth Williams -and An Afternoon with Tony Robinson.
The Spring season opens with a revival of Lyle Kessler’s Tony Award-nominated modern classic Orphans, set in 1983 Philadelphia, where two isolated brothers’ lives are upended by a mysterious stranger. The production stars Forbes Masson (Farm Hall, Laughing Boy), Olivier Award-winner Chris Walley, and Fred Woodley Evans (Outlying Islands), and is directed by former Carne Deputy Director Al Miller. This is followed by Dear Liar – directed by Artistic Director Stella Powell-Jones.A witty, moving illustration of the complex 40-year relationship between George Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Dear Liar is adapted by Jerome Kilty from their original correspondence.
Arriving from its sold-out 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe run, Emma Howlett’s Aether– blending science, faith and magic -which was previously a one-week engagement at Jermyn Street Theatre, has now been extended due to popular demand by two weeks, running until 4 April 2026. The season continues with The Waves. Playwright Flora Wilson Brown and director Júlia Levai collaborate to reveal the ultimate coming of age story in Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece. It concludes with a new production of Teresa Deevy’s Wife to James Whelan, a timeless story of love and pride, directed by Jonathan Bank, which reintroduces Ireland’s forgotten genius to London audiences.
Artistic Director Stella Powell-Jones and Co-Artistic Director and Executive Producer David Doyle said today, “What makes Jermyn Street Theatre such an exciting place to run is its power to surprise. It’s baked into the very walls — you don’t expect the intimacy of 70 seats in the heart of the West End.
Today we’re delighted to announce a new season that celebrates that thrill of unexpected meetings: between new voices and the canon, rising stars and the legends who inspired them, forgotten plays and audiences ready to discover them anew.
This year, half of our audiences were first time visitors. And with nearly 30% of tickets at £26 or less – plus relaxed and captioned performances – we can’t wait for more people to discover what’s in store at 16b Jermyn Street.”
Tickets are on-sale from today and are available via this link: www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk.
Instagram: @JermynStreetTheatre
Jermyn Street Theatre presents
ORPHANS
By Lyle Kessler
5 – 24 January 2026
Cast: Forbes Masson (Harold), Chris Walley (Treat), Fred Woodley Evans (Phillip)
Director: Al Miller; Set and Costume Designer: Sarah Beaton; Lighting Designer: Simeon Miller; Composer and Sound Designer: Donato Wharton
Philadelphia, 1983. Twenty-eight year old Phillip hasn’t stepped outside in years – surviving on canned tuna, encyclopedias, and his own wild theories about the dangers beyond the door. His older brother Treat runs his world with rules and rituals to keep them safe, bringing home whatever he can steal. Then, one night, Treat drags in Harold, a stranger stuffed with cash and soaked in whiskey. The perfect target… or so it looks. By morning, nothing will be the same.
Lyle Kessler is a playwright, screenwriter and actor. His other playwriting credits include The Watering Place, Perp, House on Fire, Robbers, Unlisted, Burning Bright (winner of the New York State Council on the Arts Playwright Award), The Family Circle, The Engagement, and The Viewing. His work for screen includes Orphans, The Saint of Fort Washington, Gladiator, and Touched.
Forbes Masson plays Harold. He returns to Jermyn Street Theatre following his roles in Laughing Boy and Farm Hall (also Theatre Royal Haymarket and UK tour). His other theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Jekyll and Hyde, Rebus: A Game Called Malice (UK tours), Newsies (Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre), The Taxidermist’s Daughter (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Magician’s Elephant, The Boy in the Dress, The Taming of the Shrew (RSC), Bartholomew Fair, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Boudica (Shakespeare’s Globe), Summer and Smoke (Almeida Theatre and Duke of York’s Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Big Fish (The Other Palace), Terror (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre), Travesties (Menier Chocolate Factory and Apollo Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre Royal Bath), Doctor Faustus (Duke of York’s Theatre), Mr Foote’s Other Leg (Hampstead Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Ruling Class, Richard III, Macbeth (Trafalgar Theatre). His television credits include The High Life (as series regular Steve McCracken), The Crown, The Marlowe Sessions, As You Like It, Royal Mob, Crime, Father Brown, Catastrophe, Shetland: Dead Water, My Life Story, No Holds Bard, Monarch of the Glen, Supergirly, The Young Person’s Guide to Becoming a Rock Star, and Only Child; and for film, The Road Dance.
