ORANGE TREE THEATRE ANNOUNCES
FURTHER PROGRAMMING FOR 2026
Highlights include:
- Tony Award-winner Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy directed by Caroline Steinbeis
- Priyanga Burford starring in the world premiere a small and quiet light
- OT Community groups unite with local partners to present Richmond Myths
- Full OT Community programming
With Richard Eyre’s new adaptation of August Strindberg’s Dance of Death currently running at the venue, Orange Tree Theatre (OT) today announces further programming for 2026.
Joining the previously announced OT on the Hill and OT in the Church, the season will also include Tony Award-winner Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy directed by Caroline Steinbeis. Peepolykus theatre company’s founding members Javier Marzan and John Nicholson will reunite for this farcical production of light and darkness which opens on 27 May, with previews from 16 May, and runs until 11 July 2026.
Stephanie Street’s world premiere, a small and quiet light follows with Diyan Zora and Elin Schofield directing Priyanga Burford in this co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre. Following its run at Chichester, the production will open at OT on 28 September, with previews from 21 September and runs until 24 October 2026.
Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre, Tom Littler, said today:
“2026 is a transformational year for the Orange Tree. We are transforming our front of house and backstage areas, making the OT a more accessible and welcoming place for audiences and artists alike. I’m thrilled that our beloved in-the-round auditorium will remain untouched and open throughout, and these two remarkable new productions reflect the ambition and intimacy our audiences cherish.
We’re also branching out further into our community than ever before. This year sees a host of exciting projects beyond our walls. Richmond Myths is our most ambitious and large-scale community production yet, which will light up our town with creativity and storytelling. Our community is at the heart of the next chapter of the OT.”
This year, all of the OT Community groups will come together alongside local partner organisations, including Otakar Kraus Music Trust, BridgeLink Centre, Multicultural Richmond, Richmond Carers and Combination Dance Company. Together they will present Richmond Myths as part of Centre Stage, a multi-arts community festival in partnership with Richmond Council and HemingwayDesign. Richmond Myths is inspired by Greek mythology and will be directed by OT’s Carne Associate Director, Georgia Green. The festival runs from 17 July until 19 July 2026, and will transform Richmond town centre into a hub of free arts and culture for the whole community to enjoy.
Francesca Ellis, Community Director at the Orange Tree Theatre said, “The OT is a venue at the heart of its community, and our ambitious work with schools and local partners has been an integral part of the programme since the theatre’s early days above the pub. Now, as we rebuild our front of house to better welcome everybody IN to the building, we are taking the opportunity to go OUT, engaging with partners across the borough and bringing a vibrant weekend of performances to Richmond town centre. It’s going to be spectacular!”
Tim Corum, Arts Service Manager for London Borough of Richmond added, “The Orange Tree Theatre is a valued cultural partner, and their commitment to inclusive, community-driven practice is well recognised within the borough. Richmond Myths will play an important role in ensuring that the benefits of culture are shared more widely and more equitably across Richmond.”
OT also announces today its upcoming programme of community work bringing Shakespeare and live theatre to young people.The OT’s flagship project, Primary Shakespeare will tour local primary schools with workshops ahead of school groups seeing The Comedy of Errors through May to July. Shakespeare Up Close: Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet will also tour secondary schools, in a co-production with Guildford Shakespeare Company.
Throughout the year OT plans to bring the wider community together with OT Teatime Plays and Saturday Seminars for all to enjoy. OT Teatime Plays will replace the long-standing tradition of OT Lunchtime Plays, with the same ethos but at a new time continuing to bring classics, revivals and new work to the venue. Saturday Seminars also continue through the year, with Dance of Death being the first instalment on Saturday 28 February, offering an insight into the world behind each production.
OT also continues to open its doors to theatre artists from all disciplines to join their free Artists’ Network which includes talks and events throughout the year with leading industry professionals.
In addition, OT maintains its commitment to making performances accessible to all with OT On Screen offering the chance to stream this year’s productions in the comfort of your own home for a limited time following the final performance of each production. OT Under 30 Nights will also return with £15 tickets available which includes an exclusive post-show Q&A and a free drink, as well as the OT’s £1 ticket scheme for those in receipt of government support.
