A HOMECOMING: 50 YEARS OF THE ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE

Artistic Director Selina Cartmell launches her new vision with a celebratory programme of seven ambitious productions. 

• A HOMECOMING - This bold and ambitious 50th anniversary season launches the next chapter of the Royal Exchange, inviting artistic alumni to return ‘home’ to share stories that resonate and celebrate the unique connection between artists and audiences in its distinctive, democratic in-the-round arena.

• Artistic Director Selina Cartmell celebrates five decades of exceptional theatre with her first season of work that both salutes the past and shapes a dynamic new direction for this iconic Northern theatrical powerhouse.

• Two World Premieres, two musicals and three reimagined classics shape Cartmell’s anniversary programme, and includes returning artists and friends such as Sir Tom Courtenay, Jim Cartwright, Shobna Gulati, Matthew Dunster and David Threlfall, plus new creative collaborators Johnny Vegas, Lucy Beaumont and debut writer Tolu Okanlawon.

• The Royal Exchange Theatre was founded by a group of international and pioneering artists in 1976. Cartmell will continue this legacy by placing artists’ and theatrical exchange at the centre of her programme.

Announcing her first season of work on the 49th birthday of the Theatre, Selina Cartmell, Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, welcomed Sir Tom Courtenay, after 24 years, back to the theatre to celebrate its iconic history alongside a brilliant group of other artists connected to the Exchange, to launch A HOMECOMING - a season that celebrates the theatres past and re-defines its future.  

A HOMECOMING, Selina Cartmell’s inaugural season for the Royal Exchange’s 50th Anniversary includes:

• Selina Cartmell opens the season with ROAD by Jim Cartwright, starring Johnny Vegas, Lucy Beaumont and Shobna Gulati, with a special appearance on film by Sir Tom Courtenay, his 17th time performing at the Exchange since its opening in 1976.

• PRIVATE LIVES by Noël Coward directed by Blanche McIntyre – this major revival of Coward's iconic play is the 14th production of his work on the Royal Exchange stage.

• The World Premiere EVEN THESE THINGS, an epic story of Manchester and Ireland by multi award-winning playwright Rory Mullarkey comes to the Exchange 30 years after an IRA bomb devastated the heart of the city. Directed by James Macdonald.

• A regional premiere of the Tony Award-winning FUN HOME based on the Graphic Novel by Alison Bechdel, Music by Jeanine Tesori & Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron and directed by Sarah Frankcom.

• Director Matthew Dunster and actor David Threlfall return to the Exchange in an emotionally charged reimagining of William Shakespeare's masterwork KING LEAR.

• A new production of Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning masterpiece, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, directed by Selina Cartmell.

• The 2025 Bruntwood Prize winning SHOOTERS by Tolu Okanlawon will receive its World Premiere in 2027.

Selina Cartmell said:

“There is no theatre like the Royal Exchange anywhere in the world. Its pioneering architecture and visceral relationship between artist and audience has shaped fifty exceptional years of this northern theatrical powerhouse and underpins my vision for the future. I am thrilled to finally get to share A HOMECOMING, our 50th anniversary season that takes in Shakespeare and Sondheim, contemporary classics and two world premieres. Central to this vision are audiences, both old and new, and I invite them to become active collaborators in this ambitious and eclectic season. 

In this anniversary year we renew our commitment to being a world-class theatre here in the heart of Manchester and an artistic engine room for talent development in the North. I am excited to commission and create universal stories that speak both to and from our home, shaping a fiercely distinctive artistic future that is local, national and international in ambition. Essential to our future is a robust eco-system for emerging and established artists. Through nurturing these sustainable collaborations, the Royal Exchange will be a space for a Manchester canon of new plays and productions, and to achieve this, we are forging exciting plans to re-open our 90-seat studio space, which has been closed since 2020. 

I cannot launch this season without acknowledging the incredible vision of our founding artistic directors and the generations of artists who followed. This anniversary programme sees artists return to the stage and others make their debuts to share transformative stories with diverse perspectives. I am excited to lead this pioneering theatre into its next chapter, and I hope that A HOMECOMING is a statement of intent of the adventure ahead.” 