Chris Walley plays Treat. His theatre credits include Juno and the Paycock (Gielgud Theatre), The Sugar Wife (Abbey Theatre), and The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Noel Coward Theatre – Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role). His television credits include The Young Offenders (as series regular Jock Murphy), Bloodlands, and Bodkin; and for film, The Young Offenders, Pixie, 1917, Unwelcome, Lies We Tell, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter.
Fred Woodley Evans plays Phillip. Hereturns to Jermyn Street Theatre following his debut performance in Outlying Islands. He is currently starring as John Darling in the RSC’s production of Wendy & Peter Pan at the Barbican Centre. Woodley Evans will also appear in the upcoming season of Bridgerton. He graduated with BA Acting from RADA in 2024.
Al Miller directs. He is the former Carne Deputy Director of Jermyn Street Theatre. As Assistant and Associate Director, his credits include The Hobbit, Cinderella (Oxford Playhouse), and Bon Ami (Battersea Arts Centre, Unicorn Theatre and UK tour).
Jermyn Street Theatre presents
DEAR LIAR
Adapted for the stage by Jerome Kilty
from the correspondence of Bernard Shaw and Mrs Patrick Campbell5 February – 7 March 2026
Director: Stella Powell-Jones; Set and Costume Designer: Tom Paris; Lighting Designer:
Chris McDonnell; Composer and Sound Designer: Harry Blake; Associate Director and Movement Director: Elliot Pritchard
1940. The Germans advance on Paris. A case stuffed with letters is smuggled to London.
Inside, a remarkable story about – and by – two remarkable people: the brilliant actress ‘Mrs Pat’ and George Bernard Shaw. They met in 1899. They made Pygmalion. World Wars started and stopped, and started again. They fell in love. They fell apart. And through it all… they wrote.
Jerome Kilty’s play reveals the extraordinary bond between these two theatrical titans. In their witty, unfiltered words, attraction collides with ambition as the world transforms around them. A play about how we change — and what we hold on to.
Jerome Kilty was an actor and playwright whose work spans stage and screen across the US and internationally. As a playwright, his notable works include Dear Liar, Dear Love, The Ideas of March, The Little Black Book, and Look Away. As an actor, he appeared with companies including the American Repertory Theater and the Opera Company of Boston.
Stella Powell-Jones directs. She is the current Artistic Director of Jermyn Street Theatre. For Jermyn Street Theatre, her directing credits include Eurydice, Little Brother, Owners, Orlando, Parents Evening, The Play About My Dad, and Tomorrow at Noon. Further directing credits include This Is Our Youth (Playground Theatre), The Healing (Theater Breaking Through Barriers, NYC), The Mystery of Love and Sex (Signature Theatre, Washington DC), Trevor (Circle X Theatre, Los Angeles); and as Associate Director, Escaped Alone (Royal Court and International Tour), and The Father (West End/National tour). Stella has also developed work with The Kennedy Center, The Huntington Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, New York Stage & Film, Playwrights Realm and Primary Stages.
Jermyn Street Theatre presents the TheatreGoose production of
AETHER
Written and Directed by Emma Howlett
16 March – 4 April 2026
Cast: Gemma Barnett, Sophie Kean, Anna Marks Pryce, Abby McCann
Set and Costume Designer: Ellie Wintour; Lighting Designer: Ed Saunders; Composer and Sound Designer: Sarah Spencer; Dramaturg: Sophie Kean
A PhD student hunting dark matter collides with:
- A disillusioned illusionist
- A teenage medium with a secret
- A murdered mathematician
- A trail-blazing astronomer
Together, they investigate the greatest unsolved mystery of the universe. Aether explores physics, faith, and magic in rich theatrical spectacle to uncover humanity’s insatiable fascination with the unknown.
