Curtains Up Leeds: May 2026 Theatre Preview

Leeds Theatre Preview.

Now this must be a first! We begin the May run-down at Leeds Grand Theatre with no carry-overs. It’s good to have a fresh start, as I don’t like repeating myself – I said I don’t like repeating myself. We also have four full-week runs and the range could hardly be wider.

Leeds Grand Theatre, May 2026

The first show is Here and Now: The Steps Musical, which runs from 5th to 10th May. It is not the story of the band but a show based on their music, so expect turn-of-the-century bangers and a lot of, erm, steps.

The mood changes completely from 11th to 16th with 2:22 A Ghost Story, a tale of two couples who disagree over whether people can disappear and return. They are obviously not Steps fans or they would know.

19th to 23rd May sees the return of The Shawshank Redemption, another change of step, being set in a maximum security prison where Andy Dufresne has been given two life sentences for murdering his wife and her lover. He is no doubt hoping that there is no return to life after death or he would have to serve them both.

The Karate Kid: The Musical winds up the month from 26th to 30th May, with its coming-of-age theme about intergenerational bonds and how martial arts are not about violence as much as self-control.

More details and tickets are available at the Heritage Theatre website, but step lively.

Leeds Playhouse, May 2026

Leeds Playhouse does have a straddler in I, Daniel Blake, which continues its run until 9th May, after which they have a couple more dance productions. I promise no more mention of steps.

6th May sees the return of VERVE: Triple Bill, from Northern School of Contemporary Dance. This annual event, comprising three dances – obvs – from choreographers from around the world, is always well worth a look.

From a dance company that performs regularly at Leeds Playhouse, we have a first-timer on 8th May: Ballet Black, as they are celebrating their 25th Anniversary, obviously wanted to come to somewhere special. This is a double bill featuring Ingoma, about the 1946 South African Miners’ Strike, a precursor to the anti-apartheid movement. The second seems to be untitled but was created to celebrate the Golden Anniversary.

And now for something completely different. At various times on 15th and 16th May, we have A Squash and a Squeeze, a musical adaptation of the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. It is about a lonely old lady who fills her cottage with farmyard animals for company. I hope she has a decent shovel! Fortunately, they will be represented by puppets here.

Talking about a squash and a squeeze, I am sure that you will be able to order a diluted orange drink with a touch of fresh lemon juice at Our Public House, which runs from 15th to 23rd May. After a community decided that they would all spoil their ballots in an election, the residents are in the local, whilst chaos reigns outside. The conversation and behaviour will probably get more extreme as the evening wears on.

I doubt there will be any alcohol-fuelled rantings at Malory Towers from 27th to 30th May, as it is set in a girls’ school, although it seems that new girl, Darrell Rivers, has no need of an illicit vodka slipped into her bottle of Fanta to kick off! The play is based on the works of Enid Blyton so there will be lots of super japes and jolly fine adventures.

28th May to 6th June sees The Perfect Show For Rachel, and if its good enough for her, it is bound to be just right for us. Rachel is a 35 year-old learning-disabled woman who loves Kylie and chaos, don’t we all. Her sister just happens to be an award-winning theatre director who decides to stage –  you guessed it – the perfect show for Rachel! The show will be different every night depending on the whims of the eponymous heroine, but the blurb on the website suggest it will be funny, if not subtle. 

You might want to give this next show at Leeds Playhouse a miss, although you might be doubly eager to see it. Makebeth from 27th to 30th May, comprises live music, puppetry and hands-on creativity with cardboard, which you have probably worked out is a take on The Scottish Play by William Shakespeare. The characters and events are brought to life by cardboard creations. The opening cryptic sentence is there because this work has been on tour around the environs of Leeds since 19th May and will, no pun on the author intended, continue to do so until 5th June, so you might already have caught it at one of the community venues. To show that this tour has not been thrown together, it opened at, where else, Shakespeare Primary School, Burmantofts.  For details of the shows at Leeds Playhouse and the venues on the Makebeth tour, go to their website.

Carriageworks Theatre, May 2026

We go from no overlaps at Leeds Grand and one at Leeds Playhouse to two at Carriageworks, which are Sunday In The Park With George and 1984, both running until 2nd May.

The first new one sounds like a bit of a drag, being Kate Butch: Choose Your Own Cabaret. You pick the jokes and the songs, but not your nose please. It is for one night only on 6th May.

20th to 23rd May sees Cosmopolitan Players, members of Leeds Community Arts Network, stage their latest work, Yarn Bombers by Keith Burton. The residents of a local care home decide to yarn bomb the Mayor’s Tour de Ridings cycling event to protest about its proposed closure. Anyone who tells you that they don’t stand a chance is just pulling the wool over your eyes. 

Should dinosaurs be your thing, I’m your man, because I am one. On 26th May some of my mates will feature in Dinosaurs Live! Presented by the Natural History Museum who are taking us on a prehistoric tour to see dinosaurs come to life on stage. I will be getting in touch with my agent to see why I have not been booked for the gig.

Colosseum of Chaos takes the stage on 27th May with an interactive, family-friendly show, suitable for 5+ who enjoy physical comedy and audience participation. Expect all kinds of mayhem triggered by an on-stage Amazon Alexa. 

I have a suspicion that people are getting a bit indecisive at Carriageworks, although I can’t make up my mind about that, as on 28th and 29th May we have You Choose where, like the fragrant Kate Butch, it is the audience who decides the content of the show. This again means that no two performances will be the same – mind you I have seen a lot of scripted shows where that happened! This is a musical with the obligatory games and challenges so, go on, give them a bit of a hand. 

Full details of Carriageworks productions are here.

Northern Ballet at Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre

One last item on the agenda is Three Short Ballets from Northern Ballet at Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, which are performed from 30th April to 2nd May. This is a great way to introduce yourself to the genre if you haven’t tried it before – watching, not performing – as there are obviously three short ballets in an intimate venue so you can appreciate the skill which goes into the performances up close and personal. Click here to get full details.

So, that is May sorted, then. I hope you enjoy whatever you go to see and, should you be bored enough to want to know what I thought of the ones I saw, please head to Tyke it to the limit.