Curtains Up Leeds: October 2026 Theatre Preview

October, as its name suggests, is the eighth month, or at least it was until the Romans messed about with the calendar in 153BCE  and moved January and February from the end of the year to the beginning. I give you that piece of useless information as, over the years, I have exhausted all the references to Hallowe’en and putting the clocks back an hour, so needed somewhere else to start.

There is an amazing plethora of big names in the city this month beginning at Leeds Grand Theatre, which is being taken over by Opera North whose 2026/27 Season starts by staging a couple of classics.

Eugene Onegin, by Tchaikovsky, runs from 9th to 29th October. It is the story of Tatyana, a young woman who is besotted by a cynical man of the world, you guessed it, Eugene Onegin. Things don’t go to plan until many years later when they meet again and, although their circumstances have changed, Onegin realises that he has always loved Tatyana. This is opera so you know it is not going to end well. 

The second piece, from 18th to 31st  October, is Verdi’s Rigoletto, which stars one of the biggest names in opera, Sir Willard White, as Count Monterone. Rigoletto is a courtier and jester by profession, but a loving father in private. When a conflict of interests arises, he must struggle to shake off a curse. I saw this when it was last performed here and it is well worth a watch. A good one to chose for your first visit. For more details, excerpts and booking, please head to their website where you can see what else ON is up to.

From big names in the opera, Leeds Playhouse gives us big names in general with the Leeds International Festival Ideas 2026. It spans 6th to 10th October and features the now familiar format of panel discussions and fireside chats, some of which have already sold out and others with limited availability so get your skates – and thinking cap – on.

There are the likes of Louis Theroux, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Chris Packham, Denise van Outen and Tim Minchin to name but a few, chewing the fat in sessions titled Creativity Among The Chaos, The Planet Hasn’t Stopped Burning, How Do We Talk About Suicide? and Strength Beyond The Silence.  A full programme is available here. 

In more conventional theatrical vein, 15th to 17th October sees Leeds Conservatoire in connection with Leeds Playhouse present The Odyssey, possibly not quite on the scale of the recent blockbuster film of the same name, but a retelling of Homer’s work with contemporary humour and irreverence. 

Brighton ’84 runs in Bramall Rock Void on the same dates and is a two-hander set in The Grand Hotel, Brighton on the night the IRA planted a bomb in the premises with a view to assassinating Margaret Thatcher. Two men, who have nothing to do with either the Conservative Party Conference or the terrorists, are in a room at the other end of the building discussing various aspects of life. The only connection with the explosion is that it brings their soul searching to an abrupt end and reveals their true selves. I saw this play a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. See my review. 

Back to the big names, with Martin Shaw starring in A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt. It tells of the dilemma of Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor and friend of Henry VIII, who has to make a decision which puts his loyalty and conscience at odds with each other; he opts for the one which costs him the ultimate price. It runs from 20th to 24th October.

From 22nd October to 7th November we have Peanut Butter & Blueberries, no, not the last meal of Elvis Presley, but a tale of young love between two youngsters, Hafsah and Bilal, who have just moved separately to London from Bradford and Birmingham to start university. They need to come to terms with the pressures of the big wide world and do so with laughter and tears. It is by Leeds playwright and poet, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan and is a Leeds Playhouse production.

Close Enough To Touch is described as ‘A play about sex, heartbreak and toilets.’ Attend at your convenience. It looks at our public and private selves examining hidden desires and deep secrets. It is a Red Ladder and Silent Uproar production playing on 23rd and 24th October. 

The month ends on a much lighter note with Rapunzel on 30th and 31st. It is aimed at the age range 4+ and tells the tale of the eponymous girl whose hair is chopped off and sold by a wicked witch. She needs to come up with a cunning plan to escape. There is music, comedy and magic but no Head and Shoulders in sight. 

Full details of Leeds Playhouse presentations on their website.

On to Carriageworks, which kicks off, as do the characters, with Made In Dagenham – The Musical. It is about the industrial action at the Ford factory in that town when the wages of women in the stitching room were downgraded to the category of ‘unskilled’. As everyone knows, except for the motor company and the union which was supposed to be standing up for them, you don’t mess with Essex Gells. You can find out who came out on top, as if you didn’t know, from 1st to 3rd October.

Speaking of females on a crusade, She Kills Monsters is on from 14th to 17th October. It tells the tale of Agnes Evans who discovers her late sister’s Dungeons and Dragons campaign and decides to play it with dungeon master, Chuck. The game reveals the truth about both herself and her sister’s inner feelings.

How Could I Forget? Takes to the stage on 16th October. It is a new musical, set in Sheffield and follows the parallel lives of Billy, a student, and his family, especially grandfather Jack, who is suffering from dementia. It brings together songs, humour and sadness to celebrate families, especially the more senior members.

24th and 25th gives us The Littlest Yak, which is for the 3-7 age group. Gertie gets fed up with being the littlest yak and wants to grow up like all the others. The show uses puppets and catchy tunes to show that size isn’t everything and there are things only a little ‘un can do, so enjoy being yourself.

Details of everything Carriageworks related and bookings, please go here. 

Whatever shows you decide to see, I hope you enjoy them. To see if I do, please check Tyke it to the limit . Meanwhile I will be lying down in a darkened room preparing for the launch of the pantomime season in November. How did we get from 30c to Christmas in a fortnight?