Emma Howlett is a writer and director. As Artistic Director of TheatreGoose, she has written and directed Her Green Hell, Sisters Three, and Aether (winner of The Fringe Five Award). Her other directing work includes Grounded (The Bridge Theatre, Brussels), Enron (Oxford Playhouse), and Copenhagen (Theatre Royal Bath); as Associate Director, Farm Hall (UK tour), and as Assistant Director, A View from the Bridge (Theatre Royal Bath and West End). Howlett is a member of the Royal Court Writers’ Group, a recipient of the New Theatre Writing Residency from the Hugo Burge Foundation and the Lustrum Award, and is currently adapting her full-length play Bumps into a feature film.
Gemma Barnett’s theatre credits include Revenge: After the Levoyah (The Yard Theatre, Soho Theatre and Edinburgh Festival Fringe), The Invincibles (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch), The Beach House (Park Theatre), Crimea 5AM (Kiln Theatre), Dido’s Bar (Dash Arts), Agatha (Pleasance Theatre, London), Dr Korczak’s Example (Leeds Playhouse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare in the Squares), A Hundred Words for Snow (Trafalgar Theatre – Best Solo Performance OffWest End Award), and Lola (VAULT Festival). Her film credits include Please Carry On, Preggo, Bridge, I Killed Them When They Came for My Kid, and Miss.
Sophie Kean’s theatre credits include Sisters Three, Her Green Hell (UK tours), and Scenes for John (National Theatre Studio). Kean graduated from Rose Bruford College in 2024.
Anna Marks Pryce’s theatre credits include 4 Girls the First Letter E (King’s Head Theatre), Fairytale Ending (‘A Word After A Word After A Word’) (Union Theatre), The Creature, The Snow Queen (Rose Theatre Kingston), and It’s Ok, I Still Think You’re Great (Baron’s Court Theatre).
Abby McCann’s theatre credits include Sisters Three (UK tour), Looking for Giants (King’s Head Theatre), Short Pleasures Long Woes (Omnibus Theatre), Thas’ a Rummun! (Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft), Peter and the Wolf (Waterperry Opera Festival), If We Ended This (Camden People’s Theatre), and Enron (Oxford Playhouse).
Jermyn Street Theatre presents
THE WAVES
Written by Virginia Woolf
Adapted by Flora Wilson Brown
16 April – 23 May 2026
Director: Júlia Levai; Set Designer: Tomás Palmer; Lighting Designer: Lucía Sánchez Roldán
Rhoda. Bernard. Susan. Neville. Jinny. Louis.
They begin by the coast. Then, school. Youth. Forming. Swelling. Terror. Joy. Working. Falling. Fame. Grief. Alone. Together.
The Waves is a tender, thrilling story about growing up together. Major new talents Flora Wilson Brown and Júlia Levai unite to bring Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece to heart-thumping life.
Flora Wilson Brown is a writer and dramaturg – she returns to Jermyn Street Theatre following The Beautiful Future Is Coming (also Bristol Old Vic and Traverse Theatre). Her plays include I Know I Know I Know (Southwark Playhouse), and Viking (Underbelly, Edinburgh Festival Fringe). As a dramaturg, she has worked on projects at the Edinburgh Fringe, the RSC, and the Orange Tree Theatre.
