Kiln Theatre announces its new 2025/26 season, Amit Sharma’s second as Artistic Director.
The season will launch with Iman Qureshi’s The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs, a feel-good musical comedy about community, belonging, and the power of finding your voice. The new production runs 13 June – 12 July 2025 following a sold-out run at Soho Theatre.
This is followed by the world premiere of new musical, Coven, that reinterrogates the true story of the seventeenth century Pendle Witch Trials. This female led musical, which centres the power of women and runs 31 October – 13 December 2025.
Seagulls – a new, Black British retelling of Chekhov’s iconic play. This contemporary reimagining explores art, ambition, and the fractures within family and fame – bringing this classic right up to date for a new generation. Seagulls runs 12 February – 21 March 2026.
Completing the season is the world premiere of Please Please Me by Tom Wright (Associate Artistic Director at Kiln Theatre). An electrifying and deeply personal story of the troubled life of the ‘Fifth Beatle’, Brian Epstein, his relationship with John Lennon and his contribution to making The Beatles the greatest band on earth. The production runs from 16 April – 23 May 2026.
SEAGULLS – written and directed by Dipo Baruwa-Etti and Taio Lawson comes to the Kiln Theatre 12 February – 21 March 2026.
The classic, recharged.
Konstantin is desperate to prove his talent as a writer. Irina, once a star, is desperate to keep her own flailing acting career afloat. At a performance of his new play, Konstantin’s reunion with his mother reopens old wounds, bringing repressed emotions to the surface. Can their relationship survive new flames and past traumas?
Dipo Baruwa-Etti and Taio Lawson bring Chekov’s classic comedy-drama to a new generation in this sharp and contemporary Black British retelling.
Dipo Baruwa-Etti is a playwright, screenwriter, and director. As a playwright, his work includes The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars (Stratford East), An Unfinished Man (The Yard Theatre), Half-Empty Glasses (Paines Plough) and The Clinic (Almeida Theatre), all published by Faber. He has been shortlisted for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, The George Devine, JMK and Alfred Fagon Awards and sits on the board of Shakespeare’s Globe.
Taio Lawson is currently the Genesis Fellow / Associate Director at the Young Vic. Prior to this position he was the Associate Director of Kiln Theatre. Selected Director credits include: Hamilton (Resident Director – West End), An Unfinished Man (The Yard Theatre), NW Stories (Kiln Theatre), HOME Digital (Young Vic Theatre), Macbeth (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Hang (The Crucible), White Devil (East 15 Acting School) and Home – Installation (Young Vic Theatre).
Access performances:
Audio Described 12 March, 7.30pm, preceded by a Touch Tour
Captioned 19 March, 7.30pm
Relaxed 14 March, 2.30pm
Special performances:
Alcohol Free 16 March, 7.30pm
Post show Q&A 10 March, 7.30pm
