Curtains Up Leeds: July 2026 Theatre Preview

William Shakespeare coined the phrase in Hamlet, the play wot he wrote, ‘Brevity is the soul of wit’. If he is correct, and he usually is, my previews for July and August should be absolutely hilarious. Alright, they should be hilarious every month, but you can’t have everything.

Starting as usual at Leeds Grand Theatre, the month belongs to Opera North with their production of The Sound Of Music, which runs from 9th July until 1st August. Who better is there to provide the sound of music than the singers and orchestra of Opera North? Unsurprisingly, tickets are in limited supply already so you need to get a wiggle on. This is presented as a musical rather than grand opera, but it is bound to be spectacular as the full 40-piece Orchestra of Opera North is doing the honours with Opera North regular singers and the Chorus of Opera North providing the vocals and acting. It could even end up being one of your favourite things. For more details and to book, head to the website.

At Leeds Playhouse, Brassed Off continues its run until 11th July after which there is a hiatus throughout the rest of July and August. I have seen it and can highly recommend you do too. Please see Tyke it to the limit, for a full review. Bookings and a trailer are on their website.

Carriageworks is similarly affected by the holiday season with just two productions. The first is Twelve Dancing Princesses, presented by Yorkshire Theatre Ballet, from 2nd to 4th July. It is a family event for those aged 4+ which, although running for 2 hours 45 minutes, has two intervals so is served in manageable bite-size chunks. The plot concerns a grieving King and a scheming, power-hungry Duchess, so you know things will begin on a dark note. Fear not, however, as Princess Genevieve and her eleven sisters go through a secret doorway to a magical Kingdom which their late mother once dreamed of. They meet a kind cobbler, obviously a sole trader, who helps them outwit the Duchess and bring joy to their homeland. Details here. 

The second is also aimed at the younger end, this time 8+, and is called BFF. It tells of the friendship between Chloe and Sophie, which begins on their first day at school. It is a one-woman show in three parts: a monologue to the audience, social media posts and then an interactive game played with the audience. I just hope that the younger end are still allowed to use their devices on 18th July, when it is staged. I doubt there will be time to get up to much mischief as the running time is at the opposite end of the scale to the ballet, being 50 minutes with no interval. Details are on their website.  This show is part of the Yorkshire Fringe which runs in various parts of God’s Own County from 11th to 19th July. 

So, if you have stopped rolling around the floor in hysterical laughter, get yourself booked into one or all of the shows. You might also wish to prepare yourself for the side-splitting August preview.