A new era at Leeds Playhouse: Tom Wright unveils his first season

From August Wilson to a brand-new Grinch musical, the new Artistic Director’s inaugural programme runs September 2026 through summer 2027, and the message is clear: leading from Leeds.

When a major producing theatre changes hands, the first season is a manifesto. Tom Wright’s debut programme as Artistic Director of Leeds Playhouse, announced this week, is a confident one — eight productions across the Quarry and Courtyard theatres, four directors making their Quarry debuts, and a thread of Leeds-rooted talent running through almost every show.

Wright, who joins from Kiln Theatre via a stint as Head of Artist Development at The Old Vic, frames the season around a simple proposition: “theatre should entertain and challenge in equal measure, and speak directly to the world we’re living in.” On the evidence of what he’s programmed, he means it.

The opener is a statement

Things kick off in September 2026 with August Wilson’s Fences, directed by Daniel Bailey (whose Red Pitch moved from Bush to the West End in short order). It’s a co-production with Headlong, Lyric Hammersmith and HOME Manchester — the kind of partnership stack that signals the Playhouse intends to play at scale, both nationally and locally.

October brings Peanut Butter & Blueberries, written by Leeds playwright and former Playhouse Writer-in-Residence Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan. Based on the sell-out 2024 Kiln production and directed by Sameena Hussain, it’s the season’s most direct nod to the city’s own writing talent.

A blockbuster Christmas

The festive slot is the season’s headline-grabber. Dr. Seuss’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical — fresh from Broadway, directed by Wright himself — runs from 19 November through 16 January. It’s a brand-new UK production, and it gives the new AD a commercial calling card in his first winter.

Into 2027, the programme broadens. A fresh Romeo & Juliet lands in the Quarry in March, followed almost immediately in the Courtyard by Sirens, a new play written and directed by Wright, in association with Belgrade Theatre. Wright describes it as “warm, tense and deeply human”; it’s also the first chance audiences will get to see what the new AD writes, not just what he programmes.

Spring brings a co-production of The Secret Garden with Theatr Clwyd, adapted by Linda Marshall Griffiths and directed by Olivier-nominated Amy Leach. May sees Leeds-born Jeff James make his Quarry debut with a new Frankenstein — adapted to interrogate AI, creation, and what humanity owes the things it builds. The season closes with Associate Artistic Director Jamie Sophia Fletcher directing Little Shop of Horrors in the Quarry from late June, her first Playhouse-produced work in the main house.

Beyond the stage

Alongside the productions, the Playhouse is expanding its Furnace artist development programme, including a new entry-level writing scheme for first-time playwrights and a dedicated emerging writers’ strand for Leeds-based artists. The wider Playhouse Connect programme — running through People’s Playhouse, Playhouse Ensembles and Furnace — keeps the theatre’s community work front and centre.

Chief Executive Shawab Iqbal is unambiguous about the ambition: “We are not just presenting theatre, we are a national cultural institution, and we are leading from Leeds.”

It’s a phrase that sums up the season as a whole. Big titles, big partnerships, and a programme that consistently puts Leeds writers, directors and stories on national stages — without ever pretending to be anywhere other than where it is.