BLACK COMEDY
By Peter Shaffer
Cast includes Javier Marzan
Directed by Caroline Steinbeis
Comedy Consultant: John Nicholson
16 May – 11 July 2026
Press Night: 27 May at 7pm
I know a liar in the light, and I know one in the dark.
Young sculptor Brindsley Miller is on the brink of success. He is expecting a visit from an influential art collector, whose approval could secure his future, and he is determined to present himself as sophisticated and successful.
The problem? His flat is sparsely furnished, most of the contents borrowed without permission from his neighbour – but when a sudden power cut plunges the building into darkness, Brindsley sees an opportunity. In the absence of light, he believes his deception will go unnoticed. Unbeknownst to him, the audience can see everything.
As friends, rivals, lovers, and unexpected guests arrive, the situation spirals rapidly out of control, and Brindsley’s desperate attempts to influence events only make matters worse.
Director Caroline Steinbeis reunites comedy legends Javier Marzan and John Nicholson for this shimmering comedy of light and darkness.
Peter Shaffer’s (1926 – 2016) other plays include Five Finger Exercise (Evening Standard Drama Award), The Private Ear/The Public Eye, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, The White Liars, Amadeus (Evening Standard Drama Award, Tony Award for Best Play), Yonadab, Lettice and Lovage,and The Gift of the Gorgon. For television, he wrote The Salt Land and Balance of Terror; and for radio, Who Do I Have the Honor of Addressing. Shaffer also co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Amadeus which won multiple Golden Globe and Academy Awards.
Javier Marzan is an actor, comedy consultant and founding member of Peepolykus theatre company. His theatre credits include One Man Two Guvnors (Octagon Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Rose Theatre), The Ghost Train (Royal Exchange Theatre), Sex and the Three Day Week, No Wise Men (Liverpool Playhouse Theatre), The Arthur Conan Doyle Appreciation Society (Traverse Theatre), And The Horse You Rode On (The Barbican), The Critic (Minerva Theatre), Jack and the Beanstalk, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, A Christmas Carol (Lyric Hammersmith), Spyski (Lyric Hammersmith, West Yorkshire Playhouse), A Streetcar Named Desire (Nuffield Theatre Southampton), The Hound of Baskervilles (Duchess Theatre), All in the Timing, Goose Nights (International tour) Mindbender and Rhinoceros (UK tours). He also co-wrote and performed in The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary (UK tour). Marzan was the Physical Comedy Consultant on Paddington the Musical, as well as Physical Comedy Creator on the film, Paddington.
Caroline Steinbeis’ directing credits include Three Sisters (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), The Contingency Plan/ Resilience, Rutherford and Son, Love and Information (Sheffield Theatres), Edward 11 (Cambridge Arts Theatre), The Tempest (Royal & Derngate), The Crucible, Brilliant Adventures (Manchester Royal Exchange), We Want You To Watch (National Theatre), The Broken Heart (Shakespeare’s Globe), Take, Love, Run (Molodiy Theatre, Kiev), Show 6 (Lyric Hammersmith, UK tour), Talkshow, Mint, A Time To Reap (Royal Court Theatre), Earthquakes in London (UK tour), Fatherland (Gate Theatre), Charged (Soho Theatre), Mad Forest, Photo Story (Battersea Arts Centre) and Mile End (Southwark Playhouse, UK tour).
John Nicholson is a director, comedy consultant and founding member of Peepolykus theatre company. His comedy consultant credits include Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Hope Street Theatre, Sheffield Theatres), One Man Two Guvnors (Bolton Octagon), The Secret Adversary (Watermill Theatre), and A Little Hotel on the Side (Bath Theatre Royal). His writing credits include King Arthur: The Comedy, The Time Machine (Park Theatre, UK tour), The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary, The Hound of the Baskervilles (Jermyn Street Theatre), The Three Musketeers (Exeter Northcott), A Christmas Carol (Plymouth Barbican), Dolly Mixtures (Customs House), No Wise Men (Liverpool Playhouse), Foot and Mouth, Sick Room (Soho Theatre), Spyski (Leeds Playhouse). His television credits include Off Their Rockers, The Mulligans, PS Comedy, Comedy Cuts, Rumbled, Comedy Nation, Under Surveillance, Stop the World and A Salted Nut.