Júlia Levai directs. Her directing credits include Petty Men (Arcola Theatre), Radiant Boy, Smoke (Southwark Playhouse), We’ll Be Who We Are (VAULT Festival), Northern Girls (Pilot Theatre),Did I Wake You? (Young Vic as part of ‘Five Plays’), The Prince of Homburg (The Space) and There Has Possibly Been an Incident (Blue Elephant Theatre). Her assistant and associate directing credits includeThe Land of The Living, Coriolanus, Dear Octopus (National Theatre), Hope Has a Happy Meal (Royal Court Theatre), All’s Well That Ends Well (RSC), L’Illusion Comique (National Theatre in Belgrade, Serbia) and Nora: A Doll’s House (Young Vic). Levai is an MGCfutures bursary recipient and was previously Director in Residence at the National Theatre in Belgrade, Serbia.
Jermyn Street Theatre and Mint Theater present
WIFE TO JAMES WHELAN
Written by Teresa Deevy
25 June – 25 July 2026
Director: Jonathan Bank; Casting Director: Sarah Jones CDG
1937, a small Irish town. Up a sunlit hill, Nan Bowers and her friends are waiting to hear which local lad has won a life-changing job in Dublin. James Whelan shows up triumphant and ready to celebrate with his sweetheart, Nan, only to be blindsided by news of her own departure. Seven years later, they’re both back home. Will they get a second chance at first love?
Teresa Deevy was at the height of her fame when the Abbey Theatre rejected Wife to James Whelan amid the growing conservative backlash of the 1930s. In 2026, Mint Theater’s Jonathan Bank reintroduces Ireland’s forgotten genius with this timeless play that pits love against pride.
Teresa Deevy was an Irish dramatist and writer whose plays were celebrated in early 20th-century theatre. Her works include Katie Roche, A Disciple, Temporal Powers, The King of Spain’s Daughter, Reapers, The Wild Goose – all staged at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. Among her other works are Wife to James Whelan, In Search of Valour, and Light Falling. Many of Deevy’s plays were adapted for radio: both The King of Spain’s Daughter and Wife to James Whelan were broadcast on the BBC, while Within a Marble City won first prize in the Radio Éireann drama competition of 1948.Jonathan Bank directs. As Artistic Director of Mint Theater Company his directing credits include Katie Roche, Temporal Powers and Wife to James Whelan (all Teresa Deevy’s plays), The Suitcase Under the Bed, Yours Unfaithfully, The New Morality, Mary Broome, So Help Me God!, Is Life Worth Living?, The Fifth Column, The Return of the Prodigal, and Susan and God. Other directing credits include Ivanov, Body, The Double Bass, Three Days of Rain (Miniature Theater of Chester), The Heiress, Hobson’s Choice, Candida, and Mr Pim Passes By (Peterborough Players).
ONE-NIGHT WONDERS:
AN AFTERNOON WITH TONY ROBINSON
7 December 2025, 3pm
Tony Robinson has delighted audiences for more than forty years, from his iconic role as Baldrick in Blackadder to over 20 seasons at the helm of Channel 4’s Time Team, and now with his debut novel The House of Wolf. Join him for a fascinating afternoon of conversation about his life, career, and writing.
One of the country’s most recognisable faces of popular history, he has written a novel inspired by one of the periods that has captivated him the most. The House of Wolf is the first in a new historical series spanning the Anglo-Saxons, Alfred the Great and the making of England.
The conversation will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.
KENNETH WILLIAMS: A CENTENARY CELEBRATION
22 February 2026, 1pm
Comedy icon Kenneth Williams‘ performances left an indelible mark on national culture. Join Mark Farrelly, Simon Cartwright, and Russell Davies to celebrate the centenary of his birth with sketches from his most iconic work and extracts from his diaries.
Jermyn Street Theatre presents the Apollo Theatre Company Production of
CULT FIGURE: KENNETH WILLIAMS
22 February 2026, 7:30pm
Kenneth Williams was one of the most unique and beloved figures in British comedy history. From show-stealing performances on the radio in Hancock’s Half Hour and Round the Horne and over twenty years of starring in the Carry On films to becoming the darling of the chat shows, Williams was a rare talent who could turn from broad slapstick to erudite wit in a split second. On the centenary of Kenneth Williams’ birth, celebrated actor and impressionist Colin Elmer, who played him in the UK tours of Round the Horne and Hancock’s Half Hour, reprises his role in this new production, telling the great man’s story in his own words, using anecdotes, writings and some of the material for which the comedy legend was so well-known.