Full programme detailed below:

A Royal Exchange Theatre Production 

ROAD  

By Jim Cartwright  

Director: Selina Cartmell 

13 February – 14 March 2026 

Press Night - Thursday 18 February, 7pm

Directed by Artistic Director Selina Cartmell, this contemporary revival of ROAD marks the 40th anniversary of Jim Cartwright’s iconic play, his 5th production at the Exchange. For her first production for the Royal Exchange, Cartmell has gathered together an ensemble of extraordinary actors including Lucy Beaumont and Shobna Gulati, who returns to the Exchange stage for the third time and Johnny Vegas who makes his debut as Scullery. Sir Tom Courtenay will make a special appearance on film as Jerry, his seventeenth time performing at the Exchange since its opening in 1976. ROAD runs from 13 February to 14 March 2026.  

It’s 1986. Your rumbustious chaperone Scullery guides you down the road, picking up the raucous and the ready for it, as ‘owt can happen tonight’. From dusk till dawn, the hopelessly hilarious and divinely desperate laugh, sing, dance and eat chips – all searching for something different.  

Jim Cartwright’s award-winning masterpiece invites you to join the inhabitants of this northern road on an unforgettable journey. Shockingly relevant to our lives today, the play’s visceral, eloquent poetry paints a tough world with tenderness. In this exhilarating theatrical experience, audiences explore the Royal Exchange before taking their seats in the theatre.  

The creative team includes Designer, Leslie Travers, who returns following his designs for Twelfth Night and Death of a Salesman; Lighting Designer, Aideen Malone; Sound Designer, Tingying Dong; and Casting Director Olivia Barr.  

A Royal Exchange Theatre Production  

Noël Coward’s 

PRIVATE LIVES  

Director: Blanche McIntyre  

27 March – 2 May 2026

Press Night - Wednesday 1 April, 7.30pm 

This new production of PRIVATE LIVES, a vitriol-laced classic, is directed by award-winning director Blanche McIntyre, who makes a welcome return to the Exchange following her production of THE BIRTHDAY PARTY in 2013. Alongside a creative team including Designer, Dick Bird; Lighting Designer, Johanna Town; Sound Designer, Gregory Clarke and Casting Director, Annelie Powell CDG, she will bring this Coward classic to life on the Exchange’s iconic stage. PRIVATE LIVES is Coward’s 14th production at the Exchange and runs from 27 March to 2 May 2026.  

In Noël Coward’s savage comedy, there’s nothing a cocktail can’t cure as lovers battle to get the upper hand. Wit has never been so razor sharp and passion has never looked so brutal.  

In PRIVATE LIVES, sparks fly on a honeymoon from hell and sexual chemistry is always only a heartbeat away from an explosion. Loved for their sparkling dialogue and art deco glamour, Noël Coward’s plays remain as funny and insightful as when they were written. 

A Royal Exchange Theatre Production 

World Premiere

EVEN THESE THINGS  

By Rory Mullarkey  

Director: James Macdonald  

15 May – 15 June 2026

Press Night - Wednesday 20 May, 7.30pm

Rory Mullarkey’s original and moving play EVEN THESE THINGS has its World Premiere at the Exchange as part of A Homecoming season. Directed by James Macdonald, this bold new play takes place in three unique timeframes of Manchester's history, including the day the IRA bomb exploded in the city-centre. It asks us to imagine what lies beyond disaster. EVEN THESE THINGS will run from 15 May, its final performance will take place on 15 June 2026, 30 years to the day when the bomb exploded.  

Three centuries. Three moments in time. An epic story of Manchester and Ireland by multi award-winning playwright Rory Mullarkey comes to the Royal Exchange Theatre 30 years after an IRA bomb devastated the heart of the city. EVEN THESE THINGS explores private and public histories, grief and love - and the making and re-making of our city.  

A Royal Exchange Theatre Production 

Regional Premiere

FUN HOME  

Music by Jeanine Tesori    Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron    Based on the Graphic Novel by Alison Bechdel    

Director: Sarah Frankcom 

3 July - 1 August 2026

Press Night - Thursday 9 July, 7.30pm   

This Royal Exchange Theatre regional premiere marks the 20th anniversary of Alison Bechdel’s iconic graphic novel, FUN HOME, featuring music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron. The musical’s Northern debut is directed by former Artistic Director Sarah Frankcom and runs from 3 July to 1 August 2026.  

FUN HOME is an exhilarating, heartbreaking and Tony Award-winning musical about coming out and coming of age. Join cartoonist Alison Bechdel on a journey into her childhood memories remembering what it’s like to grow up in a funeral home, undergo a sexual awakening in college and try to make sense of the secrets at the heart of your family.    

