New Vic Theatre announce bold new Co-production of Romeo & Juliet starring Russell Kane and stage premiere of new play by Oscar winner Rachel Shenton
The New Vic, the UK’s first purpose-built theatre in-the-round and one of the country’s most influential producing theatres, continues celebrations of its 40th anniversary in 2026 with the announcement of a major autumn season featuring a striking new take on a Shakespeare classic, a stage premiere of a new play inspired by the Pottery industry and a revival of one of the theatre’s most popular Christmas productions.
– Comedian Russell Kane will star in a radical reimagining of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, the first collaboration between the New Vic and Not Too Tame. Directed by Not Too Tame Artistic Director Jimmy Fairhurst, the classic tragedy is reinterpreted to portray the star-crossed lovers in later life.
Russell Kane said: “I’ve always been fascinated by Shakespeare, and performing it has long been an ambition of mine. This year I’m throwing myself about as far into the deep end as possible. I’ll be falling in love every single night — although, spoiler alert, the relationship turns a bit toxic. Bring on the boards.”
– Academy award winner Rachel Shenton’s Gladstone Girls will receive its stage premiere at the New Vic in February, in a collaboration between the theatre and Slick Films.
– New Vic Artistic Director Theresa Heskins will direct an adaptation of Mary Norton’s The Borrowers, a revival of one of the New Vic’s most popular festive productions of the last 40 years.
In a first-time collaboration, the New Vic and acclaimed theatre company Not Too Tame will produce a radical reimagining of Shakespeare’s iconic love story Romeo & Juliet this September. With multi award-winning comedian Russell Kane as Romeo in his first stage role, and directed by Not Too Tame Artistic Director Jimmy Fairhurst (UK Theatre Award Best Director nominee, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), this retelling imagines the star-crossed lovers meeting later in life, repositioning the story from a perspective of age and experience, with the title characters aged in their 40s. The performance runs from Thu 17 September to Sat 10 October and promises an electrifying new take on the tragedy.
Later in the season, the New Vic will produce the stage premiere of Gladstone Girls in association with Slick Films. Written by Stoke-on-Trent born Academy Award winner Rachel Shenton (The Silent Child, All Creatures Great and Small) and originally produced as a podcast by Slick Films, the play is set in the Potteries and explores the lives of a group of female pottery workers determined to protect their cherished ‘Curl Friday’ factory tradition. A drama celebrating solidarity, resilience and the enduring community spirit of the ceramics industry, the play will run from Sat 6 to Sat 27 February 2027.
For its 40th Anniversary celebrations, the New Vic will revive its 2014 production of Mary Norton’s The Borrowers from Fri 13 November 2026 to Sat 23 January 2027. Adapted and directed by New Vic Artistic Director Theresa Heskins (Olivier award-winning The Worst Witch, West End; Marvellous, the New Vic production which opened new West End venue @sohoplace; UK Theatre award-winning The Snow Queen)the captivating production follows up the theatre’s previous critically-acclaimed Christmas productions The Little Mermaid, The Three Musketeers and The Nutcracker. One of the New Vic’s most popular Christmas productions of the last 40 years, The Borrowers is bursting with magical storytelling, original music and heart-racing adventure.
New Vic Artistic Director Theresa Heskins said: “I’m delighted that in our 40th anniversary year, we’re announcing a programme that will showcase our core values – that everyone should have access to great theatre; that local talent should be prized and nurtured; that young people’s first experiences of theatre should inspire them with a lifetime’s love for it.
We’ll be collaborating with Not Too Tame for the first time as we stage Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Our philosophy that theatre should be for everyone perfectly aligns with Not Too Tame’s ethos and will deliver an unapologetically bold reinterpretation of this classic play.
Ever since hearing about its success at New York’s Tribeca Festival we’ve been working with the tremendously talented local writer and Academy Award winner Rachel Shenton to develop her podcast Gladstone Girls into a stage play. We take a lot of pride in delivering productions that carry local significance, so to bring this new play based on the unshakeable community spirit of the pottery industry to the stage for the first time is a real honour.
We are also delighted to announce the return of one of our most beloved shows, The Borrowers, this Christmas to conclude our 40th anniversary year programme with a celebration of the work we create for families and young children.”
Director of Romeo & Juliet and Artistic Director of Not Too Tame Jimmy Fairhurst said: “Romeo & Juliet is our third Shakespeare adaptation and it’ll be the one that packs the biggest punch. I’m incredibly excited to be making this show with the New Vic in their exquisite theatrical coliseum. I’m also thrilled to be working with a performer of Russell Kane’s calibre and dedication as we unleash him into the world of theatre as you’ve never seen him before. In early R&D we discovered that ageing the families up unlocks something powerful and painfully familiar for modern audiences. The audience will be heavily involved in this production. I guarantee it will be as funny as it is heartbreaking. Buckle up!”
Writer of Gladstone Girls Rachel Shenton said: “I’m beyond excited to bring Gladstone Girls to the New Vic stage. The play is based on a true story, it’s good fun and is very close to my heart. To have it come to life, in my home town, in-the-round at a theatre that’s known for producing bold, fresh work – is a dream come true.”
The New Vic Theatre’s new season will go on general sale on Wednesday 25 March. For more details visit newvictheatre.org.uk.
Image by Patch Dolan
Listings
A New Vic and Not Too Tame co-production
Romeo & Juliet – by William Shakespeare
Adapted and directed – by Jimmy Fairhurst
Thu 17 September – Sat 10 October 2026
New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Press performance: Tuesday 22 September 7.30pm
Nothing breaks your heart like losing your first love. And it hits even harder when it’s taken 40 years to find it.Russell Kane plays Romeo in this exhilarating new production of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy.This first love feels like the last chance saloon. When Juliet meets Romeo across a crowded dance floor, sparks fly! Hearts race, desperate for resuscitation from a romance defibrillator.Can the swagger of experience, and the optimism of youth survive lost loved ones, toxic family members, manipulation and betrayal? Can it endure streets balanced on a knife edge, where sudden violence threatens to erupt at every turn?Not Too Tame join forces with the New Vic for the first time for a retelling of the heartbreaking love story.Suitable for ages 14+. Contains depictions of violence.
A New Vic Production
The Borrowers – by Mary Norton
Adapted and directed – by Theresa Heskins
Friday 13 November 2026 – Saturday 23 January 2027
New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Press performance: Friday 20 November 2026, 7.30pm
Our 40th Anniversary celebrations continue as a New Vic favourite returns this Christmas!A restless Arrietty dreams of life beyond the floorboards. Curious and courageous, she sets out to explore the world of the human “beans”. But when she’s seen by The Boy, her family’s carefully guarded secret is at risk and nothing will ever be the same again.Bursting with magical storytelling, original music and heart-racing adventure, step into the enormous world of The Borrowers as the New Vic brings back one of its most beloved Christmas productions, complete with the original creative team including songs by composer James Atherton.Perfect for little people and their grown-ups, join us this festive season for a heartwarming tale of friendship, family and bravery.
A New Vic Production in association with Slick Films
Gladstone Girls – by Rachel Shenton
Saturday 6 – Saturday 27 February 2027
New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Press performance: Wednesday 10 February, 7.30pm
From Oscar Award Winning Rachel Shenton, this brand-new play set in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent’s pottery industry is an uplifting, joyful story about one group of women and a factory tradition that they hold dear. 1970s Stoke-on-Trent. A group of spirited, highly skilled lithographers transform their work room into a bustling hair salon every Friday as they prepare for their weekly night out at the local nightclub. But when the floor manager tries to put a stop to Curl Friday, their routine is shattered. Outraged, the women take a bold stance in the form of a peaceful protest that spreads far beyond the factory walls. Gladstone Girls celebrates the spirit of working-class women whose voices helped shape a movement. Based on an original podcast from Slick Films, the play blends heart, humour and history for a vivid theatrical production filled with warmth.
New Vic Theatre
Box Office 01782 717962
Website: newvictheatre.org.uk
About The New Vic
The New Vic is unique. Born from the determination of local people to have a theatre of their own, out of grassroots ambition grew Europe’s first purpose-built theatre in the round – a working arts organisation where craft, creativity and community sit side by side. Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026, our home in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire remains the beating heart of what we do. We make theatre that is valued by local audiences and employ a permanent team of skilled craftspeople, technicians and creatives, sustaining high-quality, hands-on jobs in the arts right here in the Potteries, preserving a long local tradition of skilled work, now applied to world-class theatre-making.
Led by Artistic Director, Theresa Heskins and Managing Director, Fiona Wallace, the New Vic is a ground-breaker in the integration of professional theatre work with an extensive community and education programme. Each year we produce 8 to 9 in-house shows – including contemporary drama, new commissions, innovative adaptations and accessible classics; tour our work across the UK and beyond – with recent productions appearing on Broadway and in the West End, welcome 180,000 people through our doors and invite over 20,000 people a year to take part in our award-winning community and education programmes.
The New Vic is supported by Arts Council England, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Staffordshire County Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
About Not Too Tame
Not Too Tame are award-winning, ‘great night out’ specialists producing high-octane, heart-on-sleeve stories steeped in working-class culture, and made by working-class artists.
Our work celebrates regional identity, champions Community and feels like a gig. We craft exhilarating nights out across various venue types and highlight to audiences that theatre IS for them, both as a form of entertainment and a potential career path. Not Too Tame have worked with a diverse range of National Portfolio Organisations to help them successfully reach and entertain audiences that have yet to be engaged.
At Not Too Tame, we put our audiences at the very heart of what we do.
For more than a decade, Not Too Tame has been quietly — and sometimes raucously — rewriting the rules of popular theatre. Under the steady hand of UK Theatre Award Nominee, Jimmy Fairhurst, the company has had an average of 78% of ticket sales across all productions for over 11 years since their site-specific Edinburgh Fringe hit, Early Doors. Their last midscale, sell-out production of Twelfth Night at Shakespeare North Playhouse saw a staggering 38% of new attendees to live theatre in a venue. Over its 11 years of critical and audience acclaim, the company has developed a signature style that is equal parts raw energy, finely tuned craft and a refusal to put barriers between stage and stalls. Much of that ethos can be traced to artistic director Jimmy Fairhurst, whose initial three years with Cheek By Jowl brought a nuanced understanding of space, a rigorous physicality and an ensemble discipline to his work. Add to that the influence of directors like Mike Leigh and Matthew Dunster, and the creative friendships he has fostered with figures such as Trevor Griffiths, and you find a methodology steeped in precision yet bristling with vitality. It is this fusion — exacting artistry rooted in lived experience — that has kept Not Too Tame both relevant and beloved, a company that manages to be populist without ever feeling compromised.
@NotTooTame
About Slick Films
Slick Films is an Oscar winning production company creating socially impactful stories that inspire meaningful conversations on underrepresented topics. As well as receiving global recognition, Slick Films has screened in Parliament, at the United Nations Conference, and has contributed toward changes in government legislation.
About Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. From 2023 to 2026 we will invest over £467 million of public money from Government and an estimated £250 million from The National Lottery each year to help support the sector and to deliver this vision.