CENTRE STAGE:
RICHMOND MYTHS
inspired by Greek Mythology
made by the people of Richmond
Directed by Georgia Green
17 – 19 July 2026
Over one extraordinary weekend, Richmond will team with myths and monsters, fates and feasts, mighty heroes and ancient magic. In the streets, the shops, historic buildings, green spaces… maybe even on the river itself, the town will fizz with performances in unexpected places, each reimagining legendary tales for today.
Friday evening: The festival opens with a spectacular launch event. Order is born from Chaos, Pandora’s box will open, and strange creatures will roam the streets.
Saturday: The town centre becomes a stage, canvas and playground as George Street and Whittaker Square come alive with theatre, music, food, workshops and joyful public participation.
Sunday: The festival continues in hidden corners of Richmond — experience our neighbourhood like never before.
Returning for its second year, Centre Stage is a multi-arts festival transforming Richmond town centre into a platform for creativity, community and contemporary culture.
In partnership with Richmond Council and Hemingway Design.
a small and quiet light
A co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre
By Stephanie Street
Co-Directed by Diyan Zora and Elin Schofield
Cast includes Priyanga Burford
21 September – 24 October 2026
Press Night: 28 September at 7pm
The current lifespan of an operator is six weeks. That’s the most we can hope for your time out there.
October 1943. In a small office on the Avenue Foch in Paris, a Gestapo interrogator is questioning a young woman who has been known by many different names: Babuli, Jeanne-Marie, Nora, Madeleine.
As one of the secret agents of Britain’s Special Operations Executive – and the first female radio operator to be sent undercover into France – she has evaded capture far longer than most. But now she has been betrayed.
As she faces the fate she has dreaded so long, memories crowd in – a beloved father, a thwarted lover, a gruelling journey to war, and an endless longing for her childhood piano. What has led her here?
a small and quiet light is based on the life of Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan (1914-1944), an extraordinarily courageous woman who paid the ultimate price for her heroic fight against fascism.
Priyanga Burford plays Noor. Her theatre credits include The Seagull (Barbican), An Enemy of the People (Duke of York’s Theatre), Rapture (Royal Court Theatre), The Winter’s Tale, Eyam (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Consent (National Theatre). Her television credits include Innocent, Industry, Avenue 5, This Time with Alan Partridge, Press, W1A, and King Charles III; and for film, Steve, and No Time to Die.
Stephanie Street is a playwright, director and actor. As a playwright her credits include The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Finborough Theatre) and Dragonflies (Victoria Theatre, Pangdemonium Theatre, Singapore).
Diyan Zora is an award-winning director. Her theatre credits include Evening All Afternoon (Donmar Warehouse), Roots (Almeida Theatre), English (RSC, Kiln Theatre) Lysistrata (Lyric Hammersmith), Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles? (Chichester Festival Theatre), Tom Fool (Orange Tree Theatre), and Klippies (Young Vic, as recipient of the 2021 Genesis Future Directors Award). She is also a playwright and was a member of the Bush Theatre’s 2022 Emerging Writers Group.
Elin Schofield’sdirecting credits include Scissors, A Doll’s House (Sheffield Theatres), Screwdriver (Lyric Hammersmith, Sheffield Theatres), The Queen’s Head (Battersea Arts Centre), Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist (Rose Theatre Kingston) and Signals and Daniel (UK tour).Her associate/assistant directing credits include The Guilty (Donmar Warehouse), Dear England (National Theatre, Prince Edward Theatre), Standing at the Sky’s Edge (National Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Gillian Lynne Theatre), The Narcissist (Minerva Theatre, Chichester), Talent (Sheffield Theatre), Stick Man (Leicester Square Theatre) and Pop Music (Paines Plough and UK tour). Schofield also co-wrote Screwdriver.