This groundbreaking modern masterpiece is a tale of grief and love, queer tragedy and queer joy, told through soaring, revelatory songs. The creative team includes Designer, Peter Butler who returns following his productions of A TASTE OF HONEY and ABIGAIL’S PARTY; Lighting Designer, Bethany Gupwell; Sound Designer, Tony Gayle; Music Supervisor & Musical Director, Matthew Malone and Casting Director, Natalie Gallacher CDG (For Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting).   

A Royal Exchange Theatre Production  

KING LEAR  

By William Shakespeare  

Adapted and directed by: Matthew Dunster  

With David Threlfall as Lear 

2 October – 15 November 2026

Press Night - Thursday 8 October, 7pm

David Threlfall returns to the Royal Exchange Theatre after 27 years to play Lear in a reimagining of Shakespeare’s masterwork, adapted and directed by Matthew Dunster in a unique and emotionally charged take on one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Returning to the Exchange for the sixth time, Matthew Dunster's latest engagement for the Theatre will run from 2 October to 15 November 2026.  

Shakespeare’s most elemental tragedy charts a kingdom where power corrupts, families become enemies and prosperity devolves into war. At its centre is the mind of a man who can no longer understand what it means to be human.

Lear is a searing portrait of a king unable to distinguish truth from lies. As the storm rises and night falls, language, identity and meaning break down completely.

The creative team includes Designer, Moi Tran; Lighting Designer, Lucy Carter and Casting Director, Amy Ball CDG.  

A Royal Exchange Theatre Production  

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC  

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim  Book by Hugh Wheeler  Suggested by a film by Ingmar Bergman  Originally produced and directed on Broadway by Harold Prince  Presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International Director: Selina Cartmell

5 December 2026 – 30 January 2027

Press Night - Thursday 10 December, 7.30pm

Selina Cartmell directs Sondheim’s breathtaking classic A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC which is the Exchange’s Christmas production for 2026. This life-affirming fairy-tale for adults is packed with stunning musical numbers such as Send in The Clowns and Night Waltz. Perfect for all the family, this beautiful musical runs from 5 December 2026 to 30 January 2027. 

In Sondheim’s enchanting musical, set in turn-of-the-century Sweden, mismatched couples waltz through a series of self-delusions in search of a happy ending. This lighter-than-air confection of romantic misfires and magical songs features Sondheim’s bittersweet masterpiece, ‘Send in the Clowns’. Old, young and middle-aged are equally determined and witty in this Tony Award-winning musical comedy.  

A Royal Exchange Theatre Production 

World Premiere

SHOOTERS

By Tolu Okanlawon 

12 February – 13 March 2027

Press Night - Wednesday 17 February, 7.30pm 

Debut writer and 2025 Bruntwood Prize winner, Tolu Okanlawon’s propulsive new play SHOOTERS is an epic exploration of authenticity, masculinity and representation as it examines a true event in mid-century New York. The production runs from 12 February to 13 March 2027.  

The play explores a significant moment in time for a titan of twentieth century photography, Gordon Parks, whose influence can still be felt today, cementing the legacy of an icon.  

Harlem, New York, 1948. The war is over, but another one is brewing. African American photojournalist Gordon Parks is on the precipice of international renown as he attempts to document the lives of a gang of teenage boys for LIFE Magazine. But can he earn their trust? SHOOTERS asks the question; who has the right to tell someone else’s story?  

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The Exchange’s unique auditorium is powerfully democratic, a space where audiences and performers meet as equals, entering and exiting through the same doors. It is the inspiration for all the theatre does; inviting everyone to understand the past, engage in today's big questions and collectively imagine a better future.

Its iconic in-the-round space that has seen extraordinary artists perform both on and off its stages from Sir Tom Courtenay and Helen Mirren to Patterson Joseph and Andy Serkis and more recently Maxine Peake, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Don Warrington, Joseph Quinn, Sharon Duncan Brewster, Jill Halfpenny and Kym Marsh. Directing talent includes Marianne Elliott, Nick Hytner, Phyllida Lloyd, James Macdonald, Michael Buffong and Matthew Dunster.   

Under the artistic leadership of Selina Cartmell as its newest Artistic Director, the Exchange begins its 50th year on a bold and ambitious footing, launching an epic year of brand-new productions from some exceptional artists.