The Octagon Theatre has unveiled its 2026-27 season, featuring a revival of Calendar Girls: The Musical alongside new plays and classic revivals. The announcement highlights a varied programme aimed at local and wider audiences.

The Octagon Theatre’s 2026 season opens in June with Murder for Two, a two-actor whodunit featuring Lucy Keirl and Tom Babbage as a small-town police officer investigating a novelist’s death.

In the summer, the theatre’s Young Company will perform Dawn King’s The Trials, set in a dystopian future where youth hold the older generation accountable, directed by Ruth Allison and Lotte Wakeham with both youth and adult performers.

The autumn season includes a 30th anniversary revival of Ayub Khan-Din’s East Is East, a play about a British-Pakistani family in 1970s Salford. The production is a co-production with Citizens Theatre Glasgow and Wiltshire Creative, directed by Kash Arshad.

Joining the autumn lineup is Calendar Girls: The Musical, which tells the story of Yorkshire women who create a fundraising calendar. Featuring music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth, the revival will be directed by Paul Robinson.

November sees the return of the John Godber Company with The Highwayman, a new play set in 18th-century Yorkshire. This is followed by the festive production Cinderella: A Fairytale, created by Sally Cookson, Adam Peck, and the original company, directed by Sarah Punshon.

The curtain falls on the season in 2027 with a new staging of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, co-produced with Hull Truck Theatre and Derby Theatre. This production includes performances specifically designed for school audiences.

Priority booking for Octagon Theatre members begins on 20 April, with general booking opening on 28 April. The season reflects a balance of revivals, new works, and community engagement in the North West theatre landscape.