Listing Information ORANGE TREE THEATRE
Orange Tree Theatre
1 Clarence Street, Richmond, TW9 2SA
box.office@orangetreetheatre.co.uk
Performance Times
Mon – Sat 7:30pm / 8pm
Thu 4:00pm, Sat 2:30pm
DANCE OF DEATH
until 7 March 2026
OT Under 30 Night: Friday 20 February at 7:30pm
Audio Described Performance: Wednesday 4 March at 7:30pm
Captioned Performance: Tuesday 3 March at 7.30pm
Relaxed and Distanced Performance: Tuesday 24 February at 7:30pm
OT On Screen: Tuesday 10 – Friday 13 March
Saturday Seminar: Saturday 28 February at 11:00am
VINCENT IN BRIXTON
14 March – 18 April 2026
Press Night: 20 March 2026
OT Under 30 Night: Friday 10 April at 7:30pm
Audio Described Performance: Wednesday 15 April at 7:30pm
Captioned Performance: Tuesday 14 April at 7:30pm
Relaxed and Distanced Performance: Tuesday 7 April at 7:30pm
OT On Screen: Tuesday 21 – Friday 24 April
Saturday Seminar: Saturday 11 April at 11:00am
BLACK COMEDY
16 May – 11 July 2026
Press Night: 27 May at 7pm
OT Under 30 Night: Friday 5 June at 8pm
Audio Described Performance: Wednesday 1 July at 8pm
Captioned Performance: Tuesday 7 July at 8pm
Relaxed and Distanced Performance: Tuesday 30 June at 8pm
OT On Screen: Tuesday 14 – Friday 17 July
Saturday Seminar: Saturday 13 June at 11:00am
CENTRE STAGE: RICHMOND MYTHS
17 – 19 July 2026
LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST
Thomas’s College, TW10 6JW
31 July – 22 August 2026
Press Night: Saturday 8 August at 2:30pm
Gala Fundraiser: Thursday 13 August at 2:30pm
OT Under 30 Night: Saturday 15 August at 7:30pm
Relaxed and distanced performance: Tuesday 11 August at 7:30pm
Audio described performance: Wednesday 19 August at 7:30pm
Saturday Seminar: Saturday 11 August at 11:00am
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Thomas’s College, TW10 6JW
1 August – 22 August 2026
Press Night: Saturday 8 August at 7:30pm
Gala Fundraiser: Thursday 13 August at 7:30pm
OT Under 30 Afternoon: Saturday 15 August at 2:30pm
Relaxed and distanced performance: Wednesday 12 August at 7:30pm
Audio described performance: Tuesday 18 August at 7:30pm
Saturday Seminar: Saturday 11 August at 11:00am
a small and quiet light
21 September – 24 October 2026
Press Night: 24 September at 7pm
OT Under 30 Night: Friday 2 October at 8pm
Audio Described Performance: Wednesday 14 October at 8pm
Captioned Performance: Tuesday 20 October at 8pm
Relaxed and Distanced Performance: Tuesday 13 October at 8pm
Saturday Seminar: Saturday 10 October at 11:00am
T.S. ELIOT’S MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL
St John the Divine Church, TW9 2NA
12 October – 7 November 2026
Press Night: Monday 19 October at 7pm
Members’ & Patrons’ evening: Wednesday 21 October
OT Under 30 Night: Friday 30 October at 7:30pm
Relaxed and distanced performance: Wednesday 28 October at 7:30pm
Audio described performance: Wednesday 7 November at 7:30pm
Saturday Seminar: Saturday 31 October at 11:00am
ABOUT THE ORANGE TREE THEATRE
We are a local theatre with a global reputation.
A show at the Orange Tree is close-up magic: live, entertaining, unmissable. We’re an intimate theatre with the audience wrapped around the stage. We believe in celebrating what it means to be human. We believe in putting people at the centre of the stories we tell. And we believe in the power of a writer’s words, an actor’s voice, and an audience’s imagination to transport us to other worlds and other lives.
We punch above our weight to create world-class productions of new and contemporary drama, revitalise classics and re-discoveries, and introduce children and young people to the magic of theatre.
We are deeply rooted in our local community in South West London. We work with thousands of people aged 0 to 100 in Richmond and beyond through participatory theatre, bringing generations together to build confidence, connection, and joy. Our groundbreaking Primary Shakespeare and Shakespeare Up Close projects pack the theatre with children and ignite a spark to last a lifetime.
We’re a registered charity (266128). With only 180 seats and no support from Arts Council England, we rely on the generosity of our audiences and donors to raise £650,000 a year. These funds support our outstanding work on stage and in the community and invest in the next generation of talent.
The Orange Tree was named Theatre of the Year at The Stage Awards in 2025.
Artistic Director Tom Littler
Executive Director Julie Weston
Website orangetreetheatre.co.uk | Email box.office@orangetreetheatre.co.uk
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