SIÂN PHILLIPS: THE GREEKS
Written and Directed by David Stuttard
Sunday 1 March at 3pm and 5pm
Cast: Siân Phillips, Rachel Donovan, Robert Powell
BAFTA award-winning Siân Phillips leads audiences on a captivating journey through the drama, wit, and spirit of Ancient Greece, in two performances presented together for the first time.
In Women & Troy, she is joined by Rachel Donovan (The Crown, Call the Midwife) as they delve into war-torn Troy and the story of the women who inhabit it. From Queen Hecuba and her prophetess-daughter Cassandra to Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, what emerges is an intense story full of passion and humour.
In It’s All Greek, she joins Robert Powell (Jesus of Nazareth)to give voice to timeless tales of love, laughter, and betrayal. Whatever life brings us, the ancient Greeks have the right words for it. As they navigate through youthful high jinks, adult chaos, and the preoccupations of old age, their wit and wisdom are a road map for our modern age.
Directed by David Stuttard, Siân Phillips: The Greeks brings myth to life with rare insight, passion, and grace, and reminds us why these ancient voices still speak so clearly today.
Women & Troy will be performed at 3pm and It’s All Greek at 5pm.
LISTINGS
JERMYN STREET THEATRE
16B Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6ST
Box Office: 020 7287 2875
www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
RAGDOLL
Until 15 November 2025Monday – Saturday, 7:30pm
3pm matinees on Tuesdays and Saturdays
Relaxed Performance: Tuesday 4 November at 3pm
Captioned Performance: Wednesday 5 November at 7:30pm
Tickets from £18
DAVID COPPERFIELD
20 November – 20 December
Monday – Saturday, 7:30pm
3pm matinees on Tuesdays and Saturdays
Relaxed Performance: Wednesday 10 December at 7:30pm
Captioned Performance: Wednesday 17 December at 7:30pm
Tickets from £18
ORPHANS
5 – 24 January 2026
Monday – Saturday, 7:30pm
3pm matinees on Tuesdays and Saturdays
Relaxed Performance: Thursday 22 January at 7:30pm
Tickets from £18
DEAR LIAR
5 February – 7 March 2026
Monday – Saturday, 7:30pm
3pm matinees on Tuesdays and Saturdays
Relaxed Performances: Tuesday 17 February at 3pm & Thursday 26 February at 7:30pm
Captioned Performance: Monday 23 February at 7:30pm
Tickets from £18
AETHER
16 March – 4 April 2026
Monday – Saturday, 7:30pm
3pm matinees on Tuesday and Saturday
Tickets from £22
THE WAVES
16 April – 23 May 2026
Monday – Saturday, 7:30pm
3pm matinees on Tuesdays and Saturdays
Relaxed Performances: Thursday 30 April at 7:30pm & Tuesday 12 May at 3pm
Captioned Performance: Monday 11 May at 7:30pm
Tickets from £18
WIFE TO JAMES WHELAN
25 June – 25 July 2026
Monday – Saturday, 7:30pm
3pm matinees on Tuesdays and Saturdays
Relaxed Performances: Tuesday 7 July at 3pm & Thursday 16 July at 7:30pm
Captioned Performance: Monday 13 July at 7:30pm
Tickets from £18
ONE-NIGHT WONDERS:
AN AFTERNOON WITH TONY ROBINSON
7 December 2025, 3pm
KENNETH WILLIAMS: A CENTENARY CELEBRATION
22 February 2026, 1pm
CULT FIGURE: KENNETH WILLIAMS
22 February 2026, 7:30pm
SIÂN PHILLIPS: THE GREEKS
Sunday 1 March 2026, 3pm and 5pm