Orange Tree Theatre Reveals 2025–2026 Season Lineup

Orange Tree Theatre (OT) has unveiled its 2025–2026 season, marking a year of world premières, major revivals, and landmark reinterpretations of classic texts. Announced by Artistic Director Tom Littler, outgoing Executive Director Hanna Streeter, and incoming Executive Director Julie Weston, the season will feature six productions including three world premières and a celebratory staging of The Rivals for its 250th anniversary.

The season begins this autumn with Charles Dance, Nicholas Farrell, and Geraldine James in Howard Brenton’s new adaptation of Strindberg’s Creditors, directed by Littler. Other highlights include Tanika Gupta’s Hedda, a reimagining of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler starring Pearl Chanda; Richard Eyre’s new adaptation of Dance of Death, with Lisa Dillon and Will Keen; and the return of Niamh Cusack in Vincent in Brixton by Nicholas Wright.

OT also continues its commitment to young audiences and community engagement with new education programming and the OT Young Company’s holiday production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, adapted by Chinonyerem Odimba.

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Creditors

By August Strindberg, Adapted by Howard Brenton
Directed by Tom Littler
6 September – 11 October 2025 | Press Night: 12 September

Set in a seaside hotel, Creditors follows a fragile love triangle as manipulation and suspicion turn marital devotion into psychological warfare. The production stars Charles Dance as Gustav, Nicholas Farrell as Adolf, and Geraldine James as Tekla.

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Hedda

By Tanika Gupta, Inspired by Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Hettie Macdonald
18 October – 22 November 2025 | Press Night: 27 October

Set in 1948 post-war London, Gupta’s Hedda imagines the titular character as a reclusive former film star haunted by her past. This reworking, inspired by the life of Merle Oberon, stars Pearl Chanda and is directed by Hettie Macdonald.

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The Rivals

By Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Directed by Tom Littler
Winter 2025

Orange Tree Theatre will mark the 250th anniversary of Sheridan’s beloved comedy with a new production of The Rivals, directed by Littler. This revival honors one of the great plays of the English canon with OT’s signature intimacy and wit.

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Dance of Death

By August Strindberg, Adapted and Directed by Richard Eyre
Early 2026

Lisa Dillon and Will Keen star in Richard Eyre’s new version of Strindberg’s brutal, funny, and ferocious marital drama Dance of Death. Eyre’s production will bring a new edge to this rarely staged masterpiece.

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Vincent in Brixton

By Nicholas Wright
Directed by Georgia Green
Spring 2026

Niamh Cusack returns to the OT in the first major London revival of Wright’s Olivier Award-winning drama, exploring Vincent van Gogh’s formative time in a London boarding house. Directed by Carne Associate Director Georgia Green.

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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Adapted by Chinonyerem Odimba, Directed by Matt Hassall
Holiday Season 2025

The OT Young Company presents a bold and imaginative new staging of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, adapted by Chinonyerem Odimba and directed by Matt Hassall, continuing the company’s tradition of seasonal storytelling for family audiences.

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Education and Access Initiatives Continue

Orange Tree Theatre’s Schools Programme will feature interactive adaptations of Julius Caesar for ages 7–12 and Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet for ages 11–16, supporting curriculum learning with live performance experiences.

Additional access and outreach initiatives include:

• OT Under 30 Nights – £15 tickets plus social events for audiences aged 18–29

• OT On Screen – streamed productions available online following live